Shortcrust pastry

The simple mixture of flour, fat and liquid commonly known as pastry is well established and used worldwide, many countries have developed internationally renowned dishes using this basic mixture and people build their entire careers around the creation of pastry goods. One of the cornerstones of cookery and the most basic of recipes yet sometimes it can seem so difficult to produce. Good pastry melts in the mouth and brings out the full flavour of the filling or garnish while bad pastry can taste like hard, fatty cardboard and yet both can be produced from the same basic recipe.

Whilst the basic ingredients may be the same, variations in the actual cooking together with preparation, baking or cooking temperature and time play a large part in producing a good pastry. A thorough, even mixing of the fat with the flour is necessary together with the introduction of air into the pastry dough. When rolling out the dough it should be neither too thin (resulting in overcooked or brittle pastry) or too thick (resulting in heavy, under-cooked, doughy pastry).

 
Although there are many variations, pastry can be broken down to five basic, different types; shortcrust, flaky, suet, choux and phyllo pastry. Each type uses different ratios of the basic ingredients together with variations in its preparation and uses. All five types of pastry are used for the preparation of both sweet and savoury dishes.

The Shortcrust Pastry Recipe which dates back to the medieval period is generally used for pies, pasties and tarts. This type of pastry traditionally uses either lard or butter as the fat ingredient producing a crisp but light, crumbly pastry. The savoury version of shortcrust pastry (often called pie pastry) is most famously used in Cornish Pasties from England and Quiche Lorraine from France. The Chinese use their own version of shortcrust pastry to create Moon Cakes. The sweet version of shortcrust pastry, sometimes called sweetcrust pastry, is used for the traditional English Apple pie.

Flaky pastry, sometimes separated into two sub types; flaky and puff pastry, can be used for pies but is probably best known for its use in French croissants, German Apple Strudel and Danish Pastries. Indian cookery uses a pastry similar to flaky pastry to produce Samosas which are deep fried instead of oven baked.

Puff Pastry is a very light, thick but melting pastry that is made using butter and is prepared  by rolling the pastry into thin sheets before being buttered, folded and re-rolled and repeating this process many times. This can often produce up to 240 layers. The expanding air between the layers is what makes it puff up and gives it its traditional lightness of texture.

Suet pastry which uses pure beef fat instead of butter or margarine is used in traditional English Puddings such as the savoury Steak and Kidney Pudding or the sweet Treacle Pudding. Puddings are made using crumbled, pure beef fat (suet) and cooked in a traditional pudding basin which is placed in a saucepan of boiling water instead of in the oven. Firm but not hard; suet pastry can be used for fillings with sauces which may be unsuitable for other types of pastry.

Choux Pastry was invented in France by Antonin Carême towards the end of the 18th Century. It is famous for being used in the confection of Eclairs, Choux buns and Profiteroles. Many consider it to be one of the most difficult pastries to make. The normal three ingredients are added to the dough in a different order and supplemented with eggs; the resulting paste is then beaten instead of rolled prior to pre-cooking then baking when it forms hollow shells of light pastry that can be filled with various ingredients.

Phyllo (or Filo) Pastry is generally considered to be the original precursor of all pastry. It is a very thin, delicate, stretched pastry that is used by layering many sheets of the pastry together and it is often brushed with butter before cooking or soaked in a honey mixture for desserts. Invented in the Mediterranean countries it is used in such traditional dishes as the sweet Greek Baklova and savoury Bulgarian Banitsa. Phyllo pastry has been traced back to the Ancient Egyptians, Romans and Greeks who used it to make small pies and pasties containing birds, eggs, meat and fruit.

References to pastry can be found in documents dating back to the 5th Century B.C. The traditional fat used in those times was oil which limited its uses and it was not until pastry was brought back to Europe by the Crusaders that the basic ingredients and cooking methods were developed into the wide ranging but fundamental cookery component that pastry represents today.