On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 1065

TheEnglishwordpastry,Italianpasta,and
Frenchpâte andpâté all go back to a
suggestive group of ancient Greek words
having to do with small particles and fine
textures:theyvariouslyreferredtopowder,
salt, barley porridge, cake, and an
embroideredveil.AlaterLatinderivative,
pasta, was applied to flour that had been
wetted to a paste, then dried; it led to
Italianpastaandtopâtemeaning“dough.”
Pâté is a medieval French word that was
given originally to a chopped meat
preparation enclosed in a dough, but
eventually came to name the meat
preparation itself, with or without
enclosure.Pie was the near equivalent of
the originalpâté in medieval English, and
meant a dish of any sort — meat, fish,
vegetable, fruit — enclosed in pastry. The
wordhadlesstodowithdoughsthanwith
oddsandends:itcamefrommagpie,abird
with variegated coloring that collects


miscellaneousobjectsforitsnest.
WaterinPastryFats Animportantdifference
betweenbutterandeitherlardorshorteningis
thatbutterisabout15%waterbyweight,and
therefore doesn’t separate dough layers as
thoroughlyasthepurefatsdo;waterdroplets
in the fat can glue adjacent layers together.

PastrymakersgenerallypreferEuropean-style
butters, which contain less water than
standard American butter (p. 35). However,
somewaterisusefulforproducingsteamthat
pushes apart the dough layers of laminated
pastries. Manufacturers formulate puff-pastry
margarinewithabout10%water.
Other Ingredients Water is essential for
binding the flour particles into a dough, and
the water content is especially critical in
pastriesbecausethereissolittle.Pastrycooks
saythataslittleas1/2teaspoon/3mlvariation
in water in 1 cup/120 gm flour can make the