Round one - American apple pie vs. Tarte aux pommes à l'Alsacienne

A couple people seemed interested in the cooking/recipes subject so I thought I'd talk a little about Alsatian cuisine.  Not the lightest of fare, I'll give them that.  The German influence is pretty evident - dozens of types of sausages (saucisses) and big on sauerkraut (choucroute).  In addition, there are a bunch of regional specialties that I will highlight later including spaetzle, flammkuchen and kugelhopf- all a mouthful to pronounce and each well-deserving their own dedicated blog post (which I promise to do).  For now though - the classic Alsatian apple tart.

The distinctions between American and French cooking are easily seen when comparing an American apple pie with an Alsatian apple tart.   When going the Alsatian route, the word "precision" comes to mind.  While the American apple pie is a heaping mound of apples, cinnamon and a little sugar, the Alsatian version  is sort of the Type A cousin, taking a more precise and orderly take on things.

Apples are meticulously arranged in a single row...

...and then a custard is prepared and poured over the apples...

And then baked until browned...

Interested in trying it out?? Here's the recipe from www.marmiton.fr (http://www.marmiton.org/recettes/recette_tarte-aux-pommes-a-l-alsacienne_11457.aspx)
Temps de préparation (Prep time) : 25 minutes
Temps de cuisson (Cooking time) : 30 minutes


Ingrédients (6 Portions) :

- 3 ou 4 pommes (selon la grosseur) (3 or 4 apples, depending on size)
- 1 pâte brisée (one unbaked premade crust - even the French cheat on this one!)
- 2 oeufs (2 eggs)
- 25 cl de crème fraîche (8.5 ounces light cream will work- not the exact same but real crème fraîche is hard to find in the US)
- 100 g de sucre en poudre (~1/2 cup granulated sugar)
- 1 sachet de sucre vanillé (2 tsp of vanilla infused sugar but can be replaced with 2 tsp sugar plus dash of vanilla extract)


Posez sur un fond de moule à tarte une pâte brisée que vous trouez avec une fourchette. (Place unbaked premade pie crust in a round baking dish and pierce the dough well with a fork)

Pelez et coupez les pommes en fines tranches que vous disposer sur le fond de tarte.
(Peel and cut the apple in thin slices and arrange them on the on the crust)

Dans un saladier, mélangez le sucre, la crème fraîche, les oeufs, le sucre vanillé; versez le tout sur les pommes.
(In a bowl, mix the sugar, cream, eggs and vanilla sugar; pour the mixture over the apples)

Enfournez au four préchauffé à 200°C (th 6-7), jusqu'à ce que la tarte prenne une belle couleur dorée.
(Put it into a preheated oven (390 degrees) until the tarte takes on a nice golden color - it'll be about 30 minutes)

Enjoy!