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The Very Basics of French PastryPastry (pâte), like stock and sauce, is another of those basics of French cooking. The pastry chef, pâtissier, must be specially trained to work with temperamental doughs and sweets; and the pastry making takes place in an entirely separate area of a restaurant kitchen. Pâte à choux, cream-puff pastry made from a mix of hot water, flour, and butter to which beaten eggs are added; pâte brisée, a rich flaky dough for quiches; pâte sucrée, a sweet, rich pastry for tarts and filled cookies; pâte feuilletée (puff pastry), buttery, delicate, and many-layered -- these are but a few of the elemental doughs used in French pastry-making. And they're not just for dessert. Pastry doughs are used in countless savory recipes: to wrap a pâté or cover a stew, as a quiche shell or for vol-au-vent (a puff pastry shell filled with a cream-sauce based mixture of chicken, fish, meat or vegetables). Final courses that use the work of the pastry chef (pâtissier) include tarts such as lemon, fig, pear, and apple; crêpes; custards; cakes; stewed fruits; soufflés; mousses; puddings; and ices. |
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