Okay that was supposed to be to the tune of Sound of Music’s, So Long, Farewell, when Friedrich says “Adieu, adieu, to yieu and yieu and yieu”, so just pretend you got it.

Choux (pronounced as “shoe”) pastry is a cooked, eggy dough made with butter, water, flour, and eggs. Instead of using any raising agents, it uses its high moisture content to create steam which causes it to puff in the oven. Some notable desserts that use choux pastry are profiteroles (cream puffs), eclairs, croquembouches, St. Honore cake, and chouquettes. Cream puffs and eclairs are usually filled with cream, while chouquettes are unfilled and sprinkled with pearl sugar.

According to some cookbooks, chef Pantarelli or Pantanelli, the head chef of Catherine de’ Medici, invented the dough in 1540. He originally made a gateau, a rich cake that contains layers of cream or fruit, and named it a pâte à Pantanelli. Over the years, the recipe for the dough evolved along with its name. Pâte à popelin, was used to make popelins, named after Pantanelli’s successor, small cakes that were made to resemble a woman’s breasts. They were very common in aristocratic circles in the 16th century and were prepared from dough that dried over a fire to evaporate water, called pâte à chaud (literally meaning ‘hot pastry’). This is where the name pâte à choux comes from.

Well, hope you enjoyed a tasty Thursday food fact! Adieu, adieu, to you and you and you!