Customer Reviews

Pastry: Savory and Sweet

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Yet another excellent book by the never aging master. PASTRY is all one would expect from a pastry chef of Michel Roux's calibre. High quality paper and photos, excellent recipes, imaginative combinations, modern decorations and clear instructions.
There are photos of all basic procedures and of most of the products.
The European edition that I have has Metric measurements and the American edition has both volume (cups and spoons) and Metric.

The book is divided by sections according to the pastry used in each preparation. It starts with a 'pastry techniques' section and the chapters are:
Shortcrust pastries
Enriched sweet pastries (pate sucree, pate sablee)
Puff pastry
Raised pie pastry
Brioche dough
Croissant dough
Choux pastry
Pizza dough
Filo pastry
Every chapter starts with the method of preparing the starring pastry and goes on with the assembled products.
I have to note here that rarely can one find in books instructions(especially with photos) on how to make filo by hand.

The shortcrust/flan pastry section starts with savory products before moving on to sweet preparations. The selection of recipes is delectable and my personal favorites are: Asparagus and red pepper flan, semi confit cherry tomato tart, croustade of seasonal vegetables, lightly curried seafood flan and the cherry clafoutis. In this section you get also filled pastries like cornish pastries and beef and cheese empanadas.

The enriched sweet pastries chapter has an excellent recipe for sablee pastry and biscuits with a buttery, melt in the mouth quality.In this section is Mr Roux's Lemon tart (baked), that has been my favourite ever since I first made and tasted it as a student in Pastry school in the early nineties. Also present is the famous Chocolate and Raspberry tart, a heavenly combination that has to be tasted to be believed. The Cheesecake and the Sables with blueberry mousse also stand out.

The Puff pastry section like the Shortcrust one has many savory recipes from which I single out the Herbed monkfish in puff crust, rhe Sole and wild mushroom bouches, Chicken pies and the Beef and ale pies. From the sweet ones I like the classics, Pithiviers and tart Tatin.

I have no favorite recipes from the raised pie section.I like them all! All preparations are meals unto themselves, keep for long periods if refrigerated and take kindly to transportation, so they are ideal for picnics. Forget Spam and corned beef for a while and try making your own Pork pies and Chicken with chicken liver pate.

The Brioche section includes plain and filled brioche dough with both savory and sweet preparations. I like the fillet of beef in a pastry crust, the Brioches polonaises and the Baba au Rhum.

Michel Roux's croissant recipe is very delicate so when preparing it make sure that your room temperature and your workbench are cool. The preparations are the classics so try your hand at your own homemade pain au chocolat and danish pastries.

The Choux pastry chapter has a variety of classic and modern products. I like the roasted peaches on choux crowns and the mushroom filled gougeres.

The pizza section has some classics including pizza margherita and Calzone. This is not really the definitive book on pizzas but the selection is good.

Finally, the filo section includes the refreshing Filo croustades with figs, almonds and fromage blanc, apple strudel, baklava and the vegetable and goat cheese flan.

The final chapter has the basics like syrups and custards.

Michel Roux's book lives up to its title and the fame of its author. It is better than Catherine Atkinson's book with the same title and Eric Kaizer's book on tarts that deals more or less with the same subject.
And at this low price this hardcover book is a bargain.

This is a really wonderful book. Michel Roux is a legend, of course, and in this book he is so generous with his knowledge of pastry. I love the organization. he shows you in step-by-step photos how to make just about every pastry imaginable, from tart dough and pie dough (a few different kinds of each, to croissant dough, brioche dough, pizza dough and puff pastry (I personally would rather buy this...takes too long to make). Then after showing you the technique for a specific dough type, you get recipe after recipe of delicious looking dishes, sweet and savory alike. And the photography is plentiful and gorgeous. If there isn't a picture of every recipe, then just about. I can't wait to start cooking from this book.

When I first got this book I was in love, the recipes I tried were amazing, the illustrations mouth-watering, the step-by-step instructions almost fool-proof! And for the most part I still agree with what the other commentators wrote but unfortunately over time I found some mistakes here and there, some smaller, some larger, that disappoint me. How does the weight for the "pate sablee" add up to 650 gr? I mixed it, weighed it and it weighed 580 gr, which is in perfect accordance to the total weight of all the ingredients when you add them up on paper. The biggest disappointment is the orange cheesecake that looked so incredibly enticing in the photo and is, according to M. Roux, the best cheesecake he'd ever tasted: the amounts given for the filling don't add up - I ended up with so much filling that I could actually fill two molds. Moreover, the juice of four oranges equals a whole cup of juice, which is far too much for a cheesecake, and in the end the product tasted plain awful.
That said, most other recipes I tried have been delicious, the strawberry tart, apple tart, puff pastry, choux pastry. I would still highly recommend it to anyone as it's a wonderful book to learn from but unfortunately, it's not the flawless book that Michel Roux claims it is...

Already tried several of the recipes in this great book, fantastic. Had good comments from many people on the quality of the pastry .Easy to follow, well illustrated , cant go wrong. Makes producing fine pastry a breeze. Looking forward to producing more great recipes. Also want to recommend the Roux Brothers book on Patisserie which is equally as good.

This is the most detailed book on making pastry that I have seen and will have you making pastry like a pro - even without a food processor. Michel Roux makes all his pastry by hand and will show you how you can do it too. The recipes are delicious and most are uncomplicated.

My friend made croissants from this book, and they were so delicious that since then I have purchased the book myself and am working through the recipes. I have also made the croissants, as well as the strawberry tart, chocolate raspberry tart, sablees... everything has been amazing.

I saw the author, Michel Roux on Martha Stewart's show. He demonstrated receipes that are in his book. The book is wonderful; step by step instructions for making pastry that looks so complicated, but made easy thru the instructions and pictures. I know how to read but I find seeing the end result very helpful in making something for the first time. Who would have ever thought I'd be making my own puff pastry!

I love this book. It's well written, has great pictures and so far the recipes I've made have turned out perfect. The orange cheesecake is soooo good. The sable pastry extraordinary.
I own tons of books but this one is turning out to be my go-to book for anything related to pastry.
Absolutely worth the purchase.

Although I have been a savory cook all my adult life, I only took up breads and pastries in very recent years, so I need all the help I can get. Once again, Michel Roux shows us why he is one of the world's most renowned chefs. The recipes in this book are essentially foolproof and the finished bakery goods are an absolute delight. Of the several bread and pastry books I have and have used, this is clearly the one I will now turn to most when I want to enthrall my guests. Merci, Michel Roux.

The art of pastry and doughs is a skill many professional chefs find difficult to master, coming from a country that has a big respect for pastry I knew I had to buy this book to further expand my knowledge on this art. It was simply amazing, as soon as I got my hands on it, I started trying new recipes, inspired from the great ideas in this book. Michel has done it again!!