I confess it: I’ve avoided doing tiramisu for a long time now. However the outcry after my foray into ladyfingers was such that I simply couldn’t say no. I must have had a dozen requests, plus one particularly poignant plea from reader Audi S. which put me over the edge. I can hold out no […]
READ ONPastry Chef Ed writes: Another thought on the historical significance of gelatin over starch. Gelatin was once a sign of wealth, before the advent of prepared gelatin, only members of the elite classes could afford it. It took hours to render gelatin from bones, skin, etc. clarify it, and turn it into fancy aspics, molded […]
READ ONThis obviously isn’t the New York version, but rather the more classic version filled with Bavarian cream and topped with fruit. New Yorkers, I promise I’ll get to your eventually. Though a charlotte is a great choice any time of year, it’s especially good in the hot summer months. For one, it’s a no-bake dessert. […]
READ ONReader Barry wants to know why, since pastry cream (another custard) is thickened with starch, Bavarian cream is thickened with gelatin. That’s a great question, and one I’m not sure I can fully answer. My feeling as that in centuries past, pastry chefs used whatever thickeners were available to them, so there were no hard […]
READ ONOh silky, lovely bavarian cream…all set to be poured into a mold (after I’ve dipped my finger in it a time or two, of course). Making a crème anglaise-style Bavarian cream is only a little more complicated than making crème anglaise. All you’re doing is combining your custard with whipped cream and gelatin. Easy. Below […]
READ ON…it took me two days instead of one to take the bourbon detour. I apologize for that, but whenever I have a load of information scribbled down on a legal pad I’m always anxious to transcribe it and put it somewhere where I know I won’t lose it. In this case, your brain. And now […]
READ ONThis from regular contributor Jim Chevalier on the origin of charred barrels: Would you believe there’s an Encyclopedia of Cognac? (In French, naturellement). You will learn there among other things that it was the Dutch who decided to distill wine in the region in order to save on transportation costs. With the rather entertaining result […]
READ ONSo far I’ve discussed a few of the ways bourbon distillers manipulate the taste of their products: distilling at a lower yield (and thus a lower proof), aging at a lower proof and of course aging in new oak wood barrels. Important as those various techniques are, their impact is nothing compared to that of […]
READ ONOne point that fascinated me at Friday’s lecture was the impact of seasonal changes on whiskey. Traditionally, distillers have left barrels of bourbon to age in unheated warehouses or barns all year ’round. It was of course the only practical thing to do once upon a time, because let’s face it, even if there was […]
READ ONBecause Scots are cheap, reader Tom. Being Scottish myself, I know what I’m talking about. Barrels are expensive things to make, especially when there’s not much indigenous wood left in your country (visit the moors sometime and you’ll see what I mean). For the Scots, barrels were always doubly expensive. Not only did they have […]
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