THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 14, 1996 TAG: 9601110024
SECTION: FLAVOR PAGE: F1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RUTH ELAINE FANTASIA, LOS ANGELES TIMES SYNDICATE
LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines
BREAD PUDDING was once plain bread, soaked in milk and baked with a few raisins thrown in for color. It was Depression-era food: basic, cheap and filling.
But today's bread pudding is haute cuisine. Infused with fruit, liquors and aromatic seasonings, the bread puddings that America's chefs are dreaming up bear little resemblance to the desserts that emerged from Mom's kitchen.
``They're more solid, less goopy,'' says Marcel Desaulniers, co-owner and executive chef at The Trellis Restaurant, Cafe & Grill in Williamsburg, and author of ``Death by Chocolate: The Last Word on a Consuming Passion'' (Rizzoli, 1992).
``It's nothing like that stuff Mom - or in my case, boarding school - used to serve,'' Desaulniers says.
``I've seen two styles, a dense pudding and a souffle pudding.''
A Whiskey-Soaked Raisin Bread Pudding served at the Trellis is an example of the former. Served in slices, it appears to be bread rather than pudding. Topped with Jack's (as in Daniel's) Honey-Raisin Sauce, this is not boarding school fare.
By contrast, the Peach Bread Pudding With Southern Comfort Cream served at the Buckhead Diner in Atlanta is a souffle pudding. This light, tender creation is baked with less cream than traditional bread puddings. And although it requires a bit of intense whisking, Dan O'Leary, the diner's executive chef, says the recipe is nothing to be afraid of.
``Housewives were making bread puddings well before professionals were,'' he says. ``It's comfort food. It may not be on the cutting edge of cuisine, but it sure is good,'' he says.
Just as the Whiskey-Soaked Raisin Bread Pudding reflects a rebellion against boarding school goop and the Peach Bread Pudding highlights Georgia's most famous perishable fruit, The Ritz-Carlton Buckhead, also in Atlanta, has its signature bread pudding, which screams ``haute.'' Chocolate-Walnut Bread Pudding is as luxurious as the hotel where it is served to conference attendees for breakfast. Executive chef Mauro Canaglia knows a day filled with meetings will be tolerable if it begins with a hefty helping of chocolate.
The Ritz's offering is closer to Mom's pudding - it's downright gooey. But with all this chocolate and cream, Mom would wring her hands (and your neck) if she knew you were eating this for breakfast.
But Canaglia defends his bread pudding by comparing it to grits. ``It's so versatile because the bread itself is plain and it goes with any flavor. We even make a ginger-raspberry pudding,'' he says. ``It's like grits. We put everything in grits - bacon, cheese, Parmesan. Who would have thought grits and bread pudding would be endless?''
Certainly not Mom.
And she wouldn't have thought bread pudding could be expensive either.
``It's not really cost-effective, because we bake brioche just for the bread pudding,'' O'Leary says.
Brioche, a buttery, French loaf traditionally served as dessert or at tea time, can be purchased from bread shops and bakeries.
Desaulniers makes his own bread as well. In his book, ``Desserts to Die For'' (Simon & Schuster), he cautions against using store-bought bread for Whiskey-Soaked Raisin Bread Pudding. The pudding's ``extraordinary lightness comes from the Buttery Bun Dough, which is very similar to brioche,'' he writes. Start this recipe at least a day before you plan to serve it.
Time-consuming, expensive and in some cases loaded with liquor, these bread puddings are certainly not what Mom used to make. They're exquisite.
Sorry, Mom. MEMO: Ruth Fantasia is The Virginian-Pilot's assistant to the food editor.
ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
LOS ANGELES TIMES SYNDICATE
Chocolate-Walnut Breat Pudding is as luxurious as the restaurant in
which it is served for breakfast - the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead in
Atlanta.
FILE PHOTO
Bread puddings are ``more solid, less goopy,'' says chef Marcel
Desaulniers of The Trellis in Williamsburg. ``It's nothing like that
stuff Mom used to serve.''
by CNB