No. 174

Empty Tarts, Ancient Style

Tourtes a l'Ancienne

Spread on a baking-sheet a layer of foundation paste eight inches in diameter; wet the edges of this crust using a brush, and lay on the center a spherical shaped pad, four and three-quarters in diameter and two and one-half high, made of paper and wrapped in slices of fat pork. Cover this pad with an upper layer of paste made with puff-paste clippings, fasten the upper and lower crusts together by pressing them down with the thumb, and cut away the surplus paste with the tip of a small knife, following the outlines of the lower crust. Moisten the edges of the crust and place it on a band of six-turn puff paste (No. 147), an inch and a half wide by twenty-six inches long, and three-eighths of an inch thick; cut off the ends on the bias, wet them slightly and fasten them together with the finger; channel the band lightly, decorate the dome with leaves cut from the paste, egg the surface, also the band, and bake the tart for thirty to forty minutes in a well heated, but not too hot oven. After removing the tart from the fire, cut the dome at the base so as to remove the pad; it is now ready to fill.

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For the Modern Kitchen

This is not a dish but a vessel: a domed pastry case baked hollow over a removable form, then filled at service. Ranhofer assumes you have his foundation paste (No. 173-ish family) and six-turn puff paste already made.

Read it as a hollow pie shellThe paper pad is a dummy that holds the dome up while the pastry sets. Nothing inside is eaten; the dome is cut off at the base after baking, the pad lifted out, and the case then filled -- Ranhofer does not say here with what.
The hinge: seal the edges properlyPress the upper and lower crusts tight and moisten the puff-paste band onto them as directed, or the assembly will not hold together. Chilling the assembled case before it goes in the oven is a modern precaution, not something the recipe calls for.
"Well heated, but not too hot"Ranhofer gives no number. A moderately hot oven, perhaps in the region of 375-400F, is a reasonable modern reading: enough heat to lift the puff-paste band, not so much that the band and applied leaves colour before the 30-40 minutes are up.
Foundation paste vs. puff clippingsFoundation paste is a firm, non-laminated dough that will hold a shape; the recipe makes the dome from puff-paste trimmings, which puff unevenly and are in any case cut away after baking. Only the band is specified as fresh six-turn puff (No. 147).
The padRanhofer's pad is crumpled or moulded paper about 4 3/4 inches across and 2 1/2 inches high, sheathed in slices of fat pork so the paper does not stick to or scorch against the paste. Use clean parchment or foil rather than printed paper, and note that the pork here is a barrier and a fat source, not an ingredient you will serve.
The bandAn inch and a half wide, 26 inches long, 3/8 inch thick, joined on the bias. That length is calculated for the circumference of the eight-inch base plus a small overlap; measure your own base rather than trusting the number.
"Channel" and "egg"Channelling is scoring shallow decorative grooves in the band with the back of a knife. Egging is an egg wash; one yolk beaten with a spoonful of water gives the gloss Ranhofer wants, brushed so it does not pool in the seam and glue the layers shut.
YieldThe recipe gives no yield; an eight-inch case is a centrepiece to be portioned, and how far it goes depends entirely on what is put in it. Best filled and served the same day; a hollow shell held overnight softens unless crisped briefly in a low oven.

A Little History

The Epicurean (1894) is Charles Ranhofer's record of some thirty years as chef at Delmonico's in New York, and its "Elementary Methods" chapters are a professional syllabus rather than home cooking: pastes, garnishes, thickenings, the components from which the numbered dishes are assembled. A tourte is the old French word for a round pie or tart, not necessarily covered, and "a l'ancienne" signals the antique manner of building one over a form so it comes to table as an architectural object to be filled at the last moment, in the same family as the vol-au-vent and the raised croustade. The fat pork wrapping is a reminder of how routinely lard and barding fat were used as everyday kitchen materials rather than as flavourings.