Vol-au-vent

It is customary to call oxen or otherwise wallows small cups made on the basis of puff dough, which are filled with a wide variety of fillings. A rather simple, easy and at the same time graceful solution, the source of origin of which can not be doubted - undoubtedly, this is France.

So, the name of this flour product in French sounds like vol-au-vent, which can be translated as "flying in the wind. " According to legend, this method of serving this snack was invented by the famous cook Marie-Antoine Karem, who worked for Talleyrand and served at the court of the Russian emperor Alexander I and the English king George IV.

With his light hand, a flat mug of puff pastry on a baking sheet turned into a tall keg during the baking process, which consisted of a dozen layers of air pastry. At the same time, the cook who witnessed this miracle exclaimed: "He takes off into the air! " It was in this way that the name was born.

Fluffy flaky pastry boxes were very popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, after which they were gradually replaced by the fashion for mini sandwiches - canapés. However, it's only worth making the volovans once with various buffet or festive buffet toppings, and the beauty of this French snack will make itself felt.

Most often, it is customary to make loaves of round shape, similar to turrets, although sometimes there are octahedrons or rectangular "wells. " This directly depends on the shape that is used in the cutting of laminated dough products. All kinds of salads, cold vegetable and meat snacks, pates along with sweet creams and fruit desserts are added as a filling.

One of the most popular festive options is considered to be volovans stuffed with caviar, low-salted red fish, mushrooms or chicken. The size of such a snack can vary, but usually the buffet version provides for a product for one or two bites.

Today, volovans can be purchased without any problems ready-made in simple stores, but it is not difficult to prepare this basis for snacks. This requires only three ingredients - puff dough, egg and butter.

Pastry for the preparation of oxen is visually divided into several parts. On the basis, circles of the same size are squeezed out, and dough circles of the same diameter are placed on them, but with holes cut out. At the same time, each layer of dough is washed with melted oil, and the workpiece itself for oxen is lubricated with beaten egg.

By the way, experienced culinary experts advise putting mugs of puff dough on top of each other as carefully as possible - so the finished products will turn out to be more even. They are baked willowed in the oven until ruddy, cooled, and then used if necessary.