The Tarte Tatin Topic

[Marco_Polo]

a necessary cleansing touch

NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

OK OK, who am I trying to kid? Who needs * clean * here? Not we diehard eGulletteer gluttons. In fact, if f I'm totally honest (as we really ought to be) I'd be quite happy glugging the caramelised butter and sugar juices neat, and to hell with the pastry and the apples. Simplifies the whole process, too, and cuts down on the washing up...

[Suzi Edwards]

i think all bets might be off in the tarte tatin conversation. i'd (very cheekily) asked grant achatz of trio if he'd indulge me and make me tarte tatin as part of my meal last night.

and he did. and the waitress was "seething with jealousy" and i was punching the air as if we'd just beated france 1-0.

this was no oridinary tarte tatin. this was an etherial puff of pastry coated in caramel and filled with the sweetest apple filling. it rested on a small shooter of vanilla milkshake. "tarte tatin a la mode"

i loved that grant had taken the constituent parts of a tarte tatin (apples, pastry, caramel, caramelisation, melting, crisp) and the ice cream that it's often served with and, in a single bite, elevated it from desert to sensory overload.

i didn't cry when i ate it last night (i was eating with a friend/colleague who thinks i'm insane enough as it is) but thinking about it now....god, i'm such a wuss.

so, thank you grant and i am more than happy to pm each of you individually with a description of how incredible this was. because the best food, and this was, stays with you and grows with the retelling.

i'll post a photo when i've calmed down/unpacked wnough to find the lead to my camera.

[CheGuevara]

i think all bets might be off in the tarte tatin conversation. i'd (very cheekily) asked grant achatz of trio if he'd indulge me and make me tarte tatin as part of my meal last night.

and he did. and the waitress was "seething with jealousy" and i was punching the air as if we'd just beated france 1-0.

this was no oridinary tarte tatin. this was an etherial puff of pastry coated in caramel and filled with the sweetest apple filling. it rested on a small shooter of vanilla milkshake. "tarte tatin a la mode"

i loved that grant had taken the constituent parts of a tarte tatin (apples, pastry, caramel, caramelisation, melting, crisp) and the ice cream that it's often served with and, in a single bite, elevated it from desert to sensory overload.

i didn't cry when i ate it last night (i was eating with a friend/colleague who thinks i'm insane enough as it is) but thinking about it now....god, i'm such a wuss.

so, thank you grant and i am more than happy to pm each of you individually with a description of how incredible this was. because the best food, and this was, stays with you and grows with the retelling.

i'll post a photo when i've calmed down/unpacked wnough to find the lead to my camera.

where's the photo?

excusing my ignorance; who is grant?

-che

[MobyP]

Yeah Suze - where's the pic??

Che - Grant is Grant Achatz of Trio fame; formerly right hand man to Thomas Keller (French Laundry).

[jackal10]

Made Red Onion Tarte Tatin for lunch.

Red onions, butter, seasoning, balsamic; rough puff pastry (I was in a hurry); parmesan and thyme sprigs

[MobyP]

Jack -

that looks great. How long do you cook the onions for before baking?

[jackal10]

About 45 mins. 2 tsp sugar and a glug of balsamic in a hot oven to roast.

Can do them on a stovetop..

[CheGuevara]

jackal - i don't want to detract form the tart, but that frying pan is fantastic - how many years does it have? and the wooden table as well.

moby - thanks for the heads up on gareth...tarka did you find your camera lead???

-che

[Suzi Edwards]

you know, i haven't. it has been lost and i cannot find a store in chicago that has what i need. someone has suggested radioshack. i will try there.

[jackal10]

jackal - i don't want to detract form the tart, but that frying pan is fantastic - how many years does it have? and the wooden table as well.

moby - thanks for the heads up on gareth...tarka did you find your camera lead???

-che

The sauteuse is solid copper, tinned on the inside. Very heavy (my partner dislikes using it since its tough to lift) but ideal for Tarte Tatin. Diameter 200mm/10inch, wall thickness 3mm/ one eighth inch

I bought it about 20 years agao from a french kitchen suppliers. You can get something similar from http://www.meilleurduchef.com/cgi/mdc/l/en...auter_cuiv.html but the price will make you wince.

These are high maintenance items. Don't even think about trying to keep te outside clean and shiny if you use it for cooking, rather than just varnishing and hanging on the wall for decoration. The inside will need re-tinning every few years, and treat it like non-stick - don't use rough or abrasive cleaners, or metal tools inside. However they cook like a dream because of the large heat diffusion.

