Several readers emailed in over the weekend asking if clafoutis can be made with other types of fruit. Indeed it can be, and is frequently made with plums, peaches and apricots (other prunus fruits) but also with blackberries, blueberries, rasberries, huckleberries, apples, pears and concord grapes. However I believe only the cherry version can be […]
READ ONHaving made so many clafoutises this week, er, clafoutees. No…clafouteece? Having made so much clafoutis this week, I’ve learned a thing or two. Firstly, that there’s simply no comparison between a clafoutis made with unpitted cherries and one made with pitted cherries. The unpitted version wins the taste, texture and appearance trifecta hands down. Second, […]
READ ON…how is it that apricot pits can be used to make Amaretto? How do they get the hydrogen cyanide out? I received several questions about that overnight. This is where a real botanist or food scientist needs to step in, because I’m not entirely sure. What I do know is that inside prunus pits (peach […]
READ ONSo then, why is the almond the only type of prunus pit we eat? It’s not because cherry, apricot and peach pits are hard to crack and chew (though they are). It’s because the pits of most prunus drupes contain a chemical known as amygdalin, a member of a family of compounds known as cyanogenetic […]
READ ONThis question comes in from reader Nick: You said cherry pits taste like almonds. Why is that? Oh, I was hoping somebody would ask that, though I’m pretty sure I would have found a way to talk about this subject anyway. The reason cherry pits taste like almonds is that they’re part of the same […]
READ ON…have been removed from these cherries and this is the result. This is the worst of my five attempts at clafoutis this week, but a helpful case study in what happens when you pit your cherries. The juice leaks out and stains the custard, plus the cherries deflate and the skins end up looking all […]
READ ONSo what’s the deal with using whole cherries in clafoutis? There are three main arguments for leaving the pits in. The first has to do with taste. Specifically that cherry pits give off a vaguely almond-y flavor as they bake, infusing the cherry flesh (and to a lesser extent the batter) with complex flavors and […]
READ ONHere’s en excellent question from reader Pete: I like your idea about clafoutis in cast iron, but I get nervous about using my cast iron pan because I don’t know if it’s properly seasoned. Can you tell me a little about seasoning and how to do it right? Pete, I would love to. Seasoning is […]
READ ONThis is a slightly doctored version of Julia Child’s recipe. I know, I’m fiddling with a classic, but almond and cherries go together just too well (hence a little Amaretto in the mix). I’m also “country-ing” up the thing by adding some brown sugar. Note that in another divergence from the original, I suggest that […]
READ ONNo, not really. However it’s said that the term “limousine” was inspired by the shepherds of the area. This doesn’t make terribly much sense to me. What I know is that the original limousine automobiles were designed like coaches, with the occupants in an enclosed chamber at the back and the driver in an open-air […]
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