Pie Crust
All American
Pastry. Pâte. Fond de tarte. Pie crust. Masa de hojaldre. Crosta. All of these words refer to roughly the same thing: A mixture of flour, shortening, and water flattened and used as a shell for holding other ingredients. There are often additions to the basic recipe including sugar, spices, herbs, and eggs, depending on the nature of the filling. And there are variations in the technique for mixing the ingredients. My favorite variation in technique is the one that produces the American flaky pie crust.
A perfect American flaky pie crust consists of thousands of small, individual flakes of shortening-infused flour held one to the other with a breath and a promise. It is light in the same way and for the same reason a croissant or Viennese pastry is light, but there is little or no development of gluten and so it will nearly melt on your tongue. And yet there is somehow enough strength to it mostly hold its shape when a piece of pie is lifted from the plate. It is supremely and simply delicious.
The best pie crust defies mass production and is made by mixing the shortening and flour together with the tips of one's fingers. Some days the flour and shortening want a tad more pressure to mix properly, some days a bit less. Some days the mixture wants a tad more water to bind, some days a bit less. You can make a very good crust using a food processor or even a hand mixer (if you have the right touch). But you can't make one purely by slavish adherence to a recipe nor in large quantities.
All of that said, making an excellent pie crust is easy. I won't provide a recipe as there are plenty of good ones already published. My favorite is in Chris Kimball's The Cook's Bible and I like it because its instructions for using a food processor are dead on. I will add a comment, though, from my own experience. Most recipes call for chilling the dough before rolling it out but I find I like the results better if I roll it out, line the pie plate, and then chill it.
Unless you've made your own, you've probably never experienced a perfect American pie crust. You've never found yourself in the odd circumstance of breaking off bits and pieces of pastry from the edges to eat because the crust itself is irresistible. You're unaware that a pastry can be almost as good after spending a night in the refrigerator as it was fresh from the oven. You've never had pastry almost literally melt on your tongue. You've no idea just how ineffable a bit of flour, butter, salt, and water can be.
Pastry. Pâte. Fond de tarte. Pie crust. Masa de hojaldre. Crosta. All of these words refer to roughly the same thing: A mixture of flour, shortening, and water flattened and used as a shell for holding other ingredients. There are often additions to the basic recipe including sugar, spices, herbs, and eggs, depending on the nature of the filling. And there are variations in the technique for mixing the ingredients. My favorite variation in technique is the one that produces the American flaky pie crust.
A perfect American flaky pie crust consists of thousands of small, individual flakes of shortening-infused flour held one to the other with a breath and a promise. It is light in the same way and for the same reason a croissant or Viennese pastry is light, but there is little or no development of gluten and so it will nearly melt on your tongue. And yet there is somehow enough strength to it mostly hold its shape when a piece of pie is lifted from the plate. It is supremely and simply delicious.
The best pie crust defies mass production and is made by mixing the shortening and flour together with the tips of one's fingers. Some days the flour and shortening want a tad more pressure to mix properly, some days a bit less. Some days the mixture wants a tad more water to bind, some days a bit less. You can make a very good crust using a food processor or even a hand mixer (if you have the right touch). But you can't make one purely by slavish adherence to a recipe nor in large quantities.
All of that said, making an excellent pie crust is easy. I won't provide a recipe as there are plenty of good ones already published. My favorite is in Chris Kimball's The Cook's Bible and I like it because its instructions for using a food processor are dead on. I will add a comment, though, from my own experience. Most recipes call for chilling the dough before rolling it out but I find I like the results better if I roll it out, line the pie plate, and then chill it.
Unless you've made your own, you've probably never experienced a perfect American pie crust. You've never found yourself in the odd circumstance of breaking off bits and pieces of pastry from the edges to eat because the crust itself is irresistible. You're unaware that a pastry can be almost as good after spending a night in the refrigerator as it was fresh from the oven. You've never had pastry almost literally melt on your tongue. You've no idea just how ineffable a bit of flour, butter, salt, and water can be.
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