about pastry

2.  Pastry is a dough of flour, water and
shortening that may be savoury or
sweetened. Sweetened pastries are often
described as bakers' confectionery.

3.  This type of pastry (along with finely shredded kadafi
pastry, also from the Mediterranean) is made in very thin
sheets and used as a casing for numerous delicate
savoury and sweet dishes. Made with high gluten content
flour, filo is very difficult to make and needs careful
handling because it is such a thin, fragile pastry that dries
out quickly. Some people prefer to buy readymade filo
pastry, but even that is not easy to use. It must be brushed
with oil or melted butter/ghee before shaping and cooking.
Samosas are deep-fried with spicy fillings, wrapped in filo
pastry, and prawns in filo pastry make popular savoury
nibbles. This type is similar to strudel pastry.

4.  A traditional, British, pastry used for steamed
or boiled puddings, dumplings and roly-poly
puddings. Steak and kidney pudding is
famously made with suet crust pastry as is
spotted dick and treacle pudding.

5.  This is probably the most versatile type of
pastry as it can be used for savoury and
sweet pies, tarts and flans. There are several
different ways of making shortcrust pastry.

6.  This is one of the ‘flaked pastries’
characterised by fat and air being trapped
between the layers of the pastry dough to
give a flimsy, light and crisp finish.