sweet breads whose structure is divided by layers of fat Croissants and Danish pastries are really bread-pastry hybrids Varieties of Pastry in Elizabethan Times Beginning in the Middle Ages, one of the primary purposes of pastry was to contain and help preserve preparations of meat Meat brought to a simmer inside a thick, durable crust would essentially be pasteurized and protected against contamination by microbes in the air, so in a cool place it would keep for many days Other dishes to be eaten freshly baked would be made with a more delicate pastry As Gervase Markham wrote around 1615 in The English Housewife, our English housewife must be skilful in pastry, and know how and in what manner to bake all sorts of meat, and what paste is fit for every meat, and how to handle and compound such pastes Pastry making flowered in the Mediterranean region in the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance, when puff and cream puff pastries first appeared By the time of La Varenne in the 17th century, both crumbly and puff pastries were standard preparations The bread-pastry hybrids are a more recent invention from the late 19th and 20th centuries Pastry Styles There are several different styles of pastry, each with a different texture that is created by the kinds of particles into which they come apart when chewed Crumbly pastries — short pastry, pâte brisée — come apart into small, irregular particles Flaky pastries — American pie crusts — come apart in small, irregular, thin ...Pastry making flowered in the Mediterranean region in the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance, when puff and cream puff pastries first appeared By the time of La Varenne in the 17th century, both crumbly and puff pastries were standard preparations... puff pastries were standard preparations The bread-pastry hybrids are a more recent invention from the late 19th and 20th centuries Pastry Styles There are several different styles of pastry, each with a different texture that is created by... There are several different styles of pastry, each with a different texture that is created by the kinds of particles into which they come apart when chewed Crumbly pastries — short pastry, pâte brisée — come apart into small, irregular