Mangosteens at Or Tor Kor market

I’m always excited to get back to Bangkok. On my first visit 7 years ago I described the city as an incredible combination of heaven and hell and it has only become more so. I started out my sixth visit, flying in from Hong Kong with my friend Jennifer. We had booked a three-bedroom condo for 5 days, and my friend Tim joined us late that night after we arrived.

On the bus to the market

Baby Mangoes at Or Tor Kor market

Fresh tamarind at Or Tor Kor

Thai sweets at Or Tor Kor

Jen’s favorite thing is visiting markets (and taking the bus to them), so first thing the next morning we were off to Or Tor Kor, the city’s best food market.  We stocked up on fruit and then braved the Chatuchak weekend market, less crowded on a Saturday.  We stopped for a refreshing coconut ice from a street vendor in the market after a bout of power shopping.

Coconut ice stand at Chatuchak

Coconut ice with corn kernels

Lunch one day was at one of old Bangkok’s classic shop house restaurants, Chote Chitre, was as good as we remembered from previous visits.  The tom yum soup is done in a special version here and is enriched with coconut milk and strips of young coconut along with the standard seasonings.

Chote Chitre shop house restaurant

Green eggplant salad Chote Chitre

Shrimp chu-chee curry at Chote Chitre

Tum yum gung at Chote Chitre

The following Monday we had a fine lunch at David Thompson’s nahm restaurant in the Metropolitan Hotel.  The blazing hot curry of fish innards we enjoyed last year wasn’t being offered so we had a very aromatic duck curry along with some other exquisite dishes.  Dessert was tiny crisp “tacos” made from rice flour batter holding some sweet egg threads, coconut cream, and raisins, an old street-food specialty in an elegant setting.

Lunch at nahm, fried soft shell crab salad

Lunch at nahm, red curry of duck

Lunch at nahm, shrimp with chicken, eggs, and pickled garlic

Lunch at nahm, khanom beuang

The next day Tim and I were off to 10 days at the beach – no fancy meals, and no photographs, but just a lot of lazy days enjoying the breeze off the gulf.

Tomorrow I’m in Istanbul and I hope to post some from there…

Two years ago I had a quick visit to Shanghai for Michelle Garnaut’s M Literary Festival, an annual event at her M on the Bund restaurant there.  Every year Michelle invites authors from all over the world to lecture about their books and sign them.  I was eager to have a chance to promote BAKE in Asia so I contacted her friend and publicist Tina Kanagaratnam who deals with inviting authors and making all the arrangements.  Both Michelle and Tina were surprised when I told them I wanted to do a demo, but flinging around some pastry doughs seemed to be popular and when I left Michelle asked me to return with my next book and to appear both in Shanghai and at her Capital M restaurant in Beijing.

I arrived in Shanghai on a cold, windy Friday morning last month and went straight to the Hotel Indigo, right down the famous Bund from Michelle’s restaurant.  A quick lunch, a dizzying series of press interviews kindly arranged by Tina, and I was off attending Michelle’s opening reception for authors and “elves” who are the helpers who keep everything running smoothly.  Early the next morning I prepared my focaccia and bread sticks, did the demo, signed my new bread book, and sped to the airport for the flight to Beijing.

Poster for the Shanghai International Literary Festival

Chef Hamish Pollitt introduces me at M on the Bund

Focaccia in Shanghai

Arriving in Beijing I made a quick trip from the airport to Capital M to prep for the following morning’s demo.  Chef Panos Kalamidas and his bakers helped me enormously.  The following day was a blur of the demo, lunch at the restaurant, a much needed nap, and a lavish dinner that Michelle hosted for the authors in town for the weekend.

Michelle Garnaut starts me off at Capital M

With Michelle and bakers at Capital M

The highlight of Monday was a Peking Duck lunch arranged and hosted by Michelle at Dong Yuen.  See the illustration of the front and back of the business card and the translation of the restaurant’s name and address in the captions.

