The Tarte Tatin Topic

[MobyP]

OT - but are those books for cooks compendiums any good? And which ones have tatins in (like the way I swerved to save myself??)?

Tarka's Clash of the Tatins! Step forward all ye who quake with fear and fancy a good nosh.

[Edit for new set of glasses]

[Oreganought]

I'm doing a dinner and using a little culinary licence here,but was certainly

influenced by the original.

Pan-Seared Quebec Foie Gras with Fig Tarte Tatin

Icewine gelée

The gelee being the pastry,of course.

[curlywurlyfi]

OT - but are those books for cooks compendiums any good?

Moby, I have to say, I have all six, currently residing in Top Trucks's finest storage warehouse in Silver End grrrrrrrrr, and I totally love them. They're not 'smart' food, because they're all the things that are tested in the BFC kitchen (and therefore given to the punters as lunch, so there are fantastic cakes + puds, but none of the mains/salads/soups are last minute high maintenance dishes, nor expensive, since BFC is a cafe and know they can't charge (nor have the space for) millions - so they are perfect for the time-pressed home cook, viz, moi).

The best thing is they inspire you to go and buy the cookbook that particular recipe came from. Plus, they have (obviously) been extensively road-tested in the real world by the time they make it to the books, so have handy tips in that the originals perhaps lack. I've only ever had one disaster and that was the White Chocolate Sauternes cake. Yech. (oh, and the chicken and pomegranate molasses marinade, but that was my fault for undercooking the chicken and poisoning myself, rather than the recipe).

Lawks - anyone would think I was on the payroll.

right, back to the topic! how d'ya like them apples!

[YKL]

OT - but are those books for cooks compendiums any good? And which ones have tatins in (like the way I swerved to save myself??)?

I like the books. They do have some interesting selections in them, but most importantly, they have pointed me in the direction of further cook book purchases. and that's a good thing isn't it?

I only have books 5 and 6 with me this week - and they are tatin free, but will check later this week when back home.

Now ... must go and ponder what to use / buy as tatin tins ... I mean finish my work!!!!

Yin

X

Edited to say am far too slow in typing since Fi has said it all?!?!?

Edited June 8, 2004 by YKL (log)

[alacarte]

Anne Willan of La Varenne on Tart Tatin

or at least, alterna-tatins

I firmly believe that Tarte Tatin is the very best apple dessert in France, possibly in the world, yet 15 years ago no one had ever heard of it....But wait a minute, why is this among the appetizers? This tarte Tatin seems to be made not with apples but tomato; fennel, or potato and Brie cheese are further alternatives. What is going on here?

[MobyP]

Of course - there's always The Official Tarte Tatin page!

[Gareth]

The best Tarte Tartins I've ever had were at GR@RHR and by my wife, following much experimentation with the Ramsay recipies. This leads me to:

1) Completely agree with the advice to caramalise it as long as you dare and then take a deep breath and let it caramalise for just a bit more...

2) add a couple more suggestions picked up from the recipies: first to mix just a little five-spice powder into the sugar; and second to leave the peeled and quartered apples to brown for a few hours before the cooking.

[Suzi Edwards]

i'll second the ramsey thing. for the longest time it was the most delish thing i had ever eaten beated only by grant achatz's shrimp tempura earlier this year.

so it's still the most delish dessert i have ever eaten.

i was sure i detected some truffle at RHR but moby reckons i'm having an olefactory hallucination...

[MobyP]

The best Tarte Tartins I've ever had were at GR@RHR and by my wife, following much experimentation with the Ramsay recipies. This leads me to:

1) Completely agree with the advice to caramalise it as long as you dare and then take a deep breath and let it caramalise for just a bit more...

2) add a couple more suggestions picked up from the recipies: first to mix just a little five-spice powder into the sugar; and second to leave the peeled and quartered apples to brown for a few hours before the cooking.

Yes to 1).

And I follow the Ramsay thing as well, leaving them peeled (for as long as possible) before cooking. The liquid from the apples can dilute the caramel. I've never used five spice though - what does it contain?

i was sure i detected some truffle at RHR but moby reckons i'm having an olefactory hallucination...

The RHR Tatin is pretty bloody good. It's such a massive hit on the pleasure centres - like an injection of heroin - you're bound to start smelling things!

[YKL]

I've never used five spice though - what does it contain?

does this link help? http://chinesefood.about.com/library/weekly/aa041900b.htm

basically ground cinnamon, fennel, star anise, cloves, and Szechwan pepper

(am very embarrassed that I had to go look it up - should probably have known!)

All these variants to try - can see a tatin frenzy coming up this weekend - but will it all end in tears?!

Yin

X

[MobyP]

Tears of joy, of pain, of feeling stuffed, and of never wanting to see another tarte tatin ever again.

[curlywurlyfi]

Tears of [...] never wanting to see another tarte tatin ever again.

help someone he's clearly gone mad and having another one of his episodes.

[YKL]

OT - but are those books for cooks compendiums any good? And which ones have tatins in (like the way I swerved to save myself??)?

As part of the self-delusion that I can be useful - went and checked the above - and the answer is that book two has recipes for a red onion tatin (from Lindsay Bareham's Onions Without Tears) and the tomato one mentioned above (recipe from Jennifer Joyce who is one of the authors).

