- This article describes Pastry in food. For the
Distributed Hash Table system, see Pastry .

Blackberry Pie
Pastry is the name given to various kinds of
baked goods made from ingredients such as
flour,
butter,
shortening, baking powder or
egg. Small cakes, tarts and other sweet baked
goods are called "pastries".
Pastry may also refer to the
dough from which
such baked goods are made. Pastry dough is rolled out thinly and
used as a base for
baked goods. Common pastry
dishesinclude
pies,
tarts
and
quiches..
Pastry is distinguished from
bread by having a
higher fat content, which contributes to a flaky or crumbly
texture. A good pastry is light and airy and fatty, but firm enough
to support the weight of the filling. When making a
shortcrust pastry, care must be taken to
blend the fat and flour thoroughly before adding any liquid. This
ensures that the flour granules are adequately coated with fat and
less likely to develop
gluten. On the other
hand, overmixing results in long
gluten
strands that toughen the pastry. In other types of pastry, such as
Danish pastry and
croissants, the characteristic flaky texture is
achieved by repeatedly rolling out a
dough
similar to that for
yeast bread, spreading it
with
butter, and folding it to produce many
thin layers of folds.
Many pie recipes involve
blind-baking
the pastry before the filling is added. Pastry dough may be
sweetened or perhaps unsweetened.
Main types of pastry

Strudel, a phyllo pastry

Pecan and maple Danish pastry, a puff
pastry type

- Shortcrust pastry
- The shortcrust, or short, pastry is the simplest and most
common pastry made. It is made with the ingredients of flour, fat,
salt, and water. The process of making pastry include mixing of the
fat and flour, adding water, and rolling out the paste. It is
cooked at 180°C and the result is a soft,
tender pastry. A related type is the sweetened sweetcrust pastry.
- Flaky (or rough puff) pastry
- The flaky pastry is a simple pastry that expands when cooked
due to amount of layers. These are perfect if you are looking for a
crisp, buttery pastry. The “puff” is obtained by beginning the
baking process with a high temperature and lowering the temperature
to finish.
- Puff pastry
- The puff pastry has many layers that causes it to expand or
“puff” when being baked. Pastries are made using flour, butter,
salt, and water. It rises up due to the combination and reaction of
the four ingredients and also from the good amount of air that gets
between the layers. Puff pastries come out of the oven light,
flaky, and tender.
- Choux pastry
- The choux pastry is a very light pastry that is filled with
cream. The pastry is filled with various flavors of cream and is
often topped with chocolate. Choux pastries can also be filled with
things like cheese, tuna, or chicken to be used as appetizers.
- Phyllo (filo) pastry
- Phyllo pastries are usually paper-thin and greatly stretched.
They involve several stretched out layers and are wrapped around a
filling and brushed with butter. These pastries are very delicate
and can break easily.
Background
Pastries go back to the ancient Mediterranean almost paper-thin
multi-layered baklava and filo. Medieval Europe took on pastry
making after the Crusaders brought it back. French and Italian
Renaissance chefs eventually perfected the Puff and Choux pastries,
while 17th and 18th century chefs brought new recipes to the table.
These new pastries included brioche, Napoleons, cream puffs, and
éclairs. French chef
Antonin Careme
reportedly was the first to incorporate art in pastry making.
Definitions

- Pastry
- A mixture of flour, fat, possibly egg and sugar, the fat
usually dispersed as small solid globules coated with flour and the
whole brought together with liquid prior to shaping and baking.
There are many types of pastry.
- Pastry board
- A square or oblong board preferably marble but usually wood on
which pastry is rolled out.
- Pastry brake
- Opposed and contra-rotating rollers with a variable gap through
which pastry can be worked and reduced in thickness for commercial
production. A very small version is used domestically for pasta
production.
- Pastry case
- An uncooked or blind baked pastry container used to hold savory
or sweet mixtures.
- Pastry cream
- Confectioner's custard.
An egg and flour thickened custard made with
sweetened milk flavored with vanilla. Used as a filling for flans,
cakes, pastries, tarts, etc. The flour prevents the egg from
curdling.
- Pastry cutters
- Various metal or plastic outlines of shapes, e.g. circles
fluted circles, diamonds, ginger bread men, etc. Sharpened on one
edge and used to cut out corresponding shapes from biscuit, scone,
pastry, or cakes mixtures.
- Pastry blender
- A kitchen implement used to properly combine the fat and flour.
Usually constructed of wire or plastic, with multiple wires or
small blades connected to a handle.
Physics and chemistry of a pastry
Different kinds of pastries are made by the nature of wheat flour
and also due to certain types of fats. When wheat flour is kneaded
into plain dough and made with water it develops strands of gluten,
which are what make the bread tough and elastic. In a typical
pastry, however, this toughness is unwanted so fat or oil is put in
to slow down the development of gluten. It is common to use lard or
suet here because they have a coarse, crystalline structure that is
very effective. Using only unclarified butter does not always work
well because of its water content; clarified butter is virtually
water free. Shortcrust pastry using only butter may develops an
inferior texture. If the fat is melted with hot water, or if liquid
oil is used, the thin oily layer between the grains offers less
obstacle to gluten formation and the resulting pastry is tougher.
In hot water pastry, liquid oil or melted fat is used, the layer or
oil between the grains makes it easier for gluten to form, making
the pastry tougher.
History

