tourtiere de gascogne

[prasantrin]

I went out for tea with a friend yesterday and we ended up at a French tea shop called 2eme (located in Chinatown in Kobe, Japan, of all places). The specialty of this shop was tourtiere de gascogne--they look like beggars' purses made with phyllo, and inside the little purse there's a layer of cake at the bottom and some caramelized apples (they had a few other fillings, but I had the plain apple). I thought perhaps they were a traditional pastry of Gascogne, but I found the tourtiere de gascogne website. It seems to be a trademarked product.

Does anyone know anything about these little pastries? Are they, in fact, a traditional sweet from Gascogne, or are they a modern invention? Has anyone ever made them before?

[Tweety69bird]

They look very interesting. Was there anything else in the puff pastry besides the cake layer and the apples? No marzipan layer or other creamy filling? It seems like something that would be simple enough to recreate. And it sure looks pretty too!

[rickster]

Rose Levy Beranbaum's Pie & Pastry Bible offers a recipe for a Gascon apple pie which is somewhat similar in that it uses phyllo and an apple/walnut filling (no cake). The cake might be an addition to soak up the juices. The pie is full size, not individual tart sized

The text in the book mentions that the recipe is an adaption of a traditional Gascon dessert made with a dough similar to strudel dough and she speculates it might have a North African origin

[prasantrin]

There was nothing else in the pastry. You could get other flavours (all apple-based, I think--apple and prune, apple and walnuts, apple and pear, etc.), but it was just the cake layer and apple mixture (in phyllo-like dough). It was so simple. I liked it even more than the Opera Tort I had! I think the cake might have been sponge cake. I had a small Touriere (just to taste it), so it was only about 1" in diameter and I ate it so quickly it was difficult to dissect it!

I'll have to look at the RLB recipe. The cake portion really was very helpful in keeping the phyllo crisp. Without it, it would have been very soggy, I think. The possible North African origin is interesting. It did remind me of some of the little snacks I ate in Morocco, but I was told those were Chinese-influenced. The world is such a small place!

Oh, I should add that I think the fillings used were from cans, not homemade. There were cans of the different fillings in the shop window--they were proudly displaying them, not hiding them. This shop is the only shop in Japan licensed to make these Tourtiere, so I guess they want everyone to know they're using the real thing.

Edited May 5, 2006 by prasantrin (log)

[Swisskaese]

It reminds me of a dessert I had at a Moroccan restaurant called Briwatts with Fruit.

[rickster]

I tired the RLB recipe once a few years ago and my recollection was that it did turn out soggy, so a genoise-like layer might be a good idea.

[Wolfert]

I have seen cooks sprinkle stale sponge cake crumbs on the pastry before adding the fruit, but this was only when the cake was prepared early in the day.

When I teach the dish I assemble the tourtiere on a cornmeal strewn pizza peel, then I slip the tourtiere directly onto a hot baking stone and bake it at 400 F for 12 minutes, then I reduce the oven temp to 350 F and bake it for 20 to 25 minutes longer, or until the croustade is golden and crisp.

It's a good idea to slide the tourtiere onto a wire rack to cool completely before serving.

***If you have a hearthkit or a baker's oven, this is absolutely fail-proof.