Dong Yuen restaurant

57 Dai San Lan West

A chef carving our Peking ducks

Peking duck and vegetable side dishes

Souvenir shopping after lunch was followed by an early visit to the Donghuamen snack market near the hotel.  I spared you the photos of the fried scorpions…

Street sweets in Beijing

Donghuamen snack market

Farewell to Beijing

]]> http://www.nickmalgieri.com/shanghai-and-beijing-2013/feed/ 2 http://www.nickmalgieri.com/hong-kong-2013/ http://www.nickmalgieri.com/hong-kong-2013/#comments Wed, 10 Apr 2013 20:32:15 +0000 Nick Malgieri http://www.nickmalgieri.com/?p=1322

The South China Sea from Aberdeen

The first photo is a view from Jen’s out toward Lamma Island in the South China Sea. Memorable meals included great dim sum (remaining photos) at Metropol (4/F United Centre, 95 Queensway, Admiralty) and at Sijie Sichuan Dishes in Causeway Bay. It was a thrill to find fresh mulberries in season…

Shrimp and crab dumplings at Metropol

Cantonese bakery in Aberdeen

Early evening in Causeway Bay

Fish with dried chilies and Sichuan peppercorns at Sijie

Fresh mulberries for sale in Hong Kong

Stay tuned for Shanghai, Beijing, Bangkok, and the Zurich Salon du Chocolat…

This is an American classic and this version is just about the best one I’ve ever tasted.  A devil’s food cake should be very chocolaty and also very moist, two qualities that don’t often coincide.  The icing is easy to make – I’ve simplified the method.  In the past, it was prepared like a cooked meringue in which the egg whites are whipped and hot sugar syrup is poured over them.  The method here combines all the ingredients and heats them over boiling water – it’s faster and more reliable.

Makes one 9-inch round 2 layer cake

CAKE BATTER

2 cups/400 grams sugar

1 1/2 cups/200 grams all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon/3 grams fine salt

3/4 teaspoon/3.5 grams baking soda

4 ounces/112 grams unsweetened (99%) chocolate, finely cut

1 cup/225 ml double strength brewed coffee, hot

2 large/100 grams eggs, at room temperature

4 ounces/112 grams unsalted butter

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup/125 grams sour cream

FLUFFY WHITE ICING

4 large/120 grams egg whites

Large pinch salt

1 1/4 cups/250 grams sugar

1/2 cup/150 grams light corn syrup

Two 9-inch round layer pans, 2 inches deep, buttered and the bottoms lined with a disk of parchment or buttered wax paper, cut to fit

1. Set a rack in the middle level of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.
2. For the cake batter, in a mixing bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, salt and baking soda and set aside.  Place the cut up chocolate and butter in a bowl and pour the hot coffee over it.  Let stand while the chocolate melts.
3. Whisk the chocolate, butter, and coffee smooth and whisk in the eggs until liquid, vanilla extract, and sour cream, one at a time.  Whisk the flour mixture into the liquids a third at a time.
4. Divide the batter equally between the prepared pans and smooth the tops.  Bake the layers until they are well risen and feel firm when pressed in the center with a fingertip, about 25 to 30 minutes.
5. Cool in the pans on racks for 5 minutes, then unmold, turn right side up again and cool completely.
6. For the icing, half fill a saucepan with water and bring to a boil over medium heat.  Combine the egg whites, salt, sugar, and corn syrup in the bowl of an electric mixer and whisk by hand, just to mix together.
7. Regulate the heat under the pan of water so that it boils gently and place the bowl on the pan.  Whisk gently just to keep the mixture moving until it is hot (about 140 degrees) and all the sugar is dissolved.  Place the bowl on the mixer with the whisk and whip the icing until it has cooled and become white and fluffy.
8. Put one of the cake layers right side up on a cake cardboard or platter.  Spoon a little less than half the icing on the layer, using a medium metal offset spatula to spread it evenly and to the edge all around.  Invert the second layer on the icing (the smooth bottom of the layer is now uppermost) and gently press the layer into the icing.  Spread the entire outside of the cake with the remaining icing, using the point of the spatula to swirl it all over as opposed to spreading it straight and flat.

Please feel free to send a link to this post to all your chocolate dessert friends and to post on whatever social media you like to use. The more bakers, the merrier.

Good luck!

Here are the rules:

• All entries must be original recipes created by the submitter.
• All entries must be submitted in a Word file and jpg photo should be sent to nickmalgieri@yahoo.com by midnight Pacific Standard Time on Friday February 1, 2013.  Winners will be announced here on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2013.
• Submitted recipes will first be judged based on general appeal, accuracy of instructions and clarity of the recipe. Semifinalist recipes will then be kitchen tested and judged based on taste, texture, and creativity by Guittard Chocolate Company.
• The decision of the judges is final.
• Winners grant Guittard Chocolate the right to use their recipes in promoting their chocolate; winners also retain full ownership of their recipes.
• One entry per person.

Prizes:

Grand prize:  Four 1-pound boxes of the Guittard chocolates pictured above, plus Guittard Cocoa Rouge.

Runners up:  A 1-pound box of Guittard chocolate.

I know I say it about far too many recipes, but these are a real favorite.  In fact I seldom bake them much in advance of serving them because I can’t be trusted around them – they are that addictively good.  This is loosely based on a recipe shared by my old friend Jayne Sutton who’s been attending my classes for over 30 years.

About 24 2-inch square cookies

SWEET PASTRY DOUGH

2 cups all-purpose flour (spoon flour into dry-measure cup and level off)

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold, cut into 8 pieces

2 large eggs

PECAN TOPPING

10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup light brown sugar

3 tablespoons dark corn syrup or Golden Syrup

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

3 1/2 cups (about 14 ounces) pecan halves and pieces

One 9 x 13 x 2-inch pan lined with buttered foil

1. For the dough, pulse dry ingredients in food processor and add butter.  Pulse to mix in finely.  Add egg and pulse to form a ball.  Roll dough on a floured surface and line pan, pressing well against the bottom and side.  Chill crust while preparing filling.
2. Place the dough on a floured surface and gently knead it until it is pliable and slightly softened.  Form the dough into a rectangle and flour the surface and the dough again.  Roll the dough, remembering to occasionally add pinches of flour under and on it, to a 12 x 16-inch rectangle.  Gently fold the dough into quarters and line up the folded corner with the center of the pan.  Unfold the dough into the pan and gently ease it down into the pan. Trim away all but about 1 1/2 inches of dough on the sides of the pan.  Chill while preparing the filling.
3. For the topping, melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Stir in the sugar, brown sugar, and corn syrup one at a time.  Add the salt and stir occasionally while the mixture comes to a full boil.  At the boil, add the cream a little at a time (the mixture will bubble up). Continue cooking for a minute, stirring often, so that the water in the cream mostly evaporates.  Stir in the almonds and scrape the mixture into a buttered bowl to cool slightly.
4. Set a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.
5. Use a large kitchen spoon to deposit mounds of the topping all over the chilled crust.  Then use the point of a spoon to join them and make a fairly even layer of the topping.  Just make sure that the pecans are all evenly distributed – the syrupy part of the topping will come to a boil while the bars are baking and even itself out.
6. Bake until the dough is baked through and the topping is gently bobbling, about 30 minutes.
7. Cool on a rack for at least an hour before attempting to cut the cookies.
8. To unmold and cut the bars, cover the pan with a light cutting board and invert.  Lift off the pan and peel away the foil.  Place another cutting board on the back of the bars and invert the whole stack.  Lift off the top board.  Neatly trim away the sides of the bars and use a ruler to mark, then cut, 2-inch squares.

 LEMONY ALMOND DISKS

The French name for these cookies, palets des dames, is one I’ve always translated as ladies’ disks, not really knowing what the name referred to. After close to 40 years of making these cookies, I decided to look up palet in a dictionary; I found that it refers to a discus, the flat round object thrown by an athlete.  Does the French name mean that ladies throw cookies as a competitive sport?  In any case, these are much better when inserted into the mouth than when thrown at a target.

Currants are often added to the batter (they distort the shape of the baked cookies) or arranged, 3 in a little triangle, atop the cookies.  If you want to add currant in or on, go ahead, you’ll need about 2/3 cup for the batch below. About 35 2-inch cookies

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup whole or slivered blanched almonds

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or 1/4 teaspoon seeds scraped from a split vanilla bean)

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 cup all-purpose flour (spoon flour into dry-measure cup and level off)

2 cookie sheets or jellyroll pans covered with parchment or foil

1. Set racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.
2. Combine the sugar and almonds in a food processor and pulse until finely ground.
3. Combine the almond mixture, butter, lemon zest, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer.  Beat with the paddle on medium speed until lightened, about 3 or 4 minutes.
4. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating smooth after each addition.
5. Scrape down the bowl and beater and beat for half a minute longer.  Scrape again and add the flour.
6. Re-start the mixer on lowest speed and only mix until the flour is absorbed.
7. Use a large rubber spatula to give a final mixing to the batter.  Add the currants, if using.
8. Use a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain tube (Ateco #806), to pipe the batter in 3/4-inch mounds, keeping them about 2 inches apart all around to allow for spreading.
9. Bake the cookies until they have spread and are golden and firm, about 12 minutes.  If your oven gives strong bottom heat, bake the cookies on the lower rack stacked on a second pan for insulation.
10. Cool on the pans and store in a tin.

Substituting brown sugar for white adds a subtle butterscotch flavor to shortbreads. About 30 cookies, depending on the size of the cutter you use.

16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (spoon flour into dry-measure cup and level off)

2 or 3 cookie sheets or jelly roll pans covered with parchment or foil

1. Set racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees.
2. Combine the butter, sugar, salt, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer.
3. Beat with the paddle on medium speed until soft and light, about 5 minutes.
4. Remove the bowl from the mixer and use a large rubber spatula to stir in the flour by hand.
5. Scrape the dough to a floured surface and press it into a rough rectangle.
6. Cut off a quarter of the dough and flour on and under it.  Gently roll to a 1/4-inch thick.  Use a plain round cutter about 2 1/2 to 3 inches in diameter to cut out cookies, placing them on one of the prepared pans about an inch apart all around.
7. Remember to incorporate the scraps from the first piece of dough under the next piece before rolling it.  Repeat until all the dough and the final scraps have been used.
8. Bake the cookies until they are very pale golden, about 15 to 30 minutes.  If your oven gives strong bottom heat, bake the pan of cookies on the lower rack stacked on another pan for insulation.
9. Slide the papers from the pans to racks to cool. Keep in a tin or wrap and freeze for longer storage.

SWISS CHOCOLATE SANDWICH COOKIES

Without exaggeration, these are among the 10 best cookies I have ever made, especially because they are so simple to prepare.  Two factors are very important:  make sure the butter is very soft, the consistency of mayonnaise, or it won’t mix smoothly with the chocolate.  Also, be careful to use a semisweet, not a bittersweet chocolate, or the cookie bases will lack sweetness, since the only sugar in them comes from what is in the chocolate.

Makes about 20 sandwich cookies

COOKIE DOUGH

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

4 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled

1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (spoon flour into dry-measure cup and level off)

FILLING

3 ounces milk chocolate, melted and slightly cooled

Confectioners’ sugar for finishing

Two cookie sheets or jelly roll pans covered with parchment or foil

1. For the dough, use a large rubber spatula to stir the butter smooth in a mixing bowl.  Stir in the chocolate, then the flour.  Scrape the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap, press it flat, and cover.  Chill until firm, about an hour.
2. When you are ready to bake the cookies, set racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.
3. Unwrap the dough and divide it in half. Place on a floured surface and use a rolling pin to gently pound the dough to soften.  Roll the dough a little less than 1/4-inch thick and use a fluted round 2-inch cutter for the cookies.  Arrange the cookie bases on one of the prepared pans about an inch apart in all directions.  Incorporate scraps from rolling the dough into the remaining dough and continue rolling and cutting the cookie bases until all the dough is used.
4. Bake the cookies until they look dull and are slightly firm, about 12 to 15 minutes.  Cool on the pans on racks.
5. To fill the cookies, turn half the cookie bases over and pipe or spread a dab of filling on the flat side.  Top with remaining bases, pressing them together.  Dust lightly with confectioners’ sugar.  Store in a tin but they won’t last long…

MINCEMEAT COOKIES
These have an especially festive holiday flavor, plus they are really easy to make.

Makes about 40 cookies

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 cup prepared mincemeat

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

2 or 3 cookie sheets or jelly roll pans covered with parchment or foil

1. Set racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees.
2. Beat the butter and sugar until soft and light, then beat in the egg and yolk, continuing to beat until smooth.
3. Beat in a half cup of the flour, then the mincemeat.
4. Combine the remaining flour with the salt, spices, baking soda, and nutmeats and incorporate by hand using a large rubber spatula.
5. Drop teaspoons of the batter in the prepared pans, keeping them a couple of inches apart.
6. Bake until they are well risen, golden and still a bit moist, about 10 to 12 minutes.
7. Cool on pans on a rack and store in a tin or other container with a tight-fitting cover.

