Citrus Delight Take your taste buds to France. Inspired by his Grandfather’s passion for cooking, Gert Pretorius aims to bring energy and creativity to his kitchen. The recipe he’s sharing with us is one of the first items he added to the Madame Rouge menu after becoming head chef – a rich and lemony French style tart, complimented by a flaky and buttery pastry.
CLASSIC FRENCH TARTE CITRON
Ingredients For the pastry: 125g unsalted butter, cool 85g icing sugar, sifted 250g plain flour, sifted 2 large eggs, beaten, keep separate
For the filling: 9 large eggs 1 egg yolk 390g caster sugar 300ml thickened cream Zest & juice of 5 large lemons 50g caster sugar
Method For the pastry: Cream together the sugar and butter. Using a whisk or fork mix in flour until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add one beaten egg and mix until the crumbs just come
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What has fuelled your passion to want to be a chef? I spent a lot of time in my grandfather’s kitchen as a child. His passion for cooking and food has always inspired me. Who would you most like to cook for? Paul Bocuse, Rick Stein, Dominique Crenn, Massimo Bottura, Anthony Bourdain. What would you serve them? Coal grilled, fresh caught fish, roasted fennel, Australian asparagus and samphire, and a lot of chardonnay. These are all people who appreciate the simplicity of good produce. A good party is always better when spent with people who love food and drink as much as you do. Favourite ingredient and why? Citrus. The wide range of flavours can complement pretty much everything, sweet and savoury. I love the freshness it imparts to any dish.
together. Do not overwork. Form pastry into a disc, cover in baking paper, refrigerate for oen hour. Pre-heat oven to 170C. Roll out pastry between two large sheets of baking paper to 3-4mm thick. Grease a 27cm loose-bottomed tart tin. Line the tin with the pastry, being sure the pastry is even all around and pressed into the corners. Prick the base at equal intervals with a fork. This will allow the steam to escape the bottom of the tart, giving a crisp pastry base. Crumple up a piece of baking paper larger than the tart tin, uncrumple and place on top of the pastry, fill with baking beans. Bake for 15 minutes, until the sides are light golden in colour. Remove the baking paper and beans. Brush a thin coat of beaten egg on the pastry, return to the oven, bake an additional five minutes. Turn the oven down to 120C, open the door, leaving tart shell inside for a further 20 minutes.
Most memorable meal? Many of my childhood meals were enjoyed over an open fire. I don’t have a most memorable meal, but rather a most memorable meal style. Eating around a camp fire, the embers crackling and light aroma of smoke has had a huge influence on the flavour profiles I most associate with. What do you bring to the Madame Rouge kitchen? Energy and creativity. I have an amazing team behind me at Madame Rouge, and I hope they can feed the energy I bring to work to create the dishes that make me proud. Why did you choose this recipe to share with Style readers? This is one of the first items I added to the menu after becoming the head chef. It was immensely popular with our customers.
For the filling: Whisk together the eggs, egg yolk and sugar in a heat proof mixing bowl until well combined. Mix in the cream, zest and juice of the lemons. Over a double boiler, heat the mixture, stirring occasionally, until the mixture reaches 60C. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve into a pouring jug. Skim off any foam from the top of the liquid. Carefully pour into the baked tart base. Bake at 120C for 10-15 minutes, until the centre of the tart has just set. Allow to cool for two hours outside of the fridge, then cool for at least another six hours in the fridge.
To serve: Slice the tart into wedges. Sprinkle with a thin layer of sugar; use a blow torch to lightly caramelise the top, serve with vanilla or lemon ice-cream.
AUGUST 2018