The Culinary Institute of America Presents ProChef.com

Mediterranean Sweets on American Menus: A Challenge and An Opportunity For Pastry Chefs

Cindy Mushet, pastry chef and author of "Desserts : Mediterranean Taste, California Style," was a presenter at the CIA's First Annual Worlds of Flavor® Baking & Pastry Arts Invitational Retreat entitled “The Mediterranean: Sweet Inspiration.” She reports on the proceedings.

Quick, think of a Mediterranean dessert. What comes to mind - tiramisu, baklava, creme brulee, flourless chocolate cake, panna cotta? While many dinner menus now span the entire Mediterranean with dishes ranging from cassoulet to couscous, dessert menus rarely stray from the sweets of France and Italy. These tried and true favorites offer but a glimpse into the vast array of flavors and forms for pastry chefs to explore in the region. The restaurant public, fascinated with Mediterranean cuisines, and more food savvy than ever, is ready for a change. This is an opportune time for American pastry chefs to flex their creativity and take on the challenge of marrying classic Mediterranean sweets to modern American tastes and trends by composing dessert menus that reflect the same exciting diversity as the dinner menus.

These themes were the recent topic at a CIA conference for executive pastry chefs, held at the historic Greystone facility in Napa Valley, California. The First Annual Worlds of Flavor Baking & Pastry Arts Invitational Retreat brought together top-rated pastry chefs from across the country to explore desserts from not only France and Italy, but also the much broader and less-explored countries of the Mediterranean, including Greece, Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Turkey, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon and Syria. (For an in-depth look at this event, visit the Reporter's Notebook).

The retreat allowed the chefs to study in-depth the history and cultural context of Mediterranean sweets, as well as the ingredients that compose them. This knowledge is crucial for blending current tastes with Mediterranean traditions, for the finest in innovative interpretation is always based on a foundation of the classics. Many of the region's classics share common ingredients and techniques, as well as a simple, thoughtful (and sometimes playful) approach to composition.

This commonality is not surprising, given that these countries also share a 2,000 year history of trading, conquering and cultural exchange. Foremost among dessert similarities is the practice of ending a meal simply, with fresh or preserved fruit and nuts. Dessert as we know it, is found mainly in restaurants and at home only on special occasions. This may seem surprising given the legendary Mediterranean sweet tooth and the astonishing breadth of pastries found in the region, but it is simply a matter of timing. The type of pastries that Americans order for dessert (cakes, tarts, cookies, puddings, pastries, frozen desserts, and candies) are instead enjoyed for breakfast, with coffee or tea while socializing, or during the many religious and cultural celebrations. Whenever they are eaten, these sweets have a clarity of flavor that is well-matched to our modern American palates and style of dining.

Ripe, intensely flavored fruits and nuts are the backbone of these desserts, accented with honey, spices, and local culinary specialties, such as port in Spain, creme fraiche in France or filo in Turkey. It is these unique ingredients or preparations that speak clearly of locale and cultural traditions, and can be used to "position" a dessert in the Mediterranean, sometimes even within a specific city. An understanding of these flavors is vital for pastry chefs interested in creating desserts that, while perhaps not authentic, convey a distinct sense of place in the Mediterranean. Depending upon which flavors are chosen, the dessert can seem pan-Mediterranean (with almonds, orange, and olive oil) or very country-specific (Morocco, for example, with filo, cardamom and almond milk).

The following are lists of Mediterranean ingredients for just such creative purposes, divided according to those used throughout the region, and those that are closely associated with a particular country. Note: I've included coffee and tea in these lists, for although they are rarely used as an ingredient in desserts, they are directly linked with the consumption of sweets. They are also linked, in our minds, with the culture of the Mediterranean, and in this way can be used to convey the spirit of the region in a dessert.

Pan-Mediterranean: Almonds, anise, apples, apricots, berries, citrus fruits (lemon, lime, orange, tangerine etc.), cherries, cinnamon, cloves, coffee or espresso, crystallized fruit, dates, dried fruit, figs, grapes, hazelnuts, honey, jams and fruit preserves, lemons, melons, mint, nutmeg, olive oil, oranges, orange blossom water, peaches, pears, pine nuts, pistachios, plums, pomegranates, pumpkins, quinces, raisins, red wine, short grain rice, rose water, semolina, sesame seeds, walnuts and white wine.

Southern France (and Corsica): Anisette, bay leaves, caramel, champagne, chestnuts, chocolate, comfit (whole fruits whose water has been replaced by sugar in a multi-layered cooking process), cornmeal, creme fraiche, currants, fennel seed, goat cheese, lavender, lemon balm, lemon verbena, Muscat de Beaumes de Venise (a fortified dessert wine), nougat, pastis, praline, prunes, ricotta, rose geranium, rosemary, Sauternes, tarragon, tea, thyme, and vanilla.

