But the trouble with travel underpins much of the thrill of Greg Patent's new book, “A Baker's Odyssey.” Travelers take a little bit of home with them wherever they go, often nestled in a lunch pail or cookie tin.
During an unpleasant layover at the Salt Lake City airport, Patent made an unlikely connection that revealed the secrets of the Gateau Basque.
“When I got to San Francisco, we had limited time - just a few hours,” Patent said. “Bernadette measured everything with a spoon. It was 14 of this, seven of that. Fortunately, I had the same-sized spoon at home. She used to make the cake to sell to people in markets 50 years ago, but she'd never showed anybody how to make it. It was just a wonderful happening.”
For the past four years, Patent - a Missoula chef and author - has been tracking down authentic versions of classic immigrant baked goods. In his previous cookbook, “Baking in America,” Patent traced the history of the United States through its baking. It looked at how recipes evolved on this continent and in this culture, how different ingredients and leavening Americanized the favorites of other countries.
“A Baker's Odyssey” moves in the other direction. This time, Patent sought out immigrant families who've struggled to keep their traditional techniques pure.
Some forays merely required a trip across Missoula. In fact, a third of the contributors came from Missoula, including state Sen. Carol Williams (Cornish pasties) or Bipin Patel (Indian puran poori). That said, 32 nationalities are represented in the pages.
“They want to hold on to what they learned in the old country,” Patent said of his collaborators. “That's where they come from. I wanted to know why they keep making what they keep making.”
In a way, the recipes trace the history of conquerors and the conquered. Layered pastry can be researched back 1,000 years to Turkish delicacies, and followed along the Ottoman Turks' invasion routes to Austria, where it became strudel. A rice fritter called calas that's popular in New Orleans maintains a link to slaves from Sierra Leone and Liberia. Koeksisters, another deep-fried pastry soaked in sugar syrup beloved in South Africa, originates with slaves brought from the Malay Peninsula.
Patent included one dessert that seems out of place: the original Shoofly pie. This Pennsylvania Dutch favorite has a century of Americana piled on top of it, but in Patent's view, it remains an immigrant specialty.
“It was created here, but it comes from an immigrant population that developed its own cuisine over 10 generations,” Patent said. The pie debuted at the 1876 centennial, with a name derived from the Shoofly Molasses Co. (molasses being a crucial ingredient).
Like translating idioms from another language, re-creating recipes from another culture demands deep experience. The bakers Patent interviewed often spent years trying to replicate the taste, texture or look of their grandparents' old-country favorites.
Missoulian Tottie Parmeter's Welsh griddle cakes were a good example. She couldn't get the right texture until she tracked down a specialty flour mill that had soft wheat flour. It's the standard flour in Wales, but quite different from American “all-purpose” flour.
Some recipes required even greater leaps. Thai fried bananas are best when mixed with homemade limestone water, using an effervescent rock powder. Patent suggests an Internet food supply company that provides the powder. Or they can substitute a bottle of sparkling mineral water.
Patent's own family mirrors the book's global reach. His father was Russian. His mother came from Iraq. They settled in Shanghi, China, in the early 1930s. Greg was born in Hong Kong, and the family came to the United States in the 1950s.
The index is equally polyglot. It's 21 pages long. The standard alphabetical topic list is repeated by country of origin, mail-order sources of ingredients and mail-order sources by company. There's also an extensive chapter on techniques and tools, such as the hard-to-find manual nut grinder.
“I just wanted to see where the book would take me,” Patent said. “I wanted to see why they keep making these things over and over again. Why were they important?”
Kransekake
Missoula author Greg Patent learned to make this festive Norwegian tower cake from Linda Qualben, Alice Hansen and Christine Fredricksen, all first-generation immigrants from Norway who now live in Brooklyn, N.Y.
For the almond paste:
1 1/2 pounds (5 cups) unblanched whole almonds
6 cups confectioner's sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
4 large egg whites, each in a small cup
For the icing:
1 large egg white
1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar, or as needed
1/4 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
For baking:
Set of 6 kransekake ring pans
Farina, to dust cake pans
Grind the almonds in a manual nut grinder and put them in a large bowl. Add the confectioner's sugar and baking powder and toss together with your hands. Transfer about 3 cups of the mixture to a food processor and add 1 egg white. Process for about 30 seconds until a paste forms and clumps in the bowl. Empty the paste onto a work table and knead for 2 or 3 minutes until it's smooth and holds together. The dough will be very firm. If it feels too moist, kneed in a bit more confectioner's sugar. Put the paste in a resealable plastic bag and repeat the process with the remaining 3 batches. The almond paste may be refrigerated overnight - return to room temperature before shaping.
Adjust an oven rack in the center position. Preheat to 350 degrees. If using metal pans, coat with cooking spray and a dusting of farina. Non-stick pans need no special treatment.
Shape the kransekake rings by breaking off lumps of almond paste and rolling them under your palms on an unfloured pastry cloth until you've formed long rolls about 1/2 inch thick. Shape the rolls into circles the size of each ring in the cake pans. They should not fill the pan, as they will expand when baking. Pinch the ends of each ring to seal and smooth the joint with your fingertips.
Set 3 pans in the oven, leaving about 2 inches of space between each. Bake about 10 minutes, until the rings give off a fragrant almond aroma and turn a light golden brown. They should feel dry when touched. Do not overbake, as the kransekake should be moist and chewy on the inside. Allow to cool completely in the molds. Bake the second set of 3 rings.
When the rings are cool, remove from the pans. Make the icing by beating the remaining egg white in a medium bowl until frothy. Gradually add the confectioner's sugar until the icing is very thick, like mayonnaise. Beat in the vinegar. Scoop the icing into a small, resealable plastic bag and squeeze out the air. Cut a small tip off one corner and squeeze a looping, zigzag line of icing onto the largest ring. Place this on a doily-lined platter and stick the next largest ring to the icing. Continue layering lines of icing and rings until you've built them into a tower.
Kransekake are traditionally decorated with little flags, holiday poppers or other small ornaments.
Makes 6 rings.
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