KP+: Monique's custardy tart filling
Grandmas know best.
Well hello,
Thank you so much for being here.
This newsletter picks up where the main left off: Tart fillings. I’m so excited to share another pearl of Monique wisdom here with you on KP+. It feels so special to be able to pass this recipe and technique on to you.
What is it about grandma made food that is just… so… good? Is it the tried and tested, casualness of it all? The confidence and deftness with flavour that comes with repeating a dish, many times over a lifetime?
I’m sad to say that I’ve lost all of my grandparents, three of them before I was born. But I’ll never forget the food that my grandma on my mum’s side - Gum, as we call her- used to make for me, even though we used to go through her cupboards when we were little and giggle at the tinned parmesan that expired long before we were born. From her chicken casseroles to ham sandwiches brought in the car to collect me from school, to teddy bear shaped pasta to so. Much. blancmange. I’ll always be grateful for it. I’ll always have regrets about not having more of my own grandparents' food to share with you, or to the next generation someday.
This is why I’m extra thankful that most grandma’s that I meet tend to be very generous with their knowledge and teaching. And why being in Monique’s home, despite my zero French and her zéro English (merci merci merci to Claire for translating for hours and Patrice, too!), learning from her as she taught enthusiastically, felt so special.
I have absolutely no doubts that this is now going to be a go-to last minute dessert and I’ll always think of that trip to Monique’s with Claire, Patrice and Tomate (the dog), as well as the long lunch with Bertrand (Monique’s husband) and meeting Gypsy, their enthusiastic, old age spaniel. Isn’t that such a wonderful thing about food? Recreating moments of taste and passing it on to others?
This ultra simple, canele/clafoutis adjacent filling makes a spongy bed for fruit to sit in. It’s miles lighter than frangipane but holds its own against the fruit. In fact, one of the things I’m not convinced about when it comes to clafoutis is the lack of texture; Paired with a crisp tart case, I’m totally happy with the texture.
