Pastry

Book excerpt: Pastry dispels the myth that pastry-making is complicated and beyond the reach of many cooks. Designed in an easy-to-follow format, this chunky compilation presents all the classic pastries in the simplest possible way, along with an inspiring collection of original recipes. Trained in the classic French style, and with more than thirty years experience as a top chef, Michel Roux has a wealth of culinary expertise to offer on this subject. Each chapter is based on a particular dough and starts with a step-by-step technique spread. The recipes that follow use the basic pastry in a variety of ways - both sweet and savoury. Recipes range from great classics, such as quiche lorraine, pecan pie and lemon tart, to contemporary ideas for canapés, seafood pastries and filo croustades. Classics are given a modern twist, while innovative recipes offer new flavour combinations or a lighter style of cooking. Superbly illustrated throughout, this cookbook is destined to become the new authoritative guide to pastry-making.