Pastis gascon

Pastis gascon is a pastry from Gascony in which fruit is wrapped in thinly stretched dough and baked in many layers. Inside the light, golden layers are soft apples with the aroma of Armagnac. In the Gers department, it is also called croustade.

Dough Stretched Thin

The dough is defined by its thinness. Flour, eggs, oil, water and other ingredients are combined and rested, then stretched on a large table until it is thin enough to almost see through. In the Gers method, this thin dough is called the “bride’s veil.” The dough is cut into sheets, brushed with melted butter and layered, with apples coated in sugar and Armagnac placed between them. More dough is layered on top, and the pastry is baked until golden, so the soft fruit can be enjoyed together with the crisp surface.

At a production workshop in Gimont, a dