PUFF PASTRY JOURNEY

Puff Pastry (PP) is an exam subject in 3-weeks. To me it might as well be rocket science as I struggle to deal with the dough, the butter, the roll, the lamination, the thickness etc etc I have to face the simple fact that I do not have the feel for it, at least 'Not Yet'. Managing the 'detrempe' ie French culinary term for a mixture of flour & water, or the dough, is the hardest thing. To make things complicated there are 3 ways of preparing the detrempe namely the French, English & Scottish Methods. While the end game is, to this hopeless amateur, more or less the same the devil is in the process called 'turns'. To me the very word 'turn' has been trouble, whether we 'turn' carrots, potatoes or PP dough. To make sure one is confused the 'lamination' - must be pronounced with a heavy French accent to give it due respect - a 'turn' can be either a half turn, single turn, double turn or a book turn x 6 times each. Are you still with me? If not 'no worries', our course notes say there are commercially prepared PP sold in slabs or rolls. BTW the Scottish Method is aka the Rough Method as the butter is not managed as delicately. I see iamges of Mel Gibson's fierce Scottish men at 'Brave Hearts' taking time off, 'roughly turning their puff pastries' at camp to relax from fighting the Brits. I am told - more like warned - if one can get the Choux & Puff Pastries right one should have 'no worries' on assessment week. Let me say this, nothing will stop me from worrying about this.

The picture is misleading, it has an array of PP items I produced in class but while they may look the part from a distance, at bottom they are not quite what they are. PP are supposed to 'puff' and not 'sort of puffed' which is my scene. The question chefs like to ask is, ' ... if you are the customer would you buy this product?'. I think we all know the answer. BTW the round objects at the top & left are Vol-au-Vents & Bouchees; the fish that can never swim is Salmon en Croute; and the even bigger round object is my Beef Bourguignon Pie. We spent Day 1 on preparing the dough, Day 2 to make these & Day 3 ie today on another slate of afternoon tea products.