St Honore a Classic Parisian Dessert
This Parisian dessert is named after the patron saint of boulangers, Saint-Honoré, also known as Honoratus. The story goes that when Saint-Honoré was the bishop of Amiens, a baker’s peel (flat wooden utensil used to move loaves of bread in and out of hot ovens) grew roots and transformed into a fruit tree! The dessert, invented in the 19th century in a Parisian pastry shop on the Rue Saint-Honoré, was initially a ring of cream puffs with pastry cream filling. It eventually morphed into its current day shape: a pastry disk filled with cream, covered with cream puffs, caramelized sugar and whipped cream. It is called a “master pastry” because it contains some of the fundamental recipes and methods taught in pastry school: puff pastry, pâte à choux, pastry cream and caramelized sugar. The cream filling is called Chiboust after the pastry shop in which the dessert was invented: it is a type of custard and egg white combination, sometimes flavored with zests like orange or vanilla. It is also worth noting that there exists a specialpiping tip called the St Honoré that has a distinct “V” shape: it allows the pastry-maker to set creamy designs on the cake!the exact origin of the dish and others point to the fact that a version of this dish had already been invented by the Spanish Muslims in the 12th century. While the recipe does vary from chef to chef, the beans are a fixture of cassoulet. Waverly Root, English journalist and writer, identifies three main types of cassoulet: the dishes from Castelnaudary, Carcasonne, and Toulouse. The main difference between these cassoulets is the type of meat used (in addition to the main base of pork, sausage, ham, some regions add partridge, mutton or goose). Considered a wintertime comfort food type of meal, cassoulet has its own holiday in the United States (January 9th)!