I have just baked my first pineapple upside-down cake and thought I would relate it in this article with the French equivalent, the tarte Tatin (upside-down apple tart). Urban French legends, if such things exist, provide the story of the tarte Tatin. I think I may embellish it a little, but I guess that is the American in me, so please excuse this.
It seems that long long ago, somewhere in the center of France, there lived two old maids who did their own cooking. I imagine them to be the French equivalents of Gertrude Stein and Alice B Toklas. Some people thought they were sisters, but I have my doubts that was just a story they concocted to explain living together in such close quarters. The ran a nice little gay and lesbian friendly bed and breakfast somewhere in the center of France. One afternoon they decided to bake an apple tart for the guests of the B&B. They were a little busy and each was doing her own thing and cats had gotten into the stuffed animal collection and the place was really a mess. As they rushed to assemble the tart, they inadvertently put the apples in first and then the tart shell over top of it. Deciding not to bother to reassemble it, they rushed it into the oven and prayed for the best while they straightened up the mess from the cats. When they removed the tart from the oven, they decided to turn it over on a plate and to their surprise and amazement they saw the most beautiful looking design of apples on "top" of the tart. They offered this to their guests with a dollop of creme fraiche while the tart was still warm. (Had Ben and Jerrys existed then, I am certain they would have worked some magic with an ice cream imported from America. ) The guests were overwhelmed with this new dessert and asked for seconds. The poor Tatin "sisters" didn't even get to try their own creation the first time, as it was so popular. Well word travels fast in France, even in the days of old, so this became one of the most popular desserts in all of France.
Now I ponder the history of the American version of the tarte Tatin, the pineapple upside-down cake. Was it Betty Crocker and her black lesbian lover Aunt Jemima who came up with this American delight? While they were sitting around trying to dream up some new boxed cake mix for all those overworked American wives, did they think we need to do something with fruit? Maybe a can of nice Mr Dole's pineapple rings? What could we dream up with that? Oh the mind wanders. But I am certain is was something colorful as this that was the brainchild that would become the pineapple upside-down cake.
The cake turned out very nice and we ate it all before I could take any pictures. Sorry, maybe next time?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment