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By
Tejal Rao
November 2006
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Recipes
Restaurant chefs are recreating
classic puddings reminiscent of childhood but pudding nostalgia
depends entirely on where you’ve spent the most time
eating pudding. If the answer’s the US, your puddings
might be tender rice or tapioca, held together by rich custard
or simply a chilled flavored custard to be eaten with a spoon.
If the answer’s Britain or one of her former colonies,
your puddings might be a rich cake steamed in the oven and
moistened with beef suet or layers of bread and fruit baked
in butter, eggs and milk.
But despite its homely connotations,
pudding's familiar textures and flavors can easily be reworked
into a composed dessert that triggers pudding memories without
the associated cloying sweetness or richness. Rita Garruba
of Butterfield9 surprises with a Plum Pudding that
takes the shape of a summer pudding rather than the heavy
Christmas style studded with dried fruits. Garruba gracefully
builds the pudding in rings with brioche and fruit and balances
a scoop of sake sorbet on delicate sesame tuiles. Jennifer
Giblin of Blue Smoke takes on the classic English
Sticky Toffee Pudding, individualizing square portions for
an elegant presentation and off-setting the intense sweetness
with sour crème fraîche. Caitlin Kelly of Vidalia
pays tribute to three classic American puddings in her sophisticated
trio For the Love of Pudding.
Recipes
» For
the Love of Pudding
Pastry Chef Caitlin Kelly
of Vidalia — Washington DC
» Sticky
Toffee Pudding
Pastry Chef Jennifer Giblin
of Blue Smoke — New York, NY
» Plum
Pudding with Sake Sorbet and Sesame Sticks
Pastry Chef Rita Garruba
of Butterfield9 — Washington DC
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