Book of Days Tales

Today is the birthday (1772) of François Marie Charles Fourier, generally referred to as Charles, radical (for his day) social theorist and utopian socialist. His ideas had a profound impact on social theory in the early 19^th century, among other things being foundational to much of what Karl Marx wrote later about the ills of industrial society.  But he was also a trifle loony and ended up being largely forgotten until the late 20^th century.  Fourier’s views inspired the founding of the community of Utopia, Ohio, La Reunion near present-day Dallas, Texas, the North American Phalanx in Red Bank, New Jersey, Brook Farm in West Roxbury, Massachusetts (where Nathaniel Hawthorne was one of the founders), the Community Place and Sodus Bay Phalanx in New York State, and several other communities in the United States.

 To celebrate Fourier I am going to go with a recipe for mirlitons, a pastry that was invented in, and is still common in, Rouen but rarely found elsewhere (to my knowledge).  Fourier spends quite a bit of time in his writings talking about his theories on food, which he called gastrosophy, and mirlitons have a prominent place in his discussions.  I’ll spare you his endless, and only semi-coherent, thoughts in this sphere.  Trust me, you don’t need to know his theories about the part mirlitons would play in feuds between members of his utopian communities and other notions.  Here’s a recipe instead.

Mirlitons come in a few different varieties, but basically they are puff pastry shells filled with an almond custard.  They can come in a pie size, but traditionally they are individual bites the size of a cupcake.  Just to avoid confusion, there are other pastries found in other parts of France that are quite different from the ones found in Rouen, which are the ones Fourier refers to. Mirliton is an old French word that is somewhat akin to “thingamabob.” The word is also used as an alternate to chayote (a vining vegetable), a Paris cabaret, a type of flute, and a style of military shako. You will need tartlet pans, fluted if possible, and a pastry wheel.

Mirlitons de Rouen

Ingredients:

1 8 oz/230g puff pastry sheet
3 ½ ozs/100 g ground almonds
3 ½ ozs/100 g caster sugar
2 eggs
vanilla essence or orange flower water
7 ozs/ 200 g thick jam or fruit butter
5 tbsps thick cream
flaked almonds to decorate

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C.

Cut out circles of the pastry with a pastry wheel so as to give the mirlitons a decorative edge, and tuck them into greased tartlet molds.

Put a teaspoon of jam or fruit butter into each tartlet shell.

In a mixing bowl combine the eggs, sugar, and ground almonds. Whisk well and then add the cream and stir to incorporate it

Pour the egg mixture into each tartlet shell so that they are about ¾ full (the mixture will rise in baking).

Decorate with flaked almonds and bake for about 20 minutes or until golden.

Serve warm or cold.