Behind the Recipe -- Jeri Quinzio

The sweet indulgence of Portugal’s convent pastries

 

Portuguese sweets are divine, which may be because they originated in convents.

Back in the 16^th century, the country’s Roman Catholic nuns drew on a heritage of Islamic confectionery and an abundance of egg yolks to create unique, delectable pastries. The convents were dissolved early in the 19^th century, but the pastries continue to be made, often from the same recipes, and attributed to those long-departed nuns. Today, the pastries are served around the world, from Montreal to Mozambique to Macao, but nowhere are they better than in Portugal.

Convent sweets

The pastries are still known as doces conventuais in Portuguese; convent sweets in English. Most consist of a flaky crust and a rich eggy filling, but each convent and, now, each town or even pastry shop has its own special take on the tarts. The filling might be a typical custard or simply ovos moles (translated as soft eggs), which is nothing more than egg yolks and sugar cooked together to create sweet spreadable gold. The nuns had so many egg yolks because egg whites were used to clarify wine, to apply gold and silver leaf to church altars, and to starch nun’s wimples. They used the leftover yolks to create their sublime pastries.

Some pastéis, or pastries, include additions such as cocoanut or almonds or even white beans in their filling. In Belem, people line up outside a bakery for pastéis de Belem, small tarts with a custard filling that’s still warm from the oven. The tops of the famed pastéis de Nata are nearly charred, the pastry crisp, the custard filling creamy and sweet.

 

                                                                                Pastéis de Nata

The tiny town of Tentúgal is known for its special pastéis du Tentúgal, an oblong pastry filled with ovos moles. At O Afonso, a local pastry shop, friends and I watched as a baker took an eight-pound lump of dough made from flour and water and stretched and flipped it until it covered an area of probably 12 by 15 feet. By the time she was through, the dough was thin enough to read through.

 

See-through pastry

Then she cut it into small shapes, layered a few, and added some pastry scraps in the center for extra strength. She then dipped a feather into clarified butter and ever so delicately sprinkled a little of the melted butter onto the pastry. Next, she spooned a line of the egg yolk and sugar filling onto the pastry. She quickly rolled it into a rectangle, folded the ends up, and placed it on a baking sheet along with dozens of others. When they were baked, the ends formed little ruffles, the pastry was shatteringly crisp, and the filling was heavenly. The pastry is made with just five ingredients – flour, water, butter, sugar, and egg yolks - but with consummate skill and many years of practice.

 

Pastéis du Tentúgal

There are other sweets in Portugal, and you’ll find a pastry shop on nearly every street. Portuguese rice pudding topped with cinnamon in decorative patterns, even spelling out a word such as “Welcome,” to guests is wonderful.

 

A welcoming rice pudding

There are cookies and cakes and ice cream and even a few desserts using egg whites. Simple crisp meringues are called suspiros, or sighs, a perfect name. A dessert called Molotov for reasons no one could explain to me is similar to Floating Island. Made two ways, it may be a poached meringue in a pool of custard, as we would expect. Or it can be a baked meringue served with a caramel sauce. Both are light and delectable, however the name remains a mystery.

 

Molotov

 

All of the Portuguese sweets are good, but the egg yolk pastries originated so long ago by the nuns are special. Visiting Portugal without indulging in convent sweets would be sinful.

Rhubarb – the taste of spring

 

 

At the tail end of a winter that’s lasted too long, New Englanders rejoice in the sight of crocus shoots poking up through gritty snow, the arrival of red-breasted robins, or the joy of later sunsets. Those are all fine, but my favorite harbinger of spring is seeing a bin of bright red rhubarb in the market.

To me, rhubarb’s tart flavor is a sharp wake-up call signaling that spring has arrived. When I see rhubarb, I imagine warm weather. I taste puddings, sauces, pies, ice cream. I also remember when a little boy of about five, seeing rhubarb in a supermarket for the first time, exclaimed, “Look, mom, red celery!”

 

 

 

Botanically, like celery, rhubarb is a vegetable and in some countries, it’s used as one. In Iran, it’s an ingredient in stews; in Afghanistan it’s mixed with spinach. I think of rhubarb mostly for desserts, but it’s more versatile than that. Cooked and blended into cream, it makes a lovely sauce for salmon. The Italian liqueur called rabarbara is made with rhubarb and considered healthful.

