Pastries with Panache

The Oxford English Dictionary defines pastry as “dough made of flour, fat and water used for covering pies or holding fillings.” Webster’s New World Dictionary states that pastries include “all fancy baked goods.”

Most pastry dough contains similar basic ingredients, including flour, fat (usually butter), liquid (water or milk) and eggs. The varied shapes and textures — from short doughs to paper-thin phyllo — are due to the different proportions and handling of the ingredients.

Pastries often come filled with fruit, meat, veggies, cheese, cream or nuts. Many countries and regions have signature pastries. Flaky strudels, such as apple, cherry and poppy-seed, are popular in Germany and Hungary. The French indulge in profiteroles, sweet or savory cream puffs glazed with caramelized sugar. In Denmark, Danish, or Wienerbrod, is a rich pastry, often filled with almonds, fruit jams, cream cheese, nuts or custard. The North American versions are sweeter and cakier. Cannoli is a deep-fried Sicilian pastry flavored with Marsala, cinnamon and cocoa, and filled with ricotta cheese, and chocolate chips and/or nuts. Russian coulibiac is a puff pastry with a salmon or egg filling, delicately flavored with dill or parsley, and served in a creamy mushroom-velouté sauce.

From the Ottoman Empire comes borek, phyllo-dough-based finger pastries including: Moroccan bisteeya, layered phyllo with seasoned pigeon meat and almond paste lightly dusted with sugar and cinnamon; Tunisian brik, filled with cheese, cilantro, raisins and/or dates; baklava and kadayiff, filled with crushed pistachios, almonds or walnuts and drenched with honey or sugar syrup; deep-fried righaif, curly pastries basted with honey and topped with sesame seeds; makroud (date cookies); spanakopita, Greek spinach and feta-cheese pies; and pasteles, Israeli pastries with eggplant or ground-meat fillings.

Today, our concept of pastries includes the sweets and snacks of Asia and Latin America. Mooncakes, made with sweet red adzuki-bean paste, brown date paste or lotus-seed paste, are traditional Chinese pastries eaten to celebrate the harvest season. Curry puffs, as well as bibingka, kueh lapis or kueh dada, are colorful and layered pastries that contain sticky rice, tapioca pearls, brown sugar, coconut milk and pandan essence. The Indian samosa is a flaky pastry stuffed with minced meat, potatoes, peas and/or cheese.

Empanadas are popular throughout Latin American, and contain a myriad of seasoned fillings. Other favorites include picarones (sweet calabaza fritters), cheese puffs, deep-fried bunuelos sprinkled with sugar, cocadas or coconut candies, and docinhos or bonbons.

Note: Regarding September’s World Fare (Food Product Design, page146) the author wishes to clarify that goat meat is eaten in many Asian regions, especially in South India, Southeast Asia, as well as Mexico and Africa, where it is also called mutton. Examples are sop tulang, dry hot curries, barbacoa and birrias.

Susheela Uhl is president of Horizons Consulting Inc., a Mamaroneck, NY-based food-consulting firm, which develops ethnic, fusion and “new” American products for the U.S. and global markets. Horizons provides market trends, culinary demonstrations and presentations on ethnic foods, spices and seasonings, and technical support. Uhl can be reached via e-mail at [email protected], or by visiting www.SusheelaConsulting.com.