"Clafoutis": Why?

[Truffle]

The name, the word, the sound: Clafoutis (please correct my spelling, but your thoughts on the name? plush, decadent, stuttering...)

[Mark Sommelier]

Classique

[Carolyn Tillie]

Extraordianaire

[Susan G]

Continental

[carswell]

Délicieux, though I'm not sure what the question is.

BTW, an entry for the dessert appears on the Merriam-Webster website's new words page but spells it clafouti, i.e. without the final s. Whitman and Simon's Recipes into Type : A Handbook for Cookbook Writers and Editors says the final s is optional. Does anyone know the reasoning here? Do they think that clafoutis is the plural form only?!

Edited August 19, 2004 by carswell (log)

[Gifted Gourmet]

d'une façon charmante sensuel

[Mottmott]

A mouthful.

[Peter B Wolf]

" s'intriguer " ( To take pains )

[Gifted Gourmet]

" s'intriguer " ( To take pains )

vraiment!!

[jo-mel]

Am I the only one who is going to say something simple like -----"homey"?

[Peter B Wolf]

There has to be more to it:

The French are ready to issue new postal stamps celebrating the 'regions'

And yes , one will honor "Clafoutis"

"Dans la série “la France à vivre”, la Poste propose une nouvelle planche de timbres illustrant les trésors de nos régions. Affichez le clafoutis, la quiche lorraine et autres spécialités sur vos lettres !

La planche de 10 timbres, 5 E, en vente dans tous les bureaux de poste et sur le site www.laposte.fr

Pascale Mosnier "

http://www.cuisineetvinsdefrance.com/

Click on: " Le chiffre Changez de confitures! C'est nouveau, vive les régions françaises... "

[Gifted Gourmet]

Merci si beaucoup de pour ce site web, Peter !

[Redsugar]

Les Clafoutis

Carole Bloom's entry for CLAFOUTI Iin The International Dictionary of Desserts, Pastries, and Confections: "A rustic type of fruit tart baked w/out a bottom pastry crust, clafouti originated in the Limousin region of France. Traditionally, the fruit used to make a clafouti is dark, sweet cherries, unpitted, but almost any fruit can be used. A thick pancakelike custard batter is poured over the fruit in a deep buttered baking dish. The batter puffs when baked, forming a crust over the fruit. A clafouti is best served warm, dusted w/ confectioners' sugar and accompanied by ice cream or whipped cream."

Fay Sharman notes in The Taste of France (a dict. of Fr. food & wine) that the dish was traditionally served to grape harvesters during their work breaks.

I've often made the classic custard dish, but always substitute pitted fresh (Bing) cherries. Alternatively, I've baked the custard filling in a tart shell (almonds are a good choice for the crust). In that version, I had used Cherry Marnier, but I am curious whether Marniér-Lapostelle has continued to produce that flavour of liqueur. (Sadly, they’ve delisted their wonderful Crème de Grand Marnier!)

Blueberries, boysenberries, loganberries, and olallieberries can play a wonderful rôle as the ersatz fruit in a clafouti. Ditto poached pears or peaches. But, for the triple impact of three red fruits, you may be enamoured by this recipe:

12 oz. fresh Bing cherries, halved & pitted

8 ounces red plums

Zest of 1 med. orange

1¼ oz. Kirsch

BATTER

1 cup whole milk

½ cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1/3 cup granulated sugar

3 large eggs

1 oz. vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

½ cup fresh raspberries

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

Butter shallow ceramic dish. Mix cherries, plums, zest, sugar, Kirsch. Let stand 1 hr. Transfer mixture to baking dish using slotted spoon, arranging plums cut-side down.

Preheat oven to 325° F.

Prepare batter. Gently ladle it over fruit. Scatter raspberries over top; sprinkle w/ cinnamon. Bake until clafouti is set in center. Cool slightly, then dust w/ powdered sugar. (If desired, you can caramelize the sugar topping in order to gild this scrumptious lily.)

Edited August 26, 2004 by Redsugar (log)

[aidensnd2]

So I'm running a cherry clafouti as a special at work and someone asked why it's called a clafouti. I'm stumped, anyone?