For centuries, though, rhubarb was a medicine not a food. Its origins are in China, where its dried roots were used as a laxative, as they were in Greece, Rome, and, by the sixteenth century, England. It wasn’t until the eighteenth century that English cooks began cooking the stalks of rhubarb, sweetening them, and using them in pies. That use became so common that, in the U.S., rhubarb was known as “pie-fruit.”

Once people realized how delightful the flavor was, they began cooking rhubarb into puddings, sauces, jams, crisps, and ice creams. Rhubarb plays well with others. It’s often combined with strawberries, but it’s also a good companion for blueberries, cherries, apples, raspberries, oranges, lemons, and ginger.

A friend gave me this Danish pudding recipe. Whenever I make it, spring has arrived – no matter what the weather is doing.

 

 

 

 

Rhubarb flummery (A version of rødgrød med fløde)

4 cups rhubarb cut into one-inch pieces

¾ cup sugar

Grated rind of one orange or lemon

½ cup of water

3 tablespoons cornstarch

Optional topping

Heavy cream or crème fraiche

Combine rhubarb, ¾ cup sugar, orange rind, and water in a saucepan. Bring slowly to a boil, cover, and simmer for two to three minutes or until rhubarb is soft but still holds its shape. Do not overcook.

Blend cornstarch with a small amount of cold water. Stir gently into the rhubarb mixture.

Bring to a boil and cook, stirring gently until clear and thickened.

Pour into a serving dish. Serve slightly warm topped with cream or crème fraiche, or plain. Serves four.

Irish Coffee Pudding for St. Pat's Day

 

 

Pudding is having a moment. Restaurant menus, on-line recipes, magazine articles – they’re all featuring puddings.

Often, they’re under a different name, though. A posher, more sophisticated name than plain old pudding. Like budino. Budino is the Italian singular for pudding, but it sounds more exciting than just plain pudding. These Italian puddings aren’t so different from American ones. Some are thickened with cornstarch, as are many American puddings. Some are custards, made with egg yolks. Some combine the two methods. But most are pretty much what most of us think of as pudding -- the rich homemade kind not the kind from a box. Salted caramel budino is wildly popular as is butterscotch budino and chocolate budino.

Crémeux and crèmes are also restaurant-level pudding words. These creamy puddings are made in flavors like cappuccino, mocha, or lemon. Then there are pots de crèmes, although they are usually baked, like an old-fashioned American baked custard. They can be flavored with vanilla, pumpkin, whatever you like.

Also making an appearance is malabi, a pudding with Turkish/Balkan heritage that’s creamy white, thickened with cornstarch or rice flour and usually flavored with rosewater. It’s often served with raspberry or pomegranate syrup for a splash of color and intense flavor.

Seeing all these puddings on menus made me want to make one of my own. Because coffee is one of my favorite ice cream flavors, I adapted my white coffee ice cream recipe to make a coffee pudding. Adding some Irish whiskey turned it into an Irish coffee pudding and a perfect dessert for St. Patrick’s Day. Or any other day for that matter.

I wasn’t sure what to name it, though. Calling it Irish coffee budino or Irish coffee malabi is too strange. Irish coffee crémeux or crème sounds pretentious, as does pots de crèmes. The Gaelic word for pudding is maróg, so Irish coffee maróg would be a fine name, but maróg seems to be the one pudding word no one is using. So I’m calling it Irish coffee pudding.

Whatever it’s called, it’s rich and delicious. If you want to make it even richer, top it with some crème fraiche or whipped cream or chocolate syrup. But, really, I think it’s wonderful on its own, or with a few crisp chocolate cookies and maybe a small glass of your favorite Irish whiskey on the side.

Sláinte!

 

Irish coffee pudding

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup whole milk

1/3 cup coffee beans

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 tablespoon water

3 large egg yolks

1 tablespoon instant espresso

3 tablespoons sugar

Pinch of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons Irish whiskey

Combine milk, cream, and coffee beans in a medium-size saucepan and bring it almost to the boiling point. Remove from heat, cover and let steep for 10 or 15 minutes. Strain the coffee beans out and return the milk mixture to the pan over low heat.

