Great Ocean Food: The legendary tarte tatin is great food goof

Mistakes in life are so underrated. The more someone fails the more they learn.

That is surely the process by which we acquire knowledge and skills. Errors can sometimes have surprising ramifications; none more so than in the culinary world.

Cheese and yoghurt are almost certainly a product of accident. So too cornflakes, champagne, tofu, icy-poles – the list goes on, but my favourite food goof is the legendary tarte tatin.

Tarte Tatin was first created by accident at the Hotel Tatin in Lamotte-Beuvron, France in 1898.

The hotel was run by two sisters, Stephanie and Caroline Tatin. There are conflicting stories concerning the tart’s origin, but the predominant one is that Stephanie Tatin, who did most of the cooking, was overworked one day.

She started to make a traditional apple pie but left the apples cooking in butter and sugar for too long. Smelling the burning, she tried to rescue the dish by putting the pastry base on top of the pan of apples, quickly finishing the cooking by putting the whole pan in the oven.

After turning out the upside-down tart, she was surprised to find how much the hotel guests appreciated the dessert.

The tarte became a signature dish at the Hotel Tatin and the recipe spread through the Sologne region. Its lasting fame is probably due to restaurateur Louis Vaudable who made the dessert a permanent fixture on the menu at his famous restaurant Maxim’s in Paris.

I was reminded of this yesterday when our neighbour generously offered someof her beautiful home-grown apples.

Excess apples are always an excuse to make apple crumble, pie or Tarte Tatin. In our family the latter is most popular and
gained some notoriety when I proposed marriage to my wife.

Having elicited a positive response from Anna, it was then time to have a talk to her father. He was fairly intimidating and I was incredibly nervous. My soon-tobe sister-in-law suggested I make Tarte Tatin for Sunday dessert while waiting.

I studiously set about the job but my nerves and the prospect of refusal got the better of me. Not concentrating on the task at hand, I peeled enough apples to make a dozen tarts! I’m pleased to report both the dessert and the discussion had a happy ending.

The following rustic recipe is from Maggie Beer who incorporates verjuice. It is the simplest of recipes with a stunning result, all thanks to our neighbour’s green thumb, abundant crop and hard work in looking after their orchard.