Green Vase and...
David Reidel
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La Belle Cuisine

"The challenge in creating a good dessert, and the pleasure it brings to its
recipient, is unmatched by any other type of cooking. There is something
that is associated with a homemade dessert that evokes among all of us a
sense of comfort and well-being - it is a gift of love."
~ Nancy Silverton

More Than the Basics for Dessert
by Alain Ducasse
The New York Times, March 27, 2002

This is the fifth of eight columns by Alain Ducasse, the chef and owner of
Alain Ducasse at the Essex House in Manhattan. They are being written
with Florence Fabricant.
 

"At the end of an elaborate dinner you need something fresh. And light. And somewhat exotic, too. In my restaurant, we serve chilled mango and a sorbet of fromage blanc or sour cream spiked with pepper after the dessert. It's meant to
wake up the palate before the finale of caramels, little cakes and chocolates.
I don't consider it a full-fledged dessert, but it can easily be turned into one by
adding warm caramelized mango. Then you have that combination of hot and
cold, raw and cooked, which I adore.
First, prepare the sour cream sorbet to give it time to chill. You might wonder
why I call it a sorbet and not an ice cream when it has a dairy base. In France,
sorbets, like this one, are made with sugar syrup, while ice cream is made with
a custard, using eggs.
For the sauce, I like the sharpness of passion fruit because it makes the flavors
much more complex, especially with raw mango in it.
To cook the mango, I caramelize it first in a pan, then under the broiler, taking
care that it doesn't lose its texture and fresh flavor. Too much cooking and it
can turn to purée.
I'd like to make an important point, which applies to all my cooking. After the mangoes are cooked, you will have butter, sugar and some of the mango juices
left in the pan. Those are the essences of your ingredients; don't lose them. You
want to capture those treasured touches of flavor and return them to your dish.
For this dessert I give them a little refinement by cooking them until they
caramelize, adding some lemon juice for balance.
As you eat the sorbet, it starts to melt into the barely warm mango. The sauce contributes a sweetly acidic note, bridging the two.
To keep things simpler, omit the cooked mango and just go with the sorbet, the
sauce and the raw mango. Either way, the delightful heat of pepper lingers
with each bite."

Glazed Mango With Sour Cream Sorbet
and Black Pepper
Time: 30 minutes

2 large mangoes, ripe but not soft
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus
butter for baking sheet
 1/3 cup sugar
 1/3 cup lemon juice
freshly ground black pepper
1 cup passion fruit sauce (see recipe)
Sour cream sorbet (see recipe)
1 teaspoon coarse black pepper

1. Peel mangoes. Cut in thirds horizontally, leaving the pit in middle
section. Place each portion without pit cut-side down on a work
surface, and with a large knife cut into 8 slices perpendicular to
the cutting board. Gently push down on slices so they spread out
and overlap slightly.
2. Sliver enough mango flesh left around the pits to make  1/2 cup.
Set slivers aside.
3. Butter a baking sheet large enough to hold mangoes in a single layer.
Heat the broiler.
4. Melt remaining butter in a large nonstick skillet. Use a spatula to
place each sliced mango third in the pan so they keep their shape.
Cook over medium heat about 5 minutes, sprinkling with two
tablespoons sugar, and basting with pan juices.
5. With spatula, transfer mangoes to baking sheet, place under broiler,
and broil until edges just start to color. Do not overcook.
Set mangoes aside.
6. Add remaining sugar to juices in skillet, and cook over medium heat
until juices start to caramelize. Add lemon juice, and continue to
cook, stirring, until amber colored. Season lightly with pepper.
Spoon on mangoes.
7. Place a sliced caramelized mango third in each of 4 shallow soup
plates. Spoon passion fruit sauce around each, and scatter raw
mango slivers around. Top each with a large oval scoop of sour
cream sorbet, sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon coarse pepper on top and
serve at once.
Yield: 4 servings.

Sour Cream Sorbet
Time: 15 minutes, plus freezing

1 cup sugar
1 pint sour cream
3 tablespoons lime juice
 1/2 tablespoon finely
grated lime zest.

1. Combine sugar and  3/8 cup water in saucepan. Simmer until sugar dissolves.
2. Whisk sour cream in a large bowl until smooth. Gradually whisk in
sugar syrup. Whisk in lime juice and zest. Refrigerate until cold.
Transfer to an ice cream maker, and freeze according to the
manufacturer's instructions.
Yield: 1 quart

Passion Fruit Sauce
Time: 30 minutes, plus chilling

1/3 cup sugar
1 stalk fresh lemon grass, in pieces
 2/3 cup passion fruit nectar like
Looza or Ceres
(sold in fancy-food shops)
2 tablespoons lemon juice.

1. Mix sugar with  1/4 cup water in a small saucepan, simmer until sugar dissolves, add lemon grass, and set aside to cool 20 minutes.
2. Stir in passion fruit nectar and lemon juice. Refrigerate.
Yield: 1 cup.

 Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company. Used with permission.

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