Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Dough you want to know a secret?
A recent increase in discussions regarding pie has made something obvious to me: good crust is what makes someone’s reputation as a pie baker. It turns out that everyone knows at least one pie baker against whom all other pie bakers are measured and in every case, the first thing people praise about their (uncle’s/grandma’s/neighbor’s/friend’s/librarian’s) pie is the quality of the crust. Nobody ever says “wow, Aunt So-and-so really knows how to make a nice, firm, non-runny apple pie filling.” Comments are always about the lightness/flakiness etc. of the crust. And everyone’s special pie maker has a decided trick; in a twenty four hour period I have been counseled both to use only ice water and to use only room temperature water in my crusts. However crusts are made, they are clearly the secret to pie celebrity, and I need some serious practice if I am ever going to take anyone on in a pie bake-off.
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6 comments:
Your post leaves me pondering something I often wonder about: what do people really mean when they say, the crust is "flaky"? I don't think anyone has really defined the word in a useful way. Witness for example the fact that people in the tasting of the control pie were split on whether the crust was flaky. Isn't flakiness something that should be obvious? I don't taste a roast beef and say, oh how delightfully crunchy.
Ellen, I challenge you to solve this conundrum. Help me understand what it means to be flaky.
Who's "gradstudent"? I just posted that comment and it identified me as "gradstudent." Why did it do that? I have no idea. The real me is struggling to get out, but the overwhelming forces of technology are imprisoning me in my identity as a lousy unwashed poorly socialized gradstudent! Help! Ellen! It's me, your friend Helen. Heeeelpp
aaack! it did it again! help!
okay, fine, mr. computer, you win. I'll go work on my damn dissertation. I know that's what you want, isn't it? Fine.
But you can't stop me from checking Ellen's blog any darn time I want. I defy you to stop me from reading about pie! You can name me, Mr. Computer, but you can't own my soul.
boo, internet for trying to label our Helen.
I too am unclear on flakiness. In pie crust world, is it the opposite of doughy? I can get behind that. Although I think one of the worst crimes of commercial pie baking is the excessively flaky crust - you know, the one that has an inch thick crust all of which has the consistancy of fish food.
Helen, I believe the internets have simply identified you as the Platonic ideal of a grad student. You are, simply, [the] "gradstudent." You must accept this fate.
I dislike excessively flaky crusts b/c pieces of crust inevitably end up on my face and clothes, meaning more pie crust ends up on or about my person than in my tummy, which is usually the opposite of any pie-eating objective.
Worst of all, flaky pie crust sticks to your lipstick, and while one doesn't want vain concerns about their appearance to slow them down while eating pie....well, I prefer not to end up looking like the unkempt dessert pig that I really am.
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