Mont Blanc

A cold dessert made of vanilla-flavoured chestnut pureé, topped with a dome of Chantilly cream and decorated. Alternatively, the cream may be surrounded by a border of sweetened chestnut pureé and mounted on a base of sablé pastry or meringue.

Recipe:

Shell 1 Kg (2¼ lb) chestnut and simmer them until soft in 1 litre (1¾ pints, 4⅓ cups) milk with 150g (5 oz, ⅔ cup_ sugar, a pinch of salt and a vanilla pod (bean) split in two. Press the chestnut through a potato ricer and pack the vermicelli-like chestnut pureé into a buttered ring mould. Refrigerate for at least 30  minutes. Whisk together 400 ml (14 fl oz, 1¾ cups) double (heavy) cream, 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar and 25g (1 oz, ¼ cup) icing (confectioner's) sugar to make Chantilly cream. Turn the chestnut ring out on to a dish and fill the centre with the Chantilly cream.  Refrigerate until served. Can be Decorated with pieces of marrons glacés and crystallized (candied) violets.

Honey Contents and History

 Honey is as old as written history

A sweet substance manufactured by bees from nectar and stored in the cells of the hive as food. Its flavour varies depending on the season, the species of flowers from which it is derived, and when it is collected from the hive. Honey contains 17-20% water, 76-80% sugar (primarily glucose and fructose), small amounts of pollen and wax, and mineral salts (especially calcium, potassium, magnesium and phosphorus), but practically no vitamins. It is a valuable source of natural unrefined sugars in a form easily assimilated by the body.

Commercial honey is extracted centrifugally from the combs of the hive and then filtered and purified: this is `cast`honey, which is rarer nowadays and does not keep so well, is obtained by crushing the honey combs. Honey is specified as coming from a certain type of flower (for example, heather honey, lavender honey) or from a certain region or country.

A distinction is made between blended honey, which is derived from honeys from different parts of the world, and honey from a single variety of flower or from one country. Honey can be liquid or thick, but the liquid forms usually crystallize with age. The colour varies according to the flowers from which the honey nectar came: alfalfa, rape and clover honeys are white, heather honey is reddish-brown, lavender honey is amber, and acacia and saínfoin honey as straw-coloured.

Naturally, the flavour also depends on the flower source: honey from leguminous plants is relatively neutral, while honey from conifers, buckwheat and heather has a stronger flavour; aromatic plants such as thyme and lime blossom impart a distinctive flavour to the honey.

In ancient times honey was regarded as the food of the gods, a symbol of wealth and happiness used both as a food and as an offering. In the Bible, the Promised Land is described as 'the land of milk and honey'. In the middle Ages honey continued to be regarded as a precious commodity and was used medicinally. As in Greek and Roman times, it was used for confectionery and as a condiment for savoury or sweet dishes, including pork with honey, dormouse en sauce, mead and honey plays a major role in pâtisserie, being used in gingerbread, monnettes, croquets, oriental cakes and various types of confectionery. Grog, eggnog and certain liqueur also contain honey, and it is used instead of saltpetre in pickling brine for fine delicatessen meats. But it also ha a role in cooking meat dishes, particularly in North Africa (couscous, stuffed pigeons, roast lamb, chicken tajines with prunes, mutton tajine), in the United States (Virginia ham), and in China (duck).

HONEY SORBET WITH PINE NUTS

Mix 900g (2 lib, 2 ½ cups) orange-blossom honey, the juice of 1 lemon, a few drops orange-flower water and 1 litre ( 1 ¾ pints, 4 ⅓ cups) water. After processing in an ice-cream maker, add some lightly toasted pine nuts, then pour into a mould and place in the freezer until required. 

 

 

what is SORBET?

A type of water ice that is softer and more granular than ice cream as it does not contain any fat or egg yolk. The basic ingredient of a sorbet is fruit juice or purée, wine spirit or liqueur, or an infusion (tea or mint). A sugar syrup, sometimes with additional glucose or one or two invert sugars, is added. The mixture should not be beaten during freezing. When it has set, some Italian meringue can be added to give it volume.

PASSION FRUIT SORBET

Halve some ripe passion fruit, strain the pulp through a vegetable mill, then through a fine sieve. Measure the pulp and add an equal volume of cold syrup made from 500 ml (17 fl oz, 2 cups) mineral water and 675 g (1½ lb, 3 cups) caster (superfine) sugar. The density of the mixture should be 1.135; add a little lemon juice, the density then being 1.075. Pour the mixture into an ice-cream maker and freeze until set. It is also possible - and easier - to add caster sugar to the pulp and add enough water to obtain a density of approximately 1.075, and then strain the mixture through a fine sieve before putting it in the ice-cream maker. Tip: Serve scoops of the sorbet with a fan of mango slices and a little passion fruit pulp, or just cover with Chantilly and passion fruit pulp.