Thin is In

Pastry shells as thin as butterfly wings.

They say that a great cup of Illy coffee is always served with a biscuit on the side. At Laurent Bernard Cafe and Chocolate Bar, the biscuit comes bite size - which is just the right size to aromatize and enhance the flavour of its freshly brewed cappuccinos.

And the same paradigm can be applied to making the pastry shell of a rich tomato and anchovy quiche. You want the shell to do its job of keeping the pie's shaped without dominating the rich flavours coming through it's savoury fruit and fish filling. The same applies to making a cheesy tattie pie.

But to get the pastry shell that papery thin, you'll have to discard the traditional way the dough is made to fill the pie tray. Rolling it flat out and then draping the flattened dough always make the crust thicker than it should be. You see, if the dough gets flattened too thinly, it will tear as you roll it out over and into the baking tin.

To get that pastry shell super thin, I use a pinch, press and mosaic technique. I pinch off small balls of dough and use my thumb to flatten the ball onto the base of the baking tin. I station the balls at distances from each other in a pattern that allows the edges of their flattened forms to link up and merge into one continuous mosaic. And I do the same to the sides of the pie tin.

This technique takes a lot longer in getting the whole inner surface of the pie tin covered with waffle thin dough. But the effort is definitely worth the inconvenience as the freshly baked pastry shell holds the shape of the filling nicely. And when the nicely baked dish is served, the tomatoes and anchovies stay the lunch time stars; just as you would want the parmesan and potato slices to shine in the tattie pie.

So as far as pastry shells are the concern of this everyday "chef", thin is definitely in.