Customer Reviews

The Art of the Tart: Savory and Sweet

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In this day of working away from home, shopping after work and fixing a meal on the run, THE ART OF THE TART is a gift. I discovered this book in the Washington Post Food section, which seems to be dedicated to folks like me who don't want to restort to scambled eggs, oatmeal, or fast food night after night. How wonderful to discover there are elegant dishes one can fix relatively quickly, and in most cases healthier than the fast food fix.

Day-Lewis is apparently well established in England as a food expert and has written articles for Conde-Nast and House and Garden. If you missed her in these other forms, this is a good place to start. Some of her tarts are meals, such as the 'Porcini Mushroom and Red Onion' tart or the 'Scallop, Artichoke, and Smoked Bacon' tart. Other tarts are for dessert, such as 'A Tatin of Apricots Stuffed with Almond Paste' or 'Apple Crumble Tart.' Not all tarts come in the same wrapper. While some tarts have a traditional flaky crust, others have a crust of polenta such as the 'Corn and Scallion Tart' or 'George Morley's Leek Tart' which has a cheese pastry crust. Some of the recipes Day-Lewis includes are her own, such as the 'Spinach and Anchovy' tart or the 'Asparagus' tart, and others are from friends.

There are plenty of plain tarts, and tarts with too much cholesterol, but there is a tart for everyone. According to the Washington Post, Ms Day-Lewis is the sister of Daniel. Such a talented family.

Seven years ago, I had an onion tart in New York that was so good I've been trying to replicate it ever since. I bought the book based on its beautiful graphics and what looked like easy-to-follow recipes, including one for an onion tart.

I invited friends over a couple of weeks ago and made the onion tart for the first time. The custard came out voluminous; I used about half of what the recipe called for. Otherwise, it was absolutely delicious. I've started making other recipes and they're turning out just as well.

The really impressive thing, though, was the selection of dough recipes in the back. I'm not a baker and the first time I made dough according to her directions it turned out flaky and delicious! She has a rare talent for explaining baking. And, to boot, it didn't take very long or require expensive or hard-to-find ingredients.

I recommend the book whole-heartedly, but please experiment with the ingredients and quantities.

I bought this book after barely looking at it because I was captivated by the picture of the camembert and tomato tart. Well, I ended with and extraordinary book on both sweet and savory tarts!! I've tried the corn and scallion, the quiche lorraine (the best ever), the quince tart and the camembert and tomato and they're all so good!! It's definitely one of my favorite books now. Worth every cent.

I purchased this book a few weeks ago becuause I've always wanted to learn how to make tarts - they seem like a perfect light dinner alternative. Unsure of what I would be getting, I'm absolutely thrilled with The Art of the Tart. The author's instructions are easy to follow, even for beginners (I had never made pastry before). She makes the subject completely accessible. I made the Swiss Chard, Gruyere and Creme Fraiche Tart on my first try and it was excellent. The recipes all sound absolutely delicious and I can't wait to try more. I highly recommend this book!

My family and I enjoy eating quiches and tarts very much. We love the creamy filling and the comforting warmth, especially when encased in a light, crunchy, delicate pastry case. They are so easy and practical, as you can make them ahead and reheat them.
I usually made them using ready-made pastry, because my attempts at making my own were always a bit laboursome, it was always a bit difficult to roll the pastry and not to tear it, and somehow it was always a bit undercooked (maybe that was due to the fact that I used rice instead of baking beans, but now I have bought them). Those times are over! Now I can make perfect, crisp and tender pastry, and the best part is that it rolls in a breeze! I don't know what was wrong with my method, but now that I have this recipe I don't even think of buying ready-made pastry anymore.
The recipes for the different fillings are wonderful, too. We have found great quiches that we love to have for dinner, like Spinach and Anchovy Tart ( we make it with yougurt instead of cream and it is delicious!). Or the different ones with fish, or Onion Tart,or the Flamiche, mmm...yummy!
The sweet ones are very good too. I made the Chocolate Pecan Pie for a dinner party and it got raves. I love the Lemon Tart and I could go on like this...
Well, the recipes are very rich, but I find that you can easily substitute lighter ingredients (like yoghurt for cream) with consistent results. At least, I often do it...
The book is heavy weight paperback, not very thick, just 144 pages. It has the picture of a tomato tartlet on the front with a silver band for the title and author. The recipes are laid out well: an introduction on how it was created, or anecdotes about the recipe; the ingredients on one side and the instructions on the other. Easy to follow and clear.
There are a few pictures of the finished tarts, even if many recipes don't have one, or have just pictures of the ingredients, that's why I'm giving it four stars. (I like to be tempted by pictures!)
At the back of the book there is a chapter on pastry, with the instuctions on how to make all the different kinds (shortcrust, pāte sucrée, pāte sablée, puff pastry).
I found this book really useful to help me making better tarts and quiches and I would suggest it to anyone that likes baking.