Stainless lined copper is not the same. The very best (but hard to find and clean) are solid copper with a silver plating inside, sometimes used for restaurant service.

[Andy Lynes]

Seems that we're still waiting for that picture from Suzi, so in the meantime I thought I'd share with you all the Marcus Wareing tarte tatin tip (which I've already posted somewhere else, but it won't hurt to record it on this thread as well).

Wareing cooks a seriously good tatin and he peels his apples the day before he wants to use them in order to dry them out, which prevents too much moisture leaking into the caramel and produces a better result.

"Ah", you might say, "but won't the apples oxidise and go all brown and horrible" to which Wareing would reply, "Who cares, they're going to be cooked in caramel so their raw appearance is irrelevant and the flavour will be improved."

[Dryden]

Made my first tarte tatin 2 weeks ago, straight from Keller's Bouchon cookbook. Having never had one before, wasn't too sure what to expect, but based on the commentary here, I'm glad I left it cooking for what seemed like a little bit TOO long - the slightly bitter caramel added a great touch. Curious to know what others think of the recipe. Also made for a nice breakfast danish-y snack the next day for leftovers.

[Patrick S]

I made my first two tarte tatins last thanksgiving and christmas. I loved them. I made them with the freshest, most perfect Braeburn and JonGold from my sister-in-laws family's orchard. The first one I thought had too little caramel, the second slightly too much. I had a little problem depanning the second one, so a few of the apples were jumbled. Next time I want to try the idea I read earlier in the thread about drying the apples a little.

First one:

Second one:

Edited January 22, 2005 by Patrick S (log)

[MobyP]

Patrick - they look great. Which recipe did you use, and how did you lay out the apples? Cut in half and standing upright, or on the rounded edge?

[Suzi Edwards]

OK, here's the Grant Tatin. The picture is terrible but I was so excited I wasn't really caring about taking a photo!

[MobyP]

So this was "an etherial puff of pastry coated in caramel and filled with the sweetest apple filling. it rested on a small shooter of vanilla milkshake. "tarte tatin a la mode" "

[Suzi Edwards]

Indeed. You'll see that my friend John could hardly wait to start and is already ready to get going while I was taking the photo.

I have now, again very cheekily, asked David Kinch at Manresa to make me tarte tatin. If he does I will report back and try to post an in-focus picture closer to the event.

[MobyP]

Have you posted him a link?

[Patrick S]

Patrick - they look great. Which recipe did you use, and how did you lay out the apples? Cut in half and standing upright, or on the rounded edge?

←

I used the recipe from Payard on the FoodNetwork site. The apples in the first tarte were quartered, those in the second were halved. In the first tarte, the apples were standing upright when I started cooking them. In the second, the apples were layed in two concentric circles, slumping over a little so that the rounded surface was resting partly on the bottom of the pan.

Edited January 22, 2005 by Patrick S (log)

[Luckylies]

nothing is greater than deconstructed tarte tatain. I thinkt he proportions are from the joy of cooking.

stick of butter

cup of sugar

9 apples quartered

cast iron 9inch.

melt butter and sugar. throw in apples. crank heat to high. cook until the caramel is quite dark think the color of the outside of a coconut...flip apples and cook for five more minuites. pop in a 350 oven for 25 mins covered with foil. remove and spoon onto cooked small puff discs or pie shells.. decorate with heavy cream.

or just do what I do and spoon the apples hot into a bowl with some haagen daaz vanilla.

edited to add

granny smith!!!!!!!!!!!!!! none of those bullshit sweet soft apples then end up as sugary gack...gag gag gag! tart and crisp ='s shapely and carmelized and rich. mmmmmmm.

Edited January 27, 2005 by Luckylies (log)

[culinary bear]

shall I take a photo of the ones we do at work?

[MobyP]

Allan - do you make your own puff pastry? If you could take pictures of all the stages - or as many as you feel like - up to the finished product, I'm sure that would make us very happy.

[Suzi Edwards]

Allan did a great thread about confit duck. The same for tatin would make me very, very happy....:-)

[artisanbaker]

i make a good tarte tatin according to many of my colleagues/friends/family so when you come to chicago next time just drop me a line and perhaps we could arrange a tasting.

[MobyP]

Slightly out of focus, but a fair effort for a Sunday...

I'd heard of a recipe from the ex-Robuchon Sous-fella where he sloooow cooked it for an hour - hour and a half, so I thought I'd give it a go. Oh, and I had some puff pastry that I'd made earlier.

Edited January 30, 2005 by MobyP (log)