A Bite of History

I have pastry class this term. I thought it will be such a drag because we won't be cooking in the hot kitchen. The class start at 5am which means I have to be awake by at least 4am to make it on time. Surprisingly, I'm really enjoying it. The class was moved to 530 and I still get to class half an hour before to do my mise-en-place.

I know you can't believe it and I can't believe it myself either. I'm so not a morning person. But I guess it's one thing to have to wake up really early and feel like not wanting to get up because I have to drag myself to another day's work... and it's something to wake up looking forward to something new I'll learn to create. Strangely, that's how I feel everyday. I've only been doing pastry for about 3 weeks now and I've learned so much so far. It's unfortunate that with my accelerated program, we only get to do things once so I just take advantage of other opportunities by volunteering to assist the chef in bread and pastry production for the Cafe. this way, I get to do make some pastries, at least twice.

This week, I learned how to make some cakes from scratch. It's such a novelty to me because it's so convinient to make semi-homemade cakes out of a box and with just a little personal touch, they can pass for someone's personal formula (so I'm not exactly givingi that up).

Fruit Charlotte is one of the cakes we made. It's basically lined with lady fingers, filled with fruit mousee and topped with fresh fruits. It would have been nice making this in the summer time though where the fruits are tastier and juicier and a little more inexpensive. I don't really like those slices of peaches there. For one thing, the peaches during winter are hard as rock and pretty much tasteless. But they did the job of covering the big spot in the middle when I ran out of berries to complete my topping.

We sliced up some of the cakes and it's pretty good. It's so refreshing. The fruit mousse which is made with meringue and fruit puree is very light, the lady fingers gives it a little crusty texture and the fesh fruits gives it some bite. The ribbon looked good on it. It's very traditional.

This cake has so much history to it. Quoting from my chef instructor's notes (Chef Klaus Tenbergen): "The original Charlotte (which appeared at the end of the 18th century, perhaps in honor of Queen Charlotte, the wife of George III of England) is inspired by English desserts. It is made from a thick fruit purée flavored with lemon and cinnamon, poured into a round mould with a slightly flared rim, lined with slices of buttered bread. The dish is baked in the oven, then turned out of the mould and served warm with a cold custard cream. Carême invented charlotte russe. This is a chilled uncooked dish consisting of vanilla Bavarian cream (or chocolate mousse, coffee mousse, a bombe mixture or Chantilly cream) poured into a charlotte mould lined with sponge fingers (ladyfingers). The latter can be soaked in liqueur or coffee beforehand. The preparation is allowed to cool and then turned out of the mould. Carême names his creation charlotte à la parisienne, but this name was changed during the Second Empire, when Russian dishes become very fashionable”. Larousse Gastronomique. Today, anything surrounded by Lady Fingers is called Charlotte."

Speaking of History, another cake we learned how to make is the Sacher Cake or traditionally called, Sachertorte. This is another one filled with a lot of History. Quoting from www.whatscookingamerica.com, "Sacher Torte is a famous Viennese cake, probably the most famous chocolate cake of all-time. It consists of chocolate sponge cake cut into three layers, between which apricot jam are thickly spread between the layers and on the top and sides of the cake. The whole cake is then iced with a velvet-like chocolate and served with a side dish of whipped cream. It was created in 1832 by Chef Franz Sacher for Prince Clemens Lothar Wensel Metternich (1773-1859) of Austria. The prince enjoyed trying new dishes and ordered the chef to create a new cake. Orders were sent to the kitchens where it was instant pandemonium. The head chef was sick and the team of cooks in the kitchen had no idea what to prepare. Franz Sacher, a 16-year old apprentice cook, rolled up his sleeves and created this famous chocolate cake with the ingredients that were available. The Sacher Torte and other recipes made him prosperous, and he operated several cafes and restaurants."

It's interesting to know the history behind something I like to eat and make. It's something I can talk about when making it for other people.

Things like these make getting up early and being in the kitchen creating something special for other people to enjoy... all worth it.

History and Everybody's Cafe: Learning about little things like history behind food brings tingles up my spine. It reminds me about our very own Everybody's Cafe and how it has become a part of the lives of so many people who dined in it throu the last 50 years. It's actually something people has talk about. Perhaps it's high time I research the details and document it. That'll be something good to share.