How do you eat puff pastry? Part 2

*sigh* I guess the more apt and pressing question is how to stop craving for puff pastry…

These cravings rarely plague me. But once they strike, it takes months before I recover. Some years ago, it was craving for pancakes that pushed me into hunting pancake dishes around town or making them. Another time, it was craving for kembang tahu, soft tofu pudding in palm sugar and ginger sauce. And now, it’s puff pastry.

This time, I decided to keep a visual record in the form of sketches.

 

a big plate of a tiny Apple Puff

I liked this Apple Puff. But I was more intrigued by the big plate on which it was served. I understand that such huge plate serves a purpose: the space encases the tiny Apple Puff as white spaces accentuate a painting. It frames the Apple Puff — plating is an art! Yet, “such a waste of space, don’t you think?” I’d say. I couldn’t help feeling sympathy for whoever doing the dishes.

The reaction was probably triggered by an email, asking if I would do recap on Kang’s Kitchen 2. I haven’t decided on doing recaps as there are other tasks demanding my time and energy at the moment. The email brought to mind the first season of the show which had cast quite a hellish light on doing the dishes — the show incited genuine laughter (and doing the recap was fun) while portraying that running a kitchen and, especially, washing dishes were no laughing matter.

This “puff pastry fever” will go away eventually. I’ll just have to wait until then. In the meantime, there are still some places promising puff pastry dishes where I need to go to. *packing sketchbook and what-not*

How do you eat puff pastry?

I love pâte feuilletée. Thus, it was an easy decision to pick the tuna puff pastry. Especially when it came with a cup of cappuccino in a combo package, which I thought was a good deal.

Today’s brunch: a tuna puff pastry…

It was fluffy and puffy, of course. It smelled buttery and felt light. Puff pastry made a perfect dish for brunch. Fork and knife at the ready!

And yet, as I made a cut on one of the corners and brought it closer to the mouth, “poof!” Most of it crumbled. The crumbs flew all over the table, some landed on my chest. A bigger chunk dropped onto my lap and, as I failed to capture it, then rolled on the floor. I looked around, fearing anyone should see this. Luckily, no one had witnessed my incompetence of eating a mere puff pastry.

Since another cut just brought more crumbs and dusts on my person, I forwent the fork and knife. I used bare hands to grab and clasp the puff pastry, and brought my mouth to it while maintaining distance to avoid the crumbs. If anyone had indeed seen and questioned my dealing with this puff pastry — awkward, no doubt — I no longer cared.

Once the devil was gone, leaving these fingers oily, I recovered my poise. I sipped the cappuccino while watching others enjoying their food — I wondered if anyone had experienced similar battle with food.

My initial thought definitely needed correction: puff pastry might not be suitable for brunch after all. At least not when I was dressed to impress. Or, I might need to learn some techniques for eating it, not just for making and baking it.