HISTORY OF PASTRY

HISTORY OF PASTRY
Pastry has evolved since Neolithic man. However, the main civilisations responsible for the evolution and spread pastry craft could be attributed largely to the great of ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman civilisations. The ancient Egyptians fashioned the first crude pastries out of grain meal flavored with honey, fruits and spices. The Greeks and Romans improved on the early recipes, but it was in the Middle East where pastries were developed into something of a culinary art form. Pastries were first brought to Europe during the Muslim invasion of the 7th century and quickly captured the imagination of European chefs (Wheat foods council ). Their inventive use of pastries reached its zenith during the Renaissance when pies were filled with live rabbits, frogs, and birds for special banquets, just as in the old nursery rhyme “Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie.” However the Chinese also had knowledge on pastry making .In Europe the spread of pastry craft maybe attributed to the Romans through their conquest , which enable the introduction of a vast variety of raw ingredients to be used in their cooking.
In 400 BC, the ancient craftsmen of Rome had established The Pastillarium corporation. Factors that contributed to the widespread and evolution of pastry included:
a. wars
b. invasions
c. marriages between members of the royal households
d. Great explorers
e. Merchants
f. Craftsmen
g. Famous gastronomes
h. Cookery writers

Such influences included the spread of cuisines and terminologies, such as the time when the Moors invaded Spain during the 8th century. The Norman conquest of 1066 resulted in a missives entry of French culture , permeating the English language , cusine , , culinary terminology , eating habits and customs. Arranged marriages , to resolve state disputes saw the union of two cultures , through chefs , courtiers , recipes , culinary terminology and customs. ( Juliet 1999) .

The golden age of pastry is often associated with France in the 18th and 19th centuries, when Antoine Careme founded haute cuisine. . He had spent much of his time perfecting the craft of patisserie and creating new recipes. He not only promoted pastry in his practical work , but also published writings. He was succeeded by August Escoffier who totally transformed French Haute Cuisine to Classical Cusine. . This included the soufflé and ice cream coupes. The book, The Culinary Guide is one the many books written by Escoffier . The English version was published in 1902.

The latter half of the twentieth century experienced tremendous enhancement in global communications , worldwide travels as well as immigration of peoples worldwide. This has led to further evolution in gastronomy. One such example is the introduction of Novelle cuisine by Paul Bocause who transformed food on a plate to painting on a plate. The more recent contributors included Michel Roux and L.J. Heinnemann. Now, the craft and art of pastry is not only exclusive to Eurporean chefs but also across the world such as America (USA).
Chronology of patisserie :

400 B.C. – Pastillarium corporation funded in Rome

8th C - Moors invaded Spain. This left eastern influence. It brought
new and exotic commodities which transformed western
cuisine through Europe.

10th C - 1066 Norman conquest on England . Influx of French culture
permeated English Language , cuisine , culinary terminology,
eating habits and customs.

15th –16th C -European merchants and explorers were responsible for
expansion cuisines.
Tallivent was a medieval cook who transformed and refined
art of cooking, through his writing and recipe compilation.

18- 19th C Golden age of Pattiserie . Craft was transformed into art
Antoine Careme founded Haute cuisine followed by his successor Auguste Escoffier

Later half of 20th Century
- Global Communications , worldwide , travel & immigration of peoples
In 1960s Paul Bocasue promote Novelle Cuisine . For pastry , Chefs of the likes Michel Roux and L.J. Heinnemann contributed extensively and considered aspects of technology .

SUGAR CRUST

HISTORY OF SHORTCRUST PASTRY

Pliny the Elder, a Roman cookery writer and social historian, recorded that the a type of short crust pastry was made during Roman times, using rough flour, water and oil.
As early as 1250, a type of short crust pastry was made in France. The recipe for the pastry included flour, animal fat, salt and sugar. The famous medieval chef and cookery writer, Taillevent (1314-1395), in his book Le Viandier, which was published in 1379, explains that short crust pastry was made extensively during that time and was used in the production of sweet and savoury pies, tarts and flans.
In Elizabethan England, tarts were made with a rich short crust pastry with filling of fruit and flowers.

Definition of Pies and Tart
Pies – a crust topped with a sweet or savoury filling. Some pies have a top and bottom crust, a bottom crust only, or a top crust only. Pies are traditionally baked in a pie pan, a shallow, a slope-sided pan made of metal or other decorative materials such as ceramic.
Tarts – are just pies without a top crust, although there may be some exception. Tart has more variation than for a pie. Tarts pans may be geometrically shaped e.g round, square, rectangular or shape like hearts or flowers. The pans may or may not fluted. Tarts may also be prepared freeform without a pan.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TENDERNESS AND FLAKINESS IN A PASTRY CRUST
Certain fats are referred to as shortenings because tenderness results when the fat shortens strands of gluten, preventing them from joining together and producing a tough pastry crust. Where as flakiness result when pieces of fat, acting as spacers within the dough, melt in the oven and leave spaces of air in their place. These spaces of air expand and any moisture in the dough turns to steam, pushing up against each layer of dough. This expansion separates the layers of dough, producing flakiness in a similar manner to laminated doughs.

THREE DIFFERENT TYPES OF PASTRY DOUGHS
There are three basic types of pastry doughs
1. Pâte Brisêe
2. Pâte Sucrêe
3. Pâte Sablêe
Pâte Brisêe is a rich, flaky dough containing flour, salt, butter or fat , and ice water. In French Pâte Brisêe means “broken pastry”, which refers to the tender flakes that break off as one cuts into this rich crust.
There are two types of Pâte Brisêe: flake pie dough or mealy pie dough. The difference between them is in how thoroughly the fat pieces are blended into dry ingredients. The flaky pie dough – fat is mix until it breaks-up into pea-sized pieces. Where as mealy pie dough – fat is mix more thoroughly until it breaks up into finer pieces resembling corn meal.
Flaky pie doughs to produce a flaky crust because the larger fat pieces act as spacer separating the layers of dough during baking.
Mealy pie dough produces a more tender crust. This is because the fat is almost completely blended into the flour.
Pâte Sucrêe is a French terms “sweet” or “sugar dough”. Fat is creamed with the sugar, which gives tenderizers, interfering with the network of gluten and creating tender, not flaky pastry.
Pâte Sablêe is a French word, which means “sandy dough” and very sweet, crumbly short dough used for sweet tarts and cookies.