FOCACCIA ALLA BARESE

TRADITIONAL FOCACCIA FROM BARI IN APULIA

Bari is a bustling port city in southern Italy on the Adriatic (east) coast. I’ve only visited once, but the food of Bari has always been a part of my life, both in childhood and later on.  My mother came from a small town on the eastern end of the region of Campania, not too far, but inland from Naples, and also close to the border of neighboring Apulia.  The result was that we ate many foods that are considered classics of Apulia.  We had orecchiette, little “ear” shaped pasta made from flour and water dough; carteddate, spirals of fried dough topped with sour cherry preserves or honey; and many dishes in which broccoli di rape (pronounced RAH pay), a typical Apulian ingredient, figured.  Of course we had different names for them, reflecting a classic Neapolitan disdain for the somewhat incomprehensible dialect of Apulia.
When I first began teaching in the late seventies I immediately made the acquaintance of Ann Amendolara Nurse, a teacher of Italian American cooking whose family was from near Bari.  Ann’s British sounding last name came from her Canadian born husband Gene, who also loved to cook.  Gradually over the ensuing nearly 30 years, Ann and I became best friends and I continued to learn from her about the riotously flavorful cooking of Bari
and the rest of Apulia.  The focaccia here was something that Ann’s mother made every Christmas Eve, though I think it’s great at any time of the year.  Try it cut into small squares as an hors d’oeuvre, or as a lunch dish accompanied by a salad.  No matter when you enjoy it, this focaccia is always a dish that pleases.  Keep the anchovies a secret – they don’t make the topping taste at all fishy, but contribute a depth of salty flavor that you couldn’t achieve by merely shaking in some salt.

As with any other yeast dough, be careful not to have the water in which you dissolve the yeast more than 110 degrees, or the yeast will die and your dough won’t rise.  And remember to bake the focaccia on the bottom rack of the oven so that the bottom is well browned and flavorful.

FOCACCIA DOUGH

4 cups/540 grams unbleached all-purpose flour (spoon flour into dry-measure cup and level off)

2 teaspoons salt

2 1/4 teaspoons (1 envelope) fine granulated active dry or instant yeast

1 2/3 cups/375 grams warm water, about 110 degrees

3 tablespoons olive oil

Olive oil for the pan

One 12 x 18-inch or an 11 x 17-inch jellyroll pan,
generously oiled

TOPPINGS

1/3 cup olive oil, divided

2 large onions, about a pound, peeled, halved, and thinly sliced from stem to root end

One 2-ounce can anchovies in olive oil, drained and coarsely chopped

Salt (little because of the anchovies) and freshly ground black pepper

1/3 cup Gaeta or oil cured black olives, pitted and quartered, see Note

1/3 cup Cerignola or other flavorful green olives, pitted and quartered

A light sprinkling of Kosher or other coarse salt

1. For the dough, combine the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl and stir well to mix.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk the yeast into the water and whisk in the oil.
3. Use a large rubber spatula to make a well in the center of the flour in the bowl.  Pour in the liquid and use the spatula to begin stirring in the center of the bowl, gradually stirring in a circle toward the side of the bowl, incorporating more flour as you stir.  When all the flour has been incorporated, the dough will still be fairly soft.  Use the spatula to dig down to the bottom of the bowl from the side, between the bowl and the dough, and repeatedly fold the dough over on itself, until no dry bits remain.
4. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise at room temperature until double, about 1 to 2 hours, depending on the temperature of the room.
5. Scrape the dough into the prepared pan without folding it over on itself.  Lightly oil the palms of your hands to prevent sticking and press down on the dough so that it evenly fills the pan.  If the dough resists, cover it
   with a towel and let it rest for 10 minutes before continuing.
6. Cover the pan with oiled plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise until it is double, up to an hour.  While the dough is rising prepare the toppings. Pour half the olive oil into a 10-inch sauté pan and place over low to medium heat.  Add the onions, and cook them slowly until they soften and are beginning to color lightly.  Stir in the anchovies and cook a minute longer.  Season with salt and pepper.
7. Scrape the sauce onto a plate or glass pie pan and place it in the refrigerator for a few minutes to cool.  Stir in the olives.
8. When the crust is almost risen set a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 425 degrees.
9. Uncover the crust and gently dimple it at 1 1/2-inch intervals, using a fingertip.  Drop spoonfuls of the onion mixture all over the top of the crust and use a small metal offset spatula to evenly spread the topping all over the dough – there will be a thin layer.
10. Sprinkle the topping with a few pinches of Kosher salt.  Drizzle with the remaining olive oil.
11. Bake the focaccia until it is well risen and the topping is dry and beginning to color, about 30 minutes.  Turn the pan back to front about halfway through the baking. Let the focaccia cool it the pan on a rack for 5 minutes, then use a wide  metal spatula to slide it to a rack to finish cooling.

