...and your sfogliato pastry and crostates!! (Crostata Part-lost count)

(Feb. 4th, 2010)

While I could find nothing of the modern crostata anywhere comparable to the 16th century crostate...

I did hit paydirt on finding a modern equivalent to the period dish in France!
Shall I eat my words? Not entirely, because it shows we can still not generalize without the research to go with...

What I have found is that my take on the pastry used is likely correct rather than what the translator of the book came up with... like it's a contest, but seriously... I would rather strive for perfection than just take someones word for it (does that ever make me sound like a pompous ass!!!), it is why we must try recipes and do so from the originals. It is one thing to translate, to know about food and write about it but another to take it fully to the next step... these researchers may not have the time, but loads of readers do and you know what they say about many hands making light work.

Anyhow... may I introduce you to the (at least one variety of) "recette de Croustade" which explains quite well Scappi's Crostate Pastry!
Note: good luck finding the right modern recipe for the dough, easier to go with the original 16th cent. recipe, as this name refers to so many different dishes!
Try searching recipes for hand pulled strudel dough with only flour, salt, egg and oil, found one on the first try with google

From a real-estate site no less: http://www.french-property.com/regions/midi_pyrenees/food-gastronomy/croustade-pommes/

"But this traditional recipe can be turned into a more gastronomic version which requires much expertise and time! The gourmet Croustade looks like a delicate, airy eruption of thin crispy petals of dough.

The traditional recette de Croustade consists in "lightly brushing every paper-thin sheet of pastry with melted butter, yolk or goose fat and filling with warm, sweetened and flambeed fruits

The recipe of this Midi Pyrenees speciality consists in stacking thin sheets of a hand-pulled, strudel-like dough, but nowadays modern Chefs often use filo dough to go faster!

Layers of buttered and sugared sheets of filo are topped with sugared apples flambeed with Armagnac. Two other crumpled, buttered and sugared filo sheets come to cover the fruits before baking the preparation.

The secret for a shiny, golden brown topping is to dust the Midi Pyrenees Croustade with caster sugar and put it back into the oven for a few minutes."

There are differences however, you can't just go and find a recipe and re-create and call it period... but you could probably tweak it...

Some Differences: period crostate had a thicker pastry on the bottom (but buttered between layers just as the rest of the pastry) but had the thin pastry made into a pastry twist for the sides and the top being done in the same pastry but in different manners including the one as described above.
Also note: along with the pastry, his apple variation is also similar apart from the addition of layered cheese and raisins.

Sfogliato pastry (Crostata Part... ??)

(Feb. 3rd, 2010)

sfogliato pastry (16th century, Italian)... translator likens to "Flaky pastry"
took a break from pastries for a fresher look, now revisiting a troubling recipe

Flour
egg yolks
warm water
salt
little bit of fat

Preparation for pastry:
This is well kneaded --(this will melt any fat and release gluten, though it does not seem high fat like "flaky pastry")
Should be soft
Rolled into an elongated sheet
grease with melted rendered fat (melted but not hot)
Rolled up from narrow end of sheet and sliced into approx. 1 1/2" thick slices (placed to form pastry...)
(mentions another way to prepare dough by means of stretching suggesting a phyllo, said not to be as good however)

Suggests oven with top heat being greater (shallow oven rather than deep) rather than getting it's heat from the bottom.

For a Crostate:

Preparation for bottom:
Grease pan with fat or butter
Pastry: Flour, rosewater, egg yolks, butter, salt (sounds like a typical short paste)
Bottom layer usually thicker with remaining two being thin, all greased with fat/butter and sprinkled with sugar.
Sometimes treated with egg wash (said to stave penetration of contents into the pastry)

Sides:
sfogliato pastry made into a twist placed over bottom layer, or around bottom layer?

Top:
sfogliato pastry made up several ways...
--triple layer, thin and buttered between layers
--slit like lace
--layered like shutters
--sheets with top layer done decoratively, such as twisted slits


Notes on Traditional VS Historic
Yet another example where the early historic version bares little resemblance (apart from lattice decoration and that it is a pie) to the traditional version and as tempting as it may be to pigeonhole it into the modern/tradition version, it would not make much sense.


Just needed to think out loud... I'd like to give this style of pastry another go of it sometime... maybe even try a crostate with the phyllo style top and side pastries and see how it works.
There, needed a little head exercise :)

verdict... (Crostata Part 2)

(Dec. 23, 2009)

for the pie...

I would have enjoyed a sharper cheese... another person we had over to try would have liked a cream cheese instead... what I found is that the cheese becomes indistinguishable from the crust (though you can see it and it looks really cool), but I'd rather enjoy more apple and if any cheese, only to have it on the top. The triple crust + cheese is a lot. Also, I think the desired effect of the crust would be more evident if it were baked first, but with that type of pastry, it would have to be an open pie rather than a closed.

So, all in all, it tasted well enough but it could have been better.
I would not serve that at a feast.

NOTE: Ryan seems to quite enjoy the pie so him and Shannon (who just likes it) have been snarfing it back like there is no tomorrow... goes to show how how tasting can be quite subjective!

Crostata (Part 1)

(Dec. 22nd, 2009)

Rather flawed beginnings with attempting the 16th century Crostata
Re-explored in more recent posts


Today amattempting a crostata... with 16th century instruction... this is in no way seems to compare to what we would consider a traditional or old fashioned crostata, seems far fancier and more modern... go figure!

Doing an Apple and Cheese Crostata ...back... fresh out of the oven My take on this based on the instructions given for the pastry from about 3 different recipes since the Apple Crostata recipe was rather vague on the set up of the paste.

Looks like a pretty typical pie really...

The bottom is built up from a thicker layer of paste (being the flour/butter/cold water/egg type), buttered and layered with thinner layers (this is laid in the pie pan and the edge is twisted paste), over this the provatura, then the apples

prepared thus: thinly sliced raw, or as I did... baked/cooked apples... done with butter and white wine or madeira (I used sherry) and sugar.

Over the apples, sprinkle of cinnamon and sugar, then the provatura. Also, with this, is supposed to be dotted with butter and the additions of raisins, while I was not skimpy with the butter, I did forget the raisins... woops! :-O

What I wasn't sure is if it were covered and if covered, by what sort of layering. It could have been a solid layer with strips over top or a solid cut to look like strips and so on... I chose to layer strips on this one, making alternate slits in them... looks kind of cool but it was no more than guess work at that point.

Can't say how it tastes, though the individual parts tasted quite well as it was being made Still waiting for it to cool down and likely won't dive in until after supper.

If there is to be made more in the future, I'd likely give it a whirl without a top shell of pastry and just go with what the top layer of cheese gives.