A look at local food discoveries, whether it’s a particular dish or an ingredient, often with one or more recipes.
“In the ’70s, when I started here, your heroin was probably 7 to 15 percent pure. It was cut with cornstarch and everything else. – Charles Huska, police chief, Latrobe, PA I have a better use for cornstarch – alfajores maicenas. Now, for those of you not familiar with an alfajor, it’s more or less… Read More Cookies of the Corn
“Sfogliatelle means many leaves or layers and this crisp pastry’s texture resembles leaves stacked on each other. Sfogliatelle look like seashells when baked. Some people also call them ‘lobster tails’ for their resemblance to the same. The characteristic ridges form as the layers of dough separate during baking.” – mangiabenepasta.com Continuing from where we left… Read More Puff 3
“Palmiers are crisp and delicate palm tree leaf-shaped cookies made of puff pastry and sugar. The sugar on top caramelizes when baked. Palmier literally means “palm tree” in French. Often known in the US as elephant ears. Palmier are thought to have first been made by the French at the turn of the 20th century.… Read More Puff 2
“The least deviation from the truth is multiplied later a thousand fold.” – Aristotle Time to set out on a little puff pastry adventure. I’m following the methods learned in my current pastry classes rather than how I learned to make this back in “regular” cooking school years ago, because I want to see the… Read More Puff 1
You might remember my short post on piononos, the popular jelly-roll cake filled with, often, savory ingredients. Back on day one in pastry class when we covered this particular gem, along with ladyfingers and basic sponge cakes, I asked about making it savory instead of sweet, a question that was greeted with a momentarily puzzled… Read More Pionono Practice
“Italy’s small towns and villages are famous for their local color, but every spring a handful are literally turned into gardens when local artists carpet the piazzas and streets with multi-colored mosaics made entirely of flowers. In the 18th century, a number of small towns in Italy began celebrating Corpus Christi by paving their streets… Read More Flowers for Umbria
One of the things that hadn’t occurred to me in returning to school was the whole theme of exams. Yes, cooking school has exams. I can still remember how nerve-wracking the final was when I went to culinary school many moons ago. But, here in pastry school, Roberto assures us that the exams are not… Read More Put a Ring on It – Ladyfinger Practice
“What’s for dinner?” is the only question many husbands ask their wives, and the only one to which they care about the answer. – Mignon McLaughlin, The Second Neurotic’s Notebook, 1966 After “How long have you lived in Argentina/Buenos Aires?” and “How long ago/Why did you start Casa SaltShaker?”, the next most common question I… Read More What’s for Dinner?