Several of you have shouted down from the virtual crow’s nest that Joe Pastry’s favorite white whale, Michael Pollan, is back and actively promoting his new mini-book, Food Rules. I haven’t read it yet, but I will sometime soon and respond to it. If you haven’t heard about Food Rules yet, it is a short […]
READ ONPastry chef Camille weighs in on gougères and the milk/water issue from Paris: I have strong opinions about the use of milk in pâte à choux. Namely, that it is not optional. In my experience, choux made with half milk is more tender, browned, and all-around appetizing than choux made with only water, which I […]
READ ONThere’ll be a special feature to look forward to next week: an interview with Rose Levy Berenbaum. Rose read what I wrote about her new book, and being the class act that she is, got in touch to request a little equal time, and to offer to take a few questions from Joe and the […]
READ ONI just get back in the groove and business calls. I’ll be traveling for the rest of the week — Wisconsin here I come! Now that I think about it, I’d better bring my snow shoes.
READ ONReader Charlie writes in with these additional questions: 1) I don’t understand the starch mesh. Are the starch granules burst like in a gravy? If they aren’t heated to that point- aren’t they just swollen starches (individual)? 2) True heat would denature the proteins but wouldn’t over-heating then tighten these same proteins then tighten as […]
READ ONReader Joe D. writes in with this question about choux: I’ve seen recipes that use water, milk and ½ of each. Can you tell me if the use of milk or a combination with water adds anything to the end product? Interesting question. Milk is about 87 percent water. The rest of its is made […]
READ ONHere’s all that’s left after the gougère bender I went on this afternoon. Let’s just hope I can whip out another 40 before company comes. Ah yes, I seem to have a cup of flour left here, I’ll sift that… …then grate up that last 2-3 ounces morsel of Gruyère that’s in the fridge. Then […]
READ ONI confess I’ve been avoiding that, since gougère history is extremely difficult to trace. The thing we know as the gougère, a small blob of choux paste flavored with cheese, isn’t very old. Invented in France, it’s been a staple of wine tastings for something on the order of 100 years. However its primary component, […]
READ ONThat fantastic question from reader Frans. Fantastic because that word gets thrown around all the time when people talk about food science, but no one usually bothers to explain it. To be wholly accurate, starch doesn’t really “gelatinize” (it technically takes protein to make gelatin), it gelates, though the effect is largely the same. Which […]
READ ONThis is a mostly simple procedure, the sole trick of which is making sure you cook the batter long enough (three minutes should suffice). Though it seems like overkill to me, you can fill a gougère by inserting a small amount of cooked meat, sausage or cooked mushrooms into the center. In that case, it’s […]
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