A "pawpaw" is a wild fruit that looks like a small mango, and tastes like a tropical combination of a mango and a banana. They grow on a tree from a tropical family of origin. And, oh yeah, they grow in the deciduous forests of the northern US. They are not cultivated widely so the best way to get one is by foraging for it or buying it from someone else who forages. Luckily for me I have a friend who picks these in the woods adjacent to his farm. Here's an article from NPR about the pawpaw.
If you pay attention to restaurant trends at all you'll know that chef's have been "deconstructing" traditional dishes since Ferran Adria's gazpacho at El Bulli. A deconstructed dish is one that breaks down the parts of a dish, making alterations here and there til the it is not recognizable as it's classic form. Typically though, the dish tastes like the original, at least a little.
I didn't deconstruct anything here necessarily and pawpaw meringue is certainly not a traditional dish, as far as I know. Instead what I did was make all of the parts of what would be a pie and then I destroyed them. I did this because I was struggling with a way to plate this dessert. I couldn't figure it out so I just unleashed a little violence on it. And as it turns out, devastation can sometimes have an artistic side.
The pie filling, seen on the bottom of the pile, is a pawpaw custard with chia seeds. I cooked pureed pawpaw with milk, cream, sugar, eggs and the seeds and chilled it. It set up nicely into a soft pudding like texture.
The next layer is just a simple pie crust that I baked, cooled and roughed up a bit. On top of that is crumbled meringue cookie made with just egg white and sugar. The dish is
If you pay attention to restaurant trends at all you'll know that chef's have been "deconstructing" traditional dishes since Ferran Adria's gazpacho at El Bulli. A deconstructed dish is one that breaks down the parts of a dish, making alterations here and there til the it is not recognizable as it's classic form. Typically though, the dish tastes like the original, at least a little.
I didn't deconstruct anything here necessarily and pawpaw meringue is certainly not a traditional dish, as far as I know. Instead what I did was make all of the parts of what would be a pie and then I destroyed them. I did this because I was struggling with a way to plate this dessert. I couldn't figure it out so I just unleashed a little violence on it. And as it turns out, devastation can sometimes have an artistic side.
The pie filling, seen on the bottom of the pile, is a pawpaw custard with chia seeds. I cooked pureed pawpaw with milk, cream, sugar, eggs and the seeds and chilled it. It set up nicely into a soft pudding like texture.
The next layer is just a simple pie crust that I baked, cooled and roughed up a bit. On top of that is crumbled meringue cookie made with just egg white and sugar. The dish is