Pastry
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pastry is the name given to various kinds of dough made from ingredients such as flour, butter, shortening, baking powder or eggs. The pastry is rolled out thinly and used as a base for baked goods. Common pastry dishes include pies, tarts, and quiches.[1][2]
A good pastry is light and airy, easily broken in the mouth (what is called 'short' eating), but firm enough to support the weight of the filling. Care must be taken to ensure that fat and flour are blended thoroughly (before liquid is added); this ensures that the flour granules are adequately coated with fat and are less likely to develop gluten. The dough must be well mixed but care must also be taken not to over mix the pastry. Over mixing results in long gluten strands that toughens the pastry. Pastry must be baked to be edible but pie fillings often do not need extra baking, so many pie recipes involve blind-baking the pastry before the filling is added.
European traditions of pastry-making are often traced back to the filo-style doughs that were in use throughout the Mediterranean in ancient times. These recipes were popularized in Western Europe by crusaders returning home. However, the Romans, Greeks and Phoenicians all had filo-style pastries in their culinary traditions. There is also strong evidence that the ancient Egyptians produced pastry-like confections. These recipes were adopted and adapted over time in various European countries, resulting in the myriad of pastry traditions known to the region, from Portuguese "pastéis de nata" in the west to Russian "pirozhky" in the east. Pastry-making also has a strong tradition in Asia where Chinese and Japanese pastries evolved based largely on rice or sesame-based doughs and fruit or bean curds for fillings. The use of chocolate in pastry-making in the West, so commonplace today, arose only after Spanish and Portuguese traders brought chocolate to Europe from the New World starting in the 1500s. Many culinary historians consider French pastry chef Antonin Carème (1784-1833) to have been the first great master of pastry making in modern times.
Small cakes, tarts and other sweet dishes involving pastry are often called 'pastries' after their primary ingredient. Those who make pastries professionally are known as either bakers or pastry chefs, depending on whether they produce pastries for a bakery or a restaurant, respectively.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Bo Friberg. Professional Pastry Chef. John Wiley and Sons. ISBN 0471218251.
- ^ L. Patrick Coyle (1982). The World Encyclopedia of Food . Facts on File Inc. ISBN 0871964171.