Serving:  Use a sharp serrated knife or a pizza wheel to cut the focaccia into squares.  Serve the focaccia cut into 2-inch squares as an hors d’oeuvre, or as part of an assortment of antipasti as a first course.

Storage:  Keep the focaccia loosely covered with plastic wrap on the day it is baked – if you’re preparing it early in the day for the evening, leave it right on the cooling rack.  Wrap and freeze for longer storage.  Defrost, reheat at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes, and cool before serving.

Note:  The best way to pit olives is to press them one at a time with the side of a knife blade – the pit pops right to the surface.

Sachertorte mit Schlag (with whipped cream) at the Rote Bar in the Hotel Sacher

No visit to Vienna would be complete without a stop at the legendary Hotel Sacher for a taste of Vienna’s most famous chocolate cake, the Sachertorte (pronounced ZAKKertawrtuh).  The short history of the sometimes controversial cake is here.  Lately, the Sacher, as everyone in Vienna refers to it, has undergone a complete renovation including its two restaurants, the Rote Bar (the Red Bar) and Anna Sacher, named for the hotel’s dynamic cigar-smoking owner who lived from 1859 to 1930.

Freshly baked apple and cheese strudels in the pastry shop of the Hotel Sacher

I enjoyed meeting the hotel’s new pastry chef Roman Schatner, but it was an insanely busy day there and we only had a limited amount of time to talk; I snapped a couple of pictures and was on my way. Look out for my story on rising stars of Viennese pastry that’s going to appear in Dessert Professional magazine in the first half of 2013.

Nicolas Welsh’s Raspberry Harmony at Café Central

From the Sacher it was a short walk to Café Central where an unheard-of-in-Vienna thing had occurred – the coffeehouse had a French pastry chef.   I missed Pierre Reboul by a couple of weeks but had the good fortune to meet and speak with the new chef, Nicolas Welsh.

Other tempting selections at Café Central

Though he isn’t Austrian he has lived and worked in Vienna for a long time.  Welsh has a big job on his hands and was happy to show me one of the new items he had introduced, an individual raspberry dessert brimming over with raspberry flavor, color, and freshness.  Even though he intends to modify the offerings of his predecessor, Welsh also has to maintain the quality of the dozens of traditional cakes and pastries including their own version of Sachertorte and the complex and elegant Café Central Torte, a fantasy of almond paste and buttery cake scented with orange and covered in a chocolate glaze.

Hans Diglas and pastry cook in the production area of his pastry shop on Fleischmarkt

Onward to my favorite sweet place in Vienna, Café Diglas.  Hans Diglas, the owner, was one of the first people I met when I returned to Vienna in 2003; he was and has remained a constant source of inspiration and wonderful
recipes for classic Viennese specialties. This year I had a long talk with Mr. Diglas one morning, then his son, also Hans, took me to their pastry shop a few blocks away and I had a chance to observe production meticulously done by 3 young women.

Apricot Kuchen at Café Diglas

Late summer berry tarts at Café Diglas

The following day I returned and spent the whole morning shift with them.  I even picked up several recipes for my next book of all dough-based pastry specialties due to be published in 2014.

Cupcakes invade Vienna!

I couldn’t resist getting a photo of these very Viennese looking cupcakes at Gerstner, a classic pastry shop open since the 19th century.  I wonder if whoppee pies will be next…

Stay tuned for the opening of the bread pages on this site as soon as BREAD is published early next month.