Category: Pastry

Some of you out there may have noticed that Michael Pollan — a.k.a. The Big (organic, local, free range, artisan) Cheese — is back with a new book, Cooked, which I plan to review very soon, probably next week. The de rigeur buzz-builder feature story in the New York Times came out today in the food section, however since MP doesn’t seem to be making any major political statements this time out, the piece was light and lifestyle-ish, following him on a trip to the grocery store then home for lunch. It contains nothing new for those already familiar with Mr. Pollan’s work. I found this interesting, however:

Reader Adrian wants to know why people in China use alum instead of potassium bitartrate, a.k.a. cream of tartar, to create leavening reactions. The answer I expect has to do with availability. Potassium bitartrate, a salt of tartaric acid, is a by-product of the winemaking process. It collects on the insides of casks as wine ferments. It’s also commonly found on the underside of wine corks where the crystals are frequently mistaken for bits of broken glass (for that reason it’s the bane of winemakers, since a large portion of those bottles get returned).

Chinese history, being long and populated by thousands of characters, gets very confusing very quickly. Still some stories from Chinese history do manage to stand out brightly in modern Chinese culture. One of them has to do with an evil minister, his evil wife and the murder of one of China’s greatest heroes. Sounds not unlike the story of MacBeth, no? The great stories are like that…they have resonance across cultures. But before I go all Joseph Campbell on you, let’s get to the story. Since it’s China, we need to back up a little since there’s always, always a backstory in Chinese history…even to the backstory.

I mentioned that is what youtiao are called in Australia. That name isn’t exactly traditional, though it does speak to an important feature of youtiao. Specifically that they are made in long, skinny pairs. They’re fried up and served that way, and before commencing the meal you usually pull them apart, just like a pair of chopsticks. So the metaphor works.

The obvious question here is: why are youtiao made this way? There is no definitive answer to that question. However there is a non-definitive answer, one rooted in a story from Chinese history and folklore, whereby an unscrupulous minister and his wife plotted the murder of one of China’s most famous patriots. We’ll get into that story next.

Move to Italy. Evidently there’s a big demand for pizza makers, but very few Italians willing to take the jobs. So most Italian pizza is made by Egyptians these days. Weird. But then I guess it’s no weirder than the U.S. where Mexicans, Guatemalans and Costa Ricans make pretty much all our “ethnic” cuisine, from French, Italian and Greek to Chinese and Thai. If we can sub out the work, why can’t they?

Youtiao. Beijing breadsticks. Chinese churros. Strips of deep fried dough that resemble what we call “crullers” or “long johns” here in the States. Only in China they’re not sugared (though sometimes salted) and are a lot bigger, up to about two feet long. I’d like to try and make some that are that long, but don’t think I have a frying vessel that big anymore…I’ll have to look around.

Reader Bronwyn requested these a couple of weeks ago, but I had French pastry on the brain at the time. So at the risk of creating jet lag amongst all you good readers — Paris to China with a brief layover in ancient Mesoamerica — let’s make some oil sticks.

So then, if baking recipes scale about 99% of the time, in what instances don’t they scale? Oh sure, put me on the spot readers Robin, Carl, Heather, Sandi and Monica. But that’s a really good question. Most incidences of non-scaling have to do with chemical leaveners — especially baking soda, for the simple reason that once you get soda wet in the presence of an acid, the leavening reaction tends to happen quickly. So quickly that it can peter out before you get you’re panned…whatevers…into the oven.