Thanks

Dan

[ScorchedPalate]

Oooh, from JoyofBaking.com:

Clafoutis comes from the word 'clafir' which means 'to fill'.

[chefpeon]

The dessert was originally called, "Faclouti", as in "Fah-kloo-tee", but it caused too many problems in the restaurants. A typical exchange:

Patron: Waiter, what is tonight's dessert special?

Waiter: Faclouti

Patron: I BEG your pardon?

Waiter: FACLOUTI, sir.

Patron: Don't "SIR" me! I know what you just said! I just asked for the dessert special!

You don't have to swear at me!

Ok. I made that up.

I don't really know the answer.

[carswell]

According to Le Petit Robert:

1866; 1864 dial. du Centre; de claufir « remplir, fourrer »; lat. clavo figere « fixer avec un clou »

[1866; 1864 Central French dialect; from claufir "to fill, stuff"; Latin clavo figere "attach with a nail"]

Attach with a nail? There's bound to be a story in there somewhere.

Edited July 1, 2005 by carswell (log)

[glossyp]

The dessert was originally called, "Faclouti", as in "Fah-kloo-tee", but it caused too many problems in the restaurants. A typical exchange:

Patron: Waiter, what is tonight's dessert special?

Waiter: Faclouti

Patron: I BEG your pardon?

Waiter: FACLOUTI, sir.

Patron: Don't "SIR" me! I know what you just said! I just asked for the dessert special!

You don't have to swear at me!

Ok. I made that up.

I don't really know the answer.

←

[Corinna Dunne]

Oooh, from JoyofBaking.com:

Clafoutis comes from the word 'clafir' which means 'to fill'.

←

This is the Larousse definition too. As a matter of interest, will you be leaving the stones in your cherries? This is one of the big French cullinary debates.

[ldubois2]

Oooh, from JoyofBaking.com:

Clafoutis comes from the word 'clafir' which means 'to fill'.

←

This is the Larousse definition too. As a matter of interest, will you be leaving the stones in your cherries? This is one of the big French cullinary debates.

←

Made a cherry clafoutis on Sunday using recipe from James Peterson's Glorious French Food. Pitted the cherries which is what he suggests even though he says this is an option and that some people prefer to spit out the pits. Bought a cherry pitter (Peterson suggests a chop stick as an alternative). What is the basis of the pro position in the debate...tradition, or is there some value to the pits?

Never ate a clafoutis before, so I cannot compare this recipe to any other but it was gone in the first sitting......

[K8memphis]

That was an excellent question!!!

Many thanks for asking.

[aidensnd2]

Oooh, from JoyofBaking.com:

Clafoutis comes from the word 'clafir' which means 'to fill'.

←

As a matter of interest, will you be leaving the stones in your cherries? This is one of the big French cullinary debates.

←

Nope, as it's being served in a restaurant I thought it would be best to limit our liability and pit them. I can see maybe leaving the stones in if you were making it at home but in a formal setting having people spit out the stones might not seem too 'proper'

Thanks

Dan

[Corinna Dunne]

Oooh, from JoyofBaking.com:

Clafoutis comes from the word 'clafir' which means 'to fill'.

←

This is the Larousse definition too. As a matter of interest, will you be leaving the stones in your cherries? This is one of the big French cullinary debates.

←

What is the basis of the pro position in the debate...tradition, or is there some value to the pits?

←

I think both. Many hold that the kernals add a mild almond taste to the flavour of the batter. And the cherries used should be black. However tradition runs very deep too. In fact the purists from the Limousin (the area of France from where the clafoutis hails) maintain that if the cook is not from the Limousin, then the yield of his labour is not a clafoutis!

[Almass]

There is a specific type of cherries to be used as in the original Limousin recipe. The whole idea is to have sourish cherries in there like: Griottes - Amarelles or Guigne. This type of cherries is hard to remove the pits as it will take with it some part of the flesh and you end up with bits of cherries and therefore better to keep the cherries whole.

Leaving the cherries whole does make a big taste difference to the dish and you have simply to manage the pits with the fork.

Warning: Some recipes are with the tail as well.

[Redsugar]

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