Of course I then went on a tatin recipe comparison through the ridiculous number of cook books I have, and I found one in Nigella Lawson's domestic goddess book for apple tarte tatin that uses danish pastry type dough as the base. Has anyone tried it? I wondered if it might make it all too doughy and filling, and thereby preventing you from eating the whole thing in one sitting (coz that's what you're meant to do isn't it?)

[MobyP]

I was thinking she undercooks her caramel (I was looking at that recipe and picture yesterday too), which explains why she says earlier that she'd "given up on tatins." Hah! The pastry sounds marvellous though. Maybe you should lead the way, be selfless and noble, and then give us a thorough report.

Edited June 11, 2004 by MobyP (log)

[culinary bear]

Danish dough has a significantly higher fat content than puff paste, and the gluten structure is more developed...

I fear that a tatin made with danish dough would be inclined to flabbiness as the moisture from the apples precluded the full rising of the dough, and the tatin would lose its airy quality.

Also, as atraditionalist, I find the concept repellant. :)

[kitwilliams]

Repellant for a traditional tarte tatin, perhaps (says me who bakes her puff pastry separately from the apples ( ), but it is a great idea for a breakfast pastry: Danish a la Tatin. Individual size danish topped with a half apple cooked in caramel the traditional way. Simple. Nothing else necessary, as long as the pastry is terrific.

I'll be trying this next week when I get my dough sheeter hooked up!

[culinary bear]

dough sheeter....

*drools*

I had one of those in the pastry kitchen at the Balmoral Hotel... fantastic for all sorts of things, some of which involved pastry. :)

[kitwilliams]

Allan:

I think you're going to have to start another thread to tell us about the "other" things you did with the dough sheeter...

Edited to say that I think I started a dough sheeter thread sometime back...care to dig it up?

Edited June 12, 2004 by kitwilliams (log)

[MobyP]

Ka Bling! (Wish is my command etc etc)

[culinary bear]

*bows in reverence to the power of the One* :)

ta.

[MobyP]

I'm not sure it's the right one - there doesn't seem to be much there. Can you give us a run down on what a dough sheeter is, what it does etc? It had better start by bringing you a cup of tea in the morning!

[kitwilliams]

I'll have to train it to bring me a cup of tea, but, as CB has pointed out to me, it does much, much more than making laminated dough a piece of cake to make!

I'll try and post a photo...if this works, this is in the open position, ready to go (I don't usually work in the middle of a car park):

This photo is ready for take off :

and, finally, a Pithivier, which I will be making many of, once I get this damn thing working!

Someone criticized my machine yesterday. I had her "disappear". Too bad. Nice girl. Real shame.

Damn. Meant to post this to the dough sheeter thread...but here it is in Tarte Tatin. Moby??? help????

Edited June 12, 2004 by kitwilliams (log)

[YKL]

Danish dough has a significantly higher fat content than puff paste, and the gluten structure is more developed... 

I fear that a tatin made with danish dough would be inclined to flabbiness as the moisture from the apples precluded the full rising of the dough, and the tatin would lose its airy quality.

Hmmm .. well given that I attempted to make one on Sat with normal puff pastry (bought admittedly - needed as few obstacles as possible) and that was already pretty rich, sounds like Danish is one to park.

However - suspect that may be linked to my trying the Rowley Leigh recipe which has a 1:1 ratio of sugar:butter, rather than others which have 2:1 - so my fault really. I was just being a coward and thinking that the extra qtr packet of butter would help jolly the caramelisation along. The colour was fine (having photos in five different recipe books helps!), as was the taste. But less attractive when cooled.

Still - chalk that one up for experience. Onwards and upwards I feel ....

[Marco_Polo]

Well dammit this thread has had me drooling and so I had a go at this weekend, too.

Made my tarte tain with Braeburn apples, unsalted butter bought off the slab (from local cheese dairy), Billington's caster sugar, and juice and zest of an unwaxed organic lemon (the lemon adds a necessary cleansing touch to the richness of butter, sugar and gooey appley juices).

I too used bought puff pastry, but it was absolutely brilliant and I must recommend it: organic pure butter puff pastry from the Dorset Pastry company. It comes frozen and pre-rolled and so may not be for purists. But believe me, it is, yes, quite sensational. Not as good as *good* homemade puff pastry of course, but a damn sight better than *mediocre* homemade pastry or quick rough puff pastry. Ingredients are simply organic flour, organic butter, organic eggs, sea salt, water, nothing else, no preservatives, no additives, no nothing. Made by Moira Blake and her team somewhere in Dorset, the pastry is hand folded and rested in the traditional way. The result is really sensational.

Puff pastry - even homemade - for a tatin can come out rather leathery, can't it? This wasn't. The deeply caramelised apples (I prefer to keep them in halves) rested on a durable base, bathed in buttery caramelised sauce, that was still flaky and delicious in its own right. (I baked for 15 minutes at 190C, then reduced heat for a further 20 minutes at 150.)

We enjoyed the tarte tatin last evening at half-time during the England-France match, at that moment feeling very good and optimistic about the world in general. We had another slice after the match in the aftermath of that extraordinary plucking of defeat from the jaws of victory: it was so damn good that it did offer some consolation! Finished the rest for breakfast this morning...

Marc

[curlywurlyfi]

a necessary cleansing touch

NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!