`The Art of the Tart' and `Tarts With Tops On' by noted English culinary writer, Tamasin Day-Lewis both have the outward appearance of books on the express line to the discount table. And, while many good books have suffered that fate, that appearance should not be held against these two volumes. It is important to distinguish this book from the excellent volumes on general pastry making such as Rose Levy Beranbaum's `The Pie and Pastry Bible' or Nick Malgieri's `Perfect Pastry' or Flo Brakker's `The Simple Art of Perfect Baking, or Gayle Ortiz' `The Village Baker's Wife'. It is also playing in a different league than the excellent `Mes Tartes' by Christine Ferber. All of these spend many pages on the ins and outs of pastry technique. Ms. Ferber's volume is especially interesting if you are devoted to the French approach to pastry, which is just a bit different than what you will get from the American experts.

When I first browsed through Ms. Day-Lewis' books, the absence of the heavy concentration on technique and the many familiar names of classic tart and pie recipes had me discounting the books as not worth my attention. The opening tart with a top on was nothing more than a classic chicken potpie that I have made following better instructions from James Beard.

The first thing that began redeeming the books in my eyes was the quality of the writing. Ms. Day-Lewis has a way with phrases that seems to owe more than a little from the writing style of M.F.K. Fisher, although the writer to which she seems to pay the greatest homage is Jane Grigson. In spite of a few misstatements such as the notion that pastry making was a science, `but not an exact science', her general observations are quite a pleasure to read and make me want to read more of her books.

Both books include chapters on `other people's recipes', and some of the most interesting material is in these chapters. Some of the borrowing is from Nigel Slater who is a writer like Day-Lewis and unlike Nigella Lawson and Jamie Oliver, whose works have not made a very big impression on this side of the pond. Others are attributed to Claudia Roden, who has made a big splash over here. Many others are attributed to friends and relatives. Regardless of the source, all these recipes are pretty far removed from your garden-variety tomato tart. Some recipes such as Michel Roux's Tourte au Jambon et Tomme de Pyrenees require ingredients such as black truffles and hard Pyrenees sheep's milk cheese which are just a bit to dear or too much trouble to acquire. Others in this chapter are both very simple and very fetching. Two that caught my eye were Nigel Slater's Stilton, Onion, and Potato "Frying Pan" pie and Deborah's Luxury Meat Loaf Pie. Both recipes are small variations on very common dishes, but the small improvements are worth a bundle of raves at the dinner table.

The next chapter of recipes for pies covers eight variations on apple pie. Aside from the plain vanilla apple pie, all were pretty unusual, but certainly not difficult. I did miss a recipe for Tart Tatin, but I suspect I probably already have five or six recipes for this classic on my shelves already. Another reason the Tart Tatin does not appear with these apple pies is because the first book already includes nine recipes for lidless apple tarts, including the famous Tatin dessert. The first book also includes a perfect recipe for entertaining with an English theme, a treacle tart.

The next recipe chapter of pie recipes covers classic American pies. Among these eleven recipes are peach pie, pecan pie, blueberry pie, pumpkin pie, and key lime pie, but no Pennsylvania Dutch molasses cake, which of course is much more of a pie than a cake.

Among the recipes for sweet pies, there are a few with unusual ingredients such as gooseberries and a few which simply did not appeal to me such as the raspberry ice cream pie, which I considered a misnomer, as the filling was not a true churned ice cream but more like a simple frozen custard.

If your cookbook collecting leans toward those that look good and read well, then these books are for you. They are also very interesting if you have a special attraction to baking tarts and pies, and already have the basic techniques securely under your belt. If you are a novice with pastry, then I suggest you take a by on these and check out the four titles I cited at the beginning of the review.

I will note that for the very nice binding, photography, and the build-in page marking ribbon, these books are very reasonably priced, which make them even more attractive if you are fond of attractive culinary books.

If you are always on the lookout for unusual pie and tart recipes, don't give it another thought and put in your order for these lovelies.

I just wish there were pictures for all the tarts. I have made the treacle, flamiche, chocolate apricot, Simon Hopkinson's chocolate, lemon (so many times the page is sticky!!), tart tartin, apricot, mjuk toscakaka and tomato saffron. I love making them! The recipes are all delicious (so far) and come out beautifully. It's a very beautiful book. My favorites are the lemon and the chocolate apricot. Next up is the banana!! Or maybe the blue cheese with red onion marmalade....Yummmmm!

This little book is a treasure. I have her companion book, Tarts with Tops On, also, and they are both wonderful. She has GREAT tart recipes that seem to work for me every time. I get rave reviews whenever I make one of her tarts. Both savory (my favorite) and sweet are represented, and even though she's from England, if you live near a reasonably stocked grocery store, you should have no problem getting the ingredients. I own lots of pie and tart books and these two are some of my favorites. BUY IT....you'll be so happy you did, and so will all who eat from it!

A group of friends got together and used recipes from this book at a cooking party and they were just great. Can't wait to try more! There are a great selection of different types of fillings.

The Art of the Tart is a great cookbook. The recipes are tasty and easy
to follow. My favorite, so far, is the Tomato and Proscuitto Tarts.
They were a big hit at Easter and Mother's Day. This is also a good
read and beautifully photographed by David Loftus. This will be a great
gift for anyone who loves to cook!