Pastry Round-Up: Rasgullah, Pickled Blueberries, and Heritage Grains

During the course of my research, I come across interesting tidbits that don’t always fit into the course of my writing. This doesn’t make them any less worthy of sharing so I am posting these randomly interesting links into a section titled “Pastry Round-Up”. 

Rasgulla (Sweet Milk Curd Balls). Rasgulla is an Indian dessert of milk curds poached in a rose syrup. The spongy texture resembles a sweet ricotta dumpling; in fact, you can skip making the milk curds and use ricotta that has been drained overnight. Like the Indian continent of a thousand dialects, rasgulla has many regional variants and there are endless ways to make this dessert suit your taste. The curds can be bound with wheat or semolina flour for a cakey texture, or the syrup can be infused with saffron, cardamom, vanilla bean, or orange blossom water. Unassuming in its simplicity, this can be a tricky dessert to prepare as the milk curds must retain just enough moisture to form a firm spongy texture when poached. This is a uniquely hearty dessert when served warm after a light summer meal or during the coming winter months with w
hipped cream and chilled fruit compote.

Pickled Blueberries. Pickling has long been the province of the summer vegetable harvest but it can also preserve fruit past its notoriously fleeting harvest season. (Trust me, I’m still enjoying the fruits of last year’s cherry harvest.) Pickled fruit tastes complex: briny but sweet and refreshingly tart. Chef Bobby Hellen of Resto restaurant pairs his pickled blueberries with a chicken liver salad but given my sweet-savory proclivities, I swapped the Thai chili for two sprigs of lemon thyme and paired the pickled blueberries with sweet, creamy desserts: white chocolate parfait, bay leaf crème brulee and vanilla custard layer cake. Firm berries that benefit from a little cooking—mulberry, huckleberry, and blueberry—work well in this recipe.

Q and A with a Back-To-The-Roots Grain Grower. Heritage grains are making a comeback for the very reason they were becoming extinct: genetic diversity.  Although grains have sustained human civilization for thousands of years, many grains have been lost because of their inability to be harvested mechanically and the agricultural practice of monoculture. The danger of monoculture is that, while efficient, changing one variable can wipe out a crop as potato blight did in Ireland, as frost has done with US citrus crops from time to time, and as rust fungus is currently decimating Guatemalan coffee crops. Heritage grains have adapted and evolved over thousands of years to survive various pestilence, adapt to drought, or offer a unique array of nutrients. Heritage grains like einkorn are also gaining publicity as an alternative baking grain for those who want to avoid gluten or like myself, are in search of a uniquely delicious flavor experience.