Greece: Chestnuts, fennel seeds, filo, kataifi (shredded filo), manouri (similar to ricotta), mastic (anise-flavored crystals from a resinous bush or tree), myzithra (similar to ricotta), ouzo (anise-flavored liqueur), retsina (wine flavored with pine resin), thyme and yogurt.

Italy (and Sardinia and Sicily): Amarene (wild cherries preserved in syrup), amaretti cookies, Amaretto di Saranno, basil, caramel, chocolate, cornmeal, fennel seed, jasmine, limoncello (lemon-flavored liqueur), Madeira, maraschino (cherry liqueur), Marsala, marzipan, ricotta (and ricotta pecorina), rosemary, rum, saffron, sambuca (elderflower liqueur), torrone (nougat), and vin santo (dessert wine).

North Africa: Allspice, almond milk, bananas, caraway, cardamom, coriander, filo, ginger, ktaif (shredded filo), loquats, marzipan, poppyseeds, prickly pears, saffron, smen (clarified butter), tea, and warka (a paper-thin pastry sheet).

Spain: Anise del mono (anise liqueur), bananas, brandy, candied squash, caramel, chocolate, coconut, Gran Torres (orange liqueur), hard cider, marzipan, Mistela (dessert wine), port, prunes, saffron, sangria, sherry, thyme, turron (nougat).

Turkey and the Middle East: Allspice, bananas, bay leaves, cardamom, coconut, coriander, debbes (date juice molasses), filo, ginger, guavas, kaymak (a clotted cream from buffalo milk), konafa (shredded filo), mangoes, marzipan, mahleb (the ground pits of a black cherry), mastic (small, anise-flavored crystals from a resinous bush or tree), noga (nougat), omani (dried ground lemon), ouarka (or warka), pekmez (grape juice molasses), pomegranate molasses, raki (anise-flavored liqueur), rose petals, smen (clarified butter), tahini (sesame paste), tea and yogurt.

Just as there are ingredients-in-common, there are also styles of sweets that are woven through the fabric of the Mediterranean. Fritters are found in an amazing array, whether showered with sugar, drizzled with honey, or soaked in syrup. These deep-fried sweets range from the honey-coated sfinci of Sicily and diples of Greece to the cinnamon-sugar dusted churros of Spain and the sticky zalabia of Egypt, dipped in a syrup of rose and orange flower water. Rice pudding also straddles the region, though it may be flavored with cinnamon and candied orange in Italy (torta di riso), saffron, currants and pine nuts in Turkey (zerde), or mastic and rose water throughout the Middle East (muhallebisi). Ice cream and sorbet are relished everywhere, though always with a local flavor, such as lavender in France, lemon and cinnamon in Spain, or black mulberry in Lebanon.

When it comes to cookies, biscotti are a favorite, from the quaresimali of Sicily (made without fat and studded with whole almonds) to the qirshalli of the Middle East (made with anise and olive oil). Shortbreads are exceedingly popular, like the kourambiethes of Greece, rolled in a coating of powdered sugar, and the round, almond-topped graybeh found across North Africa and the Middle East. And so are all manner of cookies that are stuffed with a filling of dried fruit or nuts, including the ma'moul of the Middle East, featuring a date filling inside a domed pastry crust shaped with a decorative wooden mold; the cucidada of Italy, stuffed with dried figs, nuts and candied fruits; and the powdered sugar-coated gazelle's horns of Morocco, filled with ground almonds and orange flower water.

Of course, there are differences among countries as well, such as flavor combinations, pastry shapes or types of fat used. Sometimes, entire categories of desserts disappear or emerge. Rich butter cakes are found only in the northern Mediterranean, while sponge-style cakes, often with the addition of ground nuts or semolina, are found throughout the region. Tarts, popular in France and Italy, start to disappear in Spain, and are virtually gone in Greece, replaced there, and in North Africa and the Middle East, by a new category of pastry made with filo that is layered or rolled with fillings ranging from nuts to cheese to fruit, and available in myriad creative shapes. These are collectively known as baklava, a name given to almost any nut-filled filo dessert, regardless of its form. Types of baklava, all finished with a dousing of sugar syrup, include galataboureko in Greece, layers of filo sandwiching a filling of semolina pudding; m'hanncha in Morocco, sheets of filo rolled around almond paste and connected end to end to resemble a coiled snake; nightingale's nests in Turkey, essentially an individual version of the m'hanncha, filled with pistachios; and the konafa of the Middle East (kataifi in Greece) consisting of two layers of shredded filo sandwiching nuts, often pistachios, or fresh cheese.

