On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 1060

Gravity keeps the cake structure stretched to its maximum volume while the walls of the gas cells firm and develop cracks that allow the pressure inside and outside the cells to equalize Cakes keep for several days at room temperature, and they can be refrigerated or frozen They stale more slowly than bread, thanks to the presence of emulsifiers and their high proportions of moisture, fat, and moisture-retaining sugar Pastries Pastries bear little family resemblance to cakes or breads or pastas They’re a very different expression of the nature of the wheat grain In making other dough and batter foods, we use water to fuse the particles of wheat flour into an integrated mass of gluten and starch granules, and further knit that mass together with cooking By contrast, pastry is an expression of the fragmentary, discontinuous, particulate qualities of wheat flour We use just enough water to make a cohesive dough from the flour, and work in large amounts of fat to coat and separate flour particles and dough regions from each other Cooking gelates half or less of the waterdeprived starch, and produces a dry mass that readily crumbles or flakes in the mouth, releasing the fat’s complementary moist richness Many pastries are not prepared and eaten on their own as other dough and batter foods are Instead they serve as a contrasting container for a moist filling, whether savory (quiche, pâté, meat pies, vegetable tarts) or sweet (fruit pies and tarts, creams, custards) The container may be open, as in tarts and open-faced pies, a closed double-crust pie, or fully enclosed turnovers — samosas, empanadas, pasties, pierogi, piroshki We also use the term “pastry” for what are essentially ... Many pastries are not prepared and eaten on their own as other dough and batter foods are Instead they serve as a contrasting container for a moist filling, whether savory (quiche, pâté, meat pies, vegetable tarts) or...an expression of the fragmentary, discontinuous, particulate qualities of wheat flour We use just enough water to make a cohesive dough from the flour, and work in large amounts of fat to coat and separate flour... particles and dough regions from each other Cooking gelates half or less of the waterdeprived starch, and produces a dry mass that readily crumbles or flakes in the mouth, releasing the fat’s complementary moist