Lesson 6: Pâte Brisée and Pâte Brisée Sucrée; Bavarian Creams

Tarte à l'Oignon
(Onion Tart)

Mouclade
(Mussels with Wine and Cream Sauce)

Bavarois à la Vanille, Coulis de Framboise
(Vanilla Bavarian Cream with Raspberry Coulis)

Onion tart is a speciality of Alsace...

Mussels are popular throughout France, but perhaps nowhere more than on the Atlantic coast above Bordeaux, where this delicious dish comes from...

Recipes for bavarian cream, or bavarois do not appear in French cookbooks until the early 19th century. The preparation was popularized by Carême ("the king of chefs and the chef of kings") and is alos used in making charlottes -- another Carême contribution to the classic repertoire. The main difference between the two is that ladyfingers are used to line the mold before adding the bavarian cream for a charlotte, whereas for a bavarois, the cream is poured directly into the mold.

(from Le Cordon Bleu at Home, 1991)