Mix the cornstarch and water to make a smooth slurry. Stir into the milk mixture.

Whisk the egg yolks, instant espresso, sugar, and salt together. Add a small amount of the milk mixture to the egg mixture. Pour into saucepan and stir it all together until it starts to thicken.

Remove from heat, add vanilla and Irish whiskey. Stir thoroughly to combine. Pour into serving dishes and refrigerate until ready to serve.

To prevent a skin from forming on the top, cover with plastic wrap pressed firmly against the surface. Makes four modest servings.

Enjoy!

 

 

Cooking for the Queen -- Victoria and Francatelli

 

Victoria, the PBS Masterpiece drama series about the young queen, features a chef named Francatelli. In fact, Charles Elmé Francatelli was employed by Victoria, and he was one of the era’s most famous chefs.

 

Francatelli lasted for less than two years in the royal household. Some say that was because the royal couple preferred plain food to his sophisticated French cuisine. More important, Francatelli did not take kindly to being told that he was spending too much on the ingredients he insisted on, and he argued with the person in charge of the royal budget. Vociferously. At one point, the police were called. Francatelli moved on.

Still, he continued to have a successful career, working at exclusive London clubs and writing several highly regarded cookbooks. In them, he named several dishes after his former employers – “Salmon, à la Victoria,” “Victoria Biscuits,” “Iced Pudding, à la Prince Albert,” and more. He also referred to himself as “Late maître-d’hotel to her Majesty the Queen.” A royal connection, however brief, was a valuable asset.

Francatelli was famed for his elaborate French food. He was trained by the famed Carême, after all. But it’s his ice creams and ice cream cones that I find fascinating. Francatelli made and wrote about fanciful, elegant ice cream cones in his mid-nineteenth century cookbooks. That was long before the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis so often associated with ice cream cones.

They weren’t called ice cream cones in Francatelli’s time though, since they weren’t always filled with ice cream. They were called cones, cornets, cornucopias, gauffres.

 

 

In his 1852 book, A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes, Francatelli had recipes for cones served several different ways. He served some cones sans ice cream and simply sprinkled them with sugar. For his “Iced Pudding, à la Prince Albert,” he filled tiny cones with liqueur-flavored whipped cream and placed them around molded ice creams.

For his “Iced Pudding, à la Chesterfield,” he molded pineapple ice cream into a pyramid and topped it with candied angelica cut to look like a “kind of drooping feather”. Around the base of the pyramid, he arranged tiny cones filled with more pineapple ice cream and topped each one with a strawberry.

I don’t know whether Francatelli served any of his ice cream cones to Queen Victoria, but I am sure that if he had she would have loved them.

 

Cringes or cravings?

 

I’ve been captivated by the New York Public Library’s online collection of menus lately. It’s a fascinating collection on many levels, but especially because the language of the menus says so much about their time.

We’re a lot more squeamish about food terms than our turn of the 20^th century relatives were. For the most part, they don’t use the euphemisms we take for granted today. Take Stewed tripe Lyonnaise, for example. If I were writing that menu today it would read Andouille Lyonnaise. It’s like the difference between snails and escargot. Or cows and beef.

Today, no self-respecting chef -- or at least no one with a good public relations firm -- would put calf’s head with brain sauce on a menu, though it was common then. Likewise pig’s head cheese. Or pigeon pie. If you live in a city, you are not ordering pigeon. Squab, maybe.

Somehow, reading “Canada Frogs, Fried,” as it is listed on the 1900 menu of Dorlon’s Oyster House in New York, is much more disconcerting than reading “frog’s legs” would be.

The spelling of “Hindquarter of american fawn” [sic] from the January 18^th, 1900 menu for the Annual Supper of the Queen City Club in Cincinnati, Ohio bothers me less than the image that springs to mind. But I love that they serve their Virginia ham in the New England style.

 

 

 

 

The menus in the collection are from hotels, restaurants, ocean liners, railroads, oyster houses, and cafeterias. Many list foods we seldom see days, like green (or mock) turtle soup, mutton, stewed prunes, or the young bear served, or at least offered, at the 1912 Waldorf Astoria. The same menu also listed “Monk’s Beard” under salads. There has to be a better, more appetizing name for this type of chicory. How about chicory?

Some names are completely new to me. The rail birds listed on a 1907 menu for the Clover Club dinner held in Philadelphia’s Bellevue-Stratford Hotel, turn out to be wild waterfowl. They’re still hunted during specifically approved times of the year, but I don’t think any find their way onto menus.

 

 

Some names have changed – their alligator pears are our avocados. Eggplant is generally listed as two separate words. Tunny is tuna. Gems are muffins. “Picked-up codfish in cream” is on many menus including New York’s Hotel Vendome in 1900. This turns out to be salted cod that’s been flaked, boned, and soaked to soften, then simmered in a cream sauce with, generally, minced parsley and a dash of cayenne and served on toast. Not codfish they happened to pick up somewhere. The Vendome’s menu, along with many others, lists Yarmouth bloaters. The name makes me think of jellyfish, but they are actually cold-smoked herring.

 

 

 The menus also reveal fascinating historical and cultural tidbits. The Fifth Avenue Hotel in New York lists special meal hours for “Children And Servants” on an August, 1881 menu. Cigarettes and tobacco are often listed under the dessert section. Some restaurants dictate that ladies unaccompanied by gentlemen will not be served after 9 pm.

The menu for the A.M. Sweet & Son Hotel Restaurant, Fulton Street in New York noted, “It is unnecessary to fee the waiter. If you cannot get properly served without doing so, please make mention of it to the Cashier.” An early argument for wages, rather than tips?

Snow for Dessert

 

 

 

Before there was ice cream, the world was a sadder place. But people did have lots of creamy desserts – custards, creams, syllabubs, possets, and frequently, snows. Snows were made various ways. Most commonly they were mixtures of cream and egg whites along with a flavoring like rosewater and some sugar. Sometimes egg yolks were added. Almond paste, rice flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and orange peel were other possibilities.

 

The electric mixer hadn’t come along yet, nor had the wire whisk. As a result, cooks tied twigs together and used them. Some tied a sprig of rosemary or a slice of lemon peel to the twigs. Since it took some time to beat it thick enough, they would add flavor to the mixture.

 

The snow might be served on its own or atop some bread, as we might top cake with whipped cream. But often it was simply dished into a bowl and decorated with sprigs of rosemary.

 

I adapted this recipe from one in Hannah Wolley’s 1672 cookbook: The Queen-like Closet or Rich Cabinet Stored With All Manner Of Rare Receipts For Preserving, Candying And Cookery. Very Pleasant And Beneficial To All Ingenious Persons Of The Female Sex. The result is a lush, creamy dessert that can be a frothy topping for cake or pie or ice cream or served and enjoyed just as it is.

Snow Cream

3 large egg whites

¼ cup granulated sugar

½ pint of heavy cream

One teaspoon orange flower water

A few sprigs of fresh rosemary (optional)

 

Beat the egg whites to soft peaks and then gradually add the sugar. Continue beating and slowly add the cream. When the mixture returns to soft peaks, add the orange flower water. Beat until the peaks hold in attractive swirls. Scoop into serving dish and garnish with sprigs of rosemary, if desired. Chill.

Carrot Cake – the perfect food?

 

 

 

I’m working on a book about the evolution of dessert these days so friends have been telling me all about their dessert likes and dislikes. Actually, likes. Nobody, so far, dislikes dessert. But I’ve heard some interesting stories. For example, Carol Matyka, a friend I met at yoga – clearly a healthy person – told me that she thought carrot cake was the perfect food.

Really. Here’s how she explained it. Consider the ingredients.

Carrots – First, they’re a vegetable, and vegetables are good. Period. Plus they have all sorts of vitamins – A, C, B complex, and lots of carotene. How great is that?

Walnuts or pecans – Nuts were recently declared a good food. Because they’re rich in omega-3 fatty acids that help lower cholesterol and prevent coronary artery disease. Pass the nuts, please.

Raisins – Fruits are another good food. Raisins are actually dried grapes and, like grapes, they contain resveratrol, an antioxidant. Grapes, raisins, red wine – all good for heart health. Which is why we love them.

 

 Flour – Flour is made from wheat. Wheat is a grain. Grains are healthy, right?

 

Sugar – Carbs and calories, so if you’re lacking in same, enjoy. And a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine, and life, go down a lot better.