A typical Mediterranean baklava, a
phyllo dough pastry sweetened with syrup

Shop selling pastries in Syria
European traditions of pastry-making is often traced back to the
short crust era flaky doughs that were in use throughout the
Mediterranean in ancient times. These recipes were popularized in
Western Europe by Crusaders returning home.
In the Mediterranean, the Romans, Greeks and Phoenicians all had
filo-style pastries in their culinary traditions. There is also
strong evidence that the ancient Egyptians produced pastry-like
confections. It is very possible that Egyptians made and ate
pastries. They had professional bakers that surely had the skills
to do so, and they also had needed materials like flour oil and
honey.In the plays of Aristophanes, in 5th century BC, there are
mentions of sweetmeats including small pastries filled with
fruit.The Romans used flour, oil and water to make pastries that
were used to cover meats and fowls. They did this during baking to
keep in the juices, but this was not meant to be eaten by people. A
pastry that was meant to be eaten was a richer pastry that was made
into small pastries and contained eggs or little birds. It was
often served at banquets. Greeks and Roman both struggled in making
a good pastry because of the fact that they both used oil in the
cooking process and oil causes the pastry to lose its
stiffness.
In medieval North Europe they were able to produce nice, stiff
pastries because they cooked with lard and butter. There were some
incomplete lists of ingredients found in medieval cookbooks, but no
full, detailed versions. There were stiff, empty pastries called
coffins or '
huff paste', that were eaten
by servants only and included an egg yolk glaze to help make them
more enjoyable to consume. Medieval pastries also included small
tarts to add richness to the snack. It was not until about the Mid
16th century until actual pastry recipes showed up.These recipes
were adopted and adapted over time in various European countries,
resulting in the myriad of pastry traditions known to the region,
from Portuguese "pastéis de nata" in the west to Russian "pirozhky"
in the east. The use of chocolate in pastry-making in the West, so
commonplace today, arose only after Spanish and Portuguese traders
brought chocolate to Europe from the New World starting in the
1500s.Many culinary historians consider French pastry chef Antonin
Carème (1784-1833) to have been the first great master of pastry
making in modern times.
Pastry-making also has a strong tradition in many parts of Asia.
Chinese pastry is made from rice, or
different types of flour, with fruit,
sweet bean paste or
sesame-based fillings. Since the 19th century, the
British brought western-style pastry to the
far
east.
Though it would be the French influenced
Maxim in the 1950s that made
western pastry popular in Chinese-speaking regions starting with
Hong
Kong
. Still, the term "Western Cake" (西餅) is used
to differentiate between the automatically assumed Chinese pastry.
Other Asian countries such as Korea have traditionally prepared
pastry-confections such as tteok, hangwa, yaksi, among others with
flour, rice, fruits, and regional specific ingredients to make
unique type desserts. And Japan also has specialized
pastry-confections better known as mochi and manju.
Pastry-confection that have their origins from Asia are clearly
distinct from the western pastry-confections that are generally
much sweeter to the palate.
Pastry chef
Those who make pastries professionally are known as either
bakers or
pastry chefs,
depending on whether they produce pastries for a
bakery or a
restaurant.Pastry chefs use a combination of
culinary ability and creativity in baking, decoration, and
flavoring with ingredients. Many baked goods require a lot of time
and focus. Presentation is an important part of pastry and dessert
preparation. The job is often physically demanding job that
requires lots of work with your hands and long hours on your feet
and can be stressful with hours that start in the early morning.
They are also responsible for creating new recipes to put on the
menu. Pastry chefs work in restaurants, bistros, large hotels,
casinos and bakeries. Pastry baking is usually held in a slightly
separate part from the main kitchen. This section of the kitchen is
in charge of making pastries, desserts, and other baked
goods.
Gallery
Image:Foto.Linzertorte.JPG
Image:Poffert.jpgFile:Mignon14hpA3.jpgFile:Weihnachtskeks(RobertK).jpgFile:Moorkoppen.jpgFile:Feesttompoucen0865.jpgFile:
Gaufre liege.jpgFile:File:Pork and cherry picnic pie.jpg
See also
References
- http://www.kswheat.com/upload/got-pastry.pdf
-
http://www.onlinereviewworld.com/education/pastry-arts.html?gkw=history+of+pastry+arts
- http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodpies.html
- Sinclair, Charles. International Dictionary of Culinary Terms.
Grand Rapids: Bloomsbury Plc, 1998
- Jaine, Tom, and Soun Vannithone. The Oxford Companion to Food.
New York: Oxford UP, 1999
- http://www.pfisterconsulting.com/history.htm
- Jaine, Tom, and Soun Vannithone. The Oxford Companion to Food.
New York: Oxford UP, 1999
- http://www.bakeinfo.co.nz/school/school_info/pastry.php
- http://www.allculinaryschools.com/faqs/baking
- http://www.jobprofiles.org/retpastrychef.htm