These last weeks in Paris have been, well, wet, grey, cold and dismal. The Seine turned a lovely shade of… dirty sink water anyone? I’m still not convinced that the swim events promised to take place over the Olympics will happen, but we wait with bated breath! The weather gave me the perfect excuse to stay indoors and make a few new things, notably, invert puff pastry, which I’ve been dreaming about for months. The benefit of being a private chef is that when things slow down, I get to trial new recipes and practice techniques that I don’t normally have time for when there are “beaucoup (trop) de fetes.”
I will admit that you can find very good puff at any local supermarket in France. The big wholesale shops that cater to the restaurant trade such as Metro sell it by the metre and after nine years in China, where quality puff is hard to find, this is a massive relief. But old habits die hard and when it’s slow time in the kitchen, I just have to invest in the unreasonably time consuming and rigorously disciplined creation of home made puff. And it’s worth it!
Most receipes for this wonderful French creation, known as pate feuillette, will instruct you to make it with the detretempe (the flour paste part of the pastry) on the outside and to place the butter on the inside. This method, creating all those amazing layers as you roll and fold, is what most recipes will teach you to make. Invert puff pastry upends all of these notions and tells you to do it the other way around. But, before that, a little history…
Puff pastry was invented in 1645 by Claudius Gele, an apprentice pastry chef. He decided to bake an improved bread for his father who was sick and on a diet of flour, butter and water. Now I would like to know what kind of illness you might have for this to be a recommended cure - but given what came of it, I’m not overly upset! So young Claudius made a bread dough and inserted butter into it. Lots of butter. He kneaded the dough and folded it several times and then made it into a loaf and after baking, the luscious crispy melting deliciousness was the beginnings of puff! The kitchens of the world would discover its magic, and the history of the world changed course.
Fast forward from Chef Gele, and whilst I’m not a pastry chef, I’m really into inverted puff. The technique: I made the detrempte (the flour paste) and rolled it out to a rectangle. I then made the butter paste, adding a little flour to the butter and rolling out another rectangle of a smaller size. I then cut a large piece of baking paper and rolled out the butter mix and then placed the flour paste into the middle of the rolled butter; it doesn’t make sense but weirdly it works. Once the butter paste had been folded over the detrempe, I rolled it out gently to a larger shape twice the size it was. I then folded it, like a letter and then covered it and placed it on a tray and put it in the fridge to rest.
I did the rolling and folding four more times, resting the dough every second turn, and turning the pastry 90 degrees between folds. As much as this recipe takes a long time and a large dose of discipline, it really is worth it! The end result is one of such lightness and delicacy, way beyond that of the usual way of making puff, that if you find yourself on a rainy day in Paris with a few hours to spare and the good fortune of having a couple of kilos of (if you’re lucky) Normandian butter in the fridge, then you will be rewarded with something truly wonderful.
You can see how the pastry changes colour as the butter makes its way into the folds - that is the reward and the promise of a feather light and delicate pastry to come.
Go do it - its worth it!
Places to find recipes: The Pastry’s Chef’s Guide by Ravneet Gill
Ester by Matt Linsday , with Pat Nourse
The first time I made this pastry , I followed a recipe by celebrated Chef Danielle Alvarez. It was online and unfortunately, I cant exactly remember where I saw it, but if you find it, please let me know.
After all the rain, the sun made a brief appearance and I took a walk to an Archibald boulangerie as mentioned in the wonderful newsletter Secrets of Paris by Heather Stimmler. When I arrived, there was another lady who had been drawn there by reading the same article - gleaned from listening to her chatting to the sales assistant! We happily swapped instagram accounts and took our bread, looking forward to getting home to try to see if was as good as promised. The sales assistant said - C’est fou! The grain bread was delicious with a lovely sour tang. I love good bread and will always go out of my way to find it, and this was a trip worth making. On the way home I passed signs of spring, blossoms and magnolias in full bloom.
I have been making lots of salads as well, a reader has asked for vegetarian recipes and a few extra guests for an informal lunch, gave me the opportunity to have fun.
This salad is with charred sprouts, gorgeous baby apples that recently turned up at the market here in Paris all sweet and rosy red, baby chicory, mint, fetta, slivers of eschallots and sunflower seeds and toasted pine nuts, for the crunch I’m always looking for and think is so important. Radish top pesto, bound with fetta and parsley, and a good squeeze of lemon brought it all together.
The last week brought a purely professional girl crush into my orbit, Jurgen Teller for a shoot on the roof of the building, for Vogue Australia. I was up in the garden rooting around replanting my veggies in readiness for the growing season ahead when the Australian/Brazilian up and coming mega model, wearing incredible designs, popped her head over the balustrade.
I was covered in dirt…
But hey I’m happy that the garden is in preperation for the growing season. Lots more on this to come ~
Fun things seen in Paris this week:
As a friend moved house, I found these French birth announcements at the back of a wardrobe. I loved them. The hood and the wheels moved and I was intrigued. Can we bring this back??
Set the table:
This one is a little different, more to do with a surprise newsletter next week, and my day to day job, enjoy!
An Australian version of spring.
After the blossoms and the magnolias come the cherry blossoms - cant wait xx
Brussel sprout salad with apples and feta.
Take some lightly roasted Brussel sprouts that have been charred lightly and place in a bowl. Add 50g of feta, thinly sliced apples from half an apple, toasted sunflower seeds and 20g pine nuts, a good handful of greens (I used baby red and green chicory, but whatever you have on hand will work), and thinly sliced eschallot. To this, throw in a handful of fresh mint leaves. Toss gently making sure all is mixed well. Add a good squeeze of lemon juice and a glug of olive oil. Finished with a quenelle or two of radish top pesto, receipe next week.