 

Eggs – Eggs have returned to the good food list. They’re a source of protein, yet another good thing.

 

 

Cinnamon – Jackpot spice. Cinnamon is anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial. It is even said to boost brain activity. Smart people eat cinnamon-flavored carrot cake. Have some more.

 

Cream cheese for frosting – It’s dairy. Didn’t your mom tell you to drink your milk? Now you can tell her you take it in the form of cream cheese frosting.

 

You have to admit, Carol does make a good case for carrot cake perfection. Still, I’m concentrating on the health benefits of adding more beans to my diet. Particularly cocoa beans and coffee beans.

 

 

Gelato Affogato, or drowned ice cream, in Bologna

 

 

I was at a sidewalk café in Bologna when, in my tourist Italian, I ordered an iced coffee. The waiter looked a bit puzzled. He called the manager. I repeated what I thought was a request for iced coffee. The manager smiled, said “si, si,” and they went off into the interior of the café.

 

A few minutes later, the waiter returned carrying a small bowl containing a scoop of vanilla gelato atop a puddle of espresso. The combination of hot espresso and cold gelato reminded me of a hot fudge sundae but subtler, more grown-up. Bittersweet rather than simply sweet. It was sublime.

 

Subsequently, I learned that this is called gelato affogato, or drowned ice cream. It’s a traditional Italian treat, and one that’s perfect on a hot summer day whether you’re in sitting in a sidewalk café in Bologna or in your kitchen in Boston or Boise.

 

Sometimes not being fluent in a language leads to serendipity. But I’m glad that I now know how to order it correctly. And that I didn’t get that iced coffee.

 

Gelato Affogato

 

Simply pour hot (but not boiling hot) espresso over the best vanilla gelato or ice cream you can buy or make. Vary it by adding a splash of coffee liqueur or change up the ice cream flavor. Coffee is excellent.

Say goodbye to fad desserts. Go with the oldies

Here’s  a link to the article:

http://cognoscenti.wbur.org/2015/04/08/dessert-trends-cupcakes-macarons-jeri-quinzio
 

Homemade oldies are the best. Let me know which ones are your favorites.

Stir-Up Sunday. Time to start your Christmas Pudding.

 

Sunday, November 23 is Stir-Up Sunday, the day people traditionally make their Christmas puddings. Soaked in rum or brandy, the puddings can be set aside to mellow and be ready to eat for the holiday.

Why are puddings made on this particular Sunday? Because it is the last Sunday before the season of Advent, the time of preparation for Christmas, when a prayer in Anglican churches directs parishioners to “stir up …the wills of thy faithful people.” Of course, the prayer has nothing to do with pudding. But that Sunday became the starting point of pudding preparation, when plum puddings as well as the wills of the faithful were to be stirred.

 

Everyone in the family is supposed to take a turn stirring the pudding and to make a wish while doing so. Along with the raisins, currants, sugar, and spices that go into the pudding are various trinkets. Each one has a meaning for the person who finds it in his or her slice on Christmas day. The person who finds a ring will be married in the coming year. A coin means riches are on the way. The trinket tradition is so well known that Agatha Christie made the trinkets a clue in The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding.

 

In Victorian times, it was so important to have a pudding that women who weren’t well off joined savings clubs and set aside a few pennies a week throughout the year so they’d be able to buy the ingredients in time for the holiday. Maybe that’s how Mrs. Cratchit managed it.

 

Americans know Christmas, or plum, pudding from Charles Dickens’s description in A Christmas Carol. But the pudding never became central to the holiday in the U.S. the way it did in England. In the U.S., it was and is just another dessert.

 

In England, it’s just as iconic as Christmas trees or carols. To this day, the pudding has a starring role at the holiday feast. At the close of dinner, the lights are dimmed and the pudding is carried aloft into the dining room wreathed in blue flames and greeted with oohs, aahs, and applause. Some people still make their puddings, to judge by the many recipes printed in newspapers, magazines, and on-line. But stores in England abound with festively wrapped puddings for those who don’t make their own.

 

Queen Elizabeth serves pudding made by the royal chef to the family for Christmas dinner. She buys more puddings to give to staff and friends. It is estimated that over the years she’s given away 90,000 puddings, with no end in sight.