In general, the greatest culinary divide seems to be between the northern countries (France, Italy and Spain) and the eastern ones

(Turkey, and the Middle East). Greece, not surprisingly, straddles the two sides, sometimes leaning in one direction, sometimes in the other. A frequent use of sugar syrup, in addition to the appearance of filo and spices like cardamom, mastic and mahleb are indicators of a switch in culinary gears from north to east. For example, sponge cakes in the north are served plain, or split and filled with jam or cream, such as Sicily's famous cassata, filled with orange and chocolate-studded ricotta, then covered with marzipan and candied fruits. In the east, however, sponge cakes are often soaked with a sugar syrup in the style of baklava and served quite juicy, like the revani of Turkey (a semolina cake with citrus syrup) or the karydopita of Greece (a walnut cake with clove syrup).

The northern Mediterranean countries delight in egg-based puddings like the French pot de creme, the Italian bonet, and the Spanish crema Catalana, which many believe to be the original creme brulee. Spain takes this category to an extreme with tocinillos de cielo, a very dense, sweet custard made with just yolks and sugar - no milk! The east, on the other hand, leaves out the eggs and expands the concept of milk-based puddings to include a whole range of desserts that are thickened with cornstarch, arrowroot, semolina or rice flour, scented with mastic, rose and orange blossom water, and garnished with fruit and nuts. In fact, in the Middle East, pudding-makers or muhallabeci, belong to a special guild formed during the reign of the Ottoman Empire, their shops often passing through family hands for generations.

Chocolate is a unique dessert ingredient in the Mediterranean, for though it was introduced into Europe through Spain, it has (until recently) had a very small role in the desserts of the north, and none at all in the eastern countries. This presents an interesting challenge for pastry chefs intent on pairing Mediterranean traditions with their customers demand for chocolate desserts. There is scant reference material from which to draw inspiration, but that simply means the door to improvisation is wide open, with all of the regions' forms and flavors available for evaluation and inclusion in completely original creations. For example, Stanton Ho's Fresh Fig and Chianti Chocolate Ganache Tart has a classic feel to it, while Steve Ferraro's Date Cake with Milk Chocolate Cream and Citrus Compote has a more adventurous feel, and Paige Retus' Milk Chocolate and Caramelized Hazelnut Tart topped with Bittersweet Chocolate Semifreddo is a fun American twist on the famous Baci candies from Italy. Many ingredients from the lists above pair well with chocolate and combine to lend a distinctly Mediterranean feel to the finished dessert.

The skill, as always, is in the careful blending of flavors and traditions, to create a dessert that conjures the very essence of the Mediterranean, yet appeals to modern American tastes. This may be easier to do with chocolate than it is with orange blossom water, mastic, or pomegranate molasses, but as pastry chefs expand their palates, they always find innovative and satisfying ways to incorporate new tastes into their menus.

How to start? In the beginning, new flavors or forms can be introduced easily by blending them into a current favorite, such as adding a touch of rose water to a berry dessert (most berries and roses are in the same botanical family). Or by incorporating them as an accent on a best-selling item, like nestling a Moroccan cookie into the cookie platter. Or by wrapping them in chocolate, a sure-fire seller, as in Chocolate Baklava With Espresso-Frangelico Syrup Served With Chocolate Sorbet. The point is not to shock, but to delight, for if the joy of dessert is missing, then the experiment fails. The key to broadening our dessert menus lies in the gentle balance between understanding customer tastes and probing their sense of adventure. Once a pastry chef has gained the trust of satisfied customers, s/he can push the envelope a bit further. And then further. It is this gentle education that has taken our dinner menus from Poached Chicken With Cream Sauce to Chicken Tajine With Preserved Lemons And Olives. It can work for desserts as well.

The popularity of Mediterranean cuisine shows no signs of waning. In fact, it is growing by leaps and bounds as people who love the vibrant flavors of Provence, Italy, Spain and Greece discover a new world of flavors both familiar and exciting in the emerging cuisines of North Africa and the Middle East. These lessor-known countries have something special to offer American dessert menus and the people that create them - something more than novelty, though there is that. They offer an opportunity for pastry chefs to expand their technique, their sense of taste, and the way they think about dessert. When translated onto the dessert plate this knowledge can excite, entertain, and yes, educate the consumer, all in the same bite. In this way, pastry chefs can raise the standards of authenticity and creativity, and ultimately create a more exciting dining experience for everyone involved.