Double feature: Today I am HONORED to be doing a guest blog for book author/photographer/blogger Kristin Espinasse, at her enormously popular
French-Word-a-Day site (www.french-word-a-day.typepad.com), about her life in Provence and her love of language. When you visit, be sure to check out her books, they’re really special. They make fabulous gifts, I’ve given them to all my friends on both sides of the pond.
At French-Word-A-Day you can read a little story about Nicole that is very dear to my heart, which I’ve called “Love & a Tarte Tatin”. Meanwhile, 200 miles north in Burgundy, I’ll tell you another story: a quirky history of Tarte Tatin, that legendary French treat, and the Tatin sisters who started it all.
Our story begins in the late 1800’s in a small town in the Loire valley with two sisters, unmarried, who ran a small hotel. At the desk was the youngest, the tender-hearted Caroline Tatin. Every pensionnaire of the hotel considered her a friend, and many sought her out for confidential advice on affairs of the heart.
The older sister, Stéphanie Tatin, took care of the cooking, and she could be found at any time of day working the stove with her big copper pots. Her specialty was tarte aux pommes, that traditional French apple pie, which she served crunchy and caramelized, with melted sugar and butter.
One day when she was preparing lunch in a bit of a hurry, by mistake Stéphanie put the
apples and sugar in the pan without putting the crust in first. In a rush she threw the crust on top, baked it a bit too long, then turned it out on a plate, upside down, not bothering to let it cool as she usually did. Et voila, the delicious tarte tatin was born.
Ah, but then the intrigue begins! Maxim's, the famous Paris restaurant, got wind of the popularity of the tart, and engaged a chef to pose as a gardener and steal the recipe. It has been on their menu ever since.
If you’ve read the guest blog at French-Word-a-Day, you know by now that the best tarte tatin on the planet is made by our own châtelaine, Nicole. I’m privileged to present you with her formerly secret recipe.
RECIPE: Nicole’s Incomparable Tarte Tatin
For the filling:
6 medium sized apples, cored & peeled. Cut 4 in half, 2 in quarters.
(Nicole says any apple will do, and she sometimes mixes varieties. Traditionally it’s made with firm dessert apples, not cooking apples).
2 ½ T. butter, melted (30g)
¾ cup sugar (150g)
For the crust:
1 stick of butter, (120g), softened
1/3 cup sugar (75g)
1 egg
1 2/3 cup flour (250g)
Crème fraiche, or whipped cream
NOTE: Plan this dessert so you take it out of the oven about an hour before you are ready to serve it. It is always served warm.
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Your pan should be about 8 inches (20cm) in diameter and at least 2 inches (5 cm) deep (Nicole uses a heavy pottery dish. We southern girls would use a cast iron skillet). Swirl the melted butter around the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle the sugar evenly over the butter. Arrange the apple halves, cut side down, on top of the sugar. Fill in spaces with the quarters. Cook about an hour; apples will brown lightly.
Meanwhile, make pastry:
Cream butter and sugar together until well blended. Add egg, mix well. Stir in flour to make a dough. On floured surface, form dough into a long cylinder, cut into thirds, and pile up the 3 pieces. Mix/knead them together with your hands until blended. Repeat 2 more times. Roll out to circle a little larger than your pan; dough will be a tad bit thicker than a normal piecrust.
When apples are done, cover apples with dough and tuck in edges around apples. Bake 50 minutes more. Set pan out to cool, for 1 hour.
Just before serving, Cover pan with plate and flip pan and plate together carefully, turning tarte out onto plate. Serve with cream.
As the French say: miam miam!
Picture of the Tatin Hotel courtesy of http://web.archive.org/web/20021121201746/http://www.tarte-tatin.com/, where you can also read the story in French (or one version—there are variations of this oft-told tale).
Charleston Shrimp & Grits is a low country classic recipe, one of my favorites. Go to the fantastic expat newsletter at American Market, www.myamericanmarket.com, to get my recipe for it, and to read about the trials (and joys) of grocery shopping in France. And, fellow expats, you can buy your American ‘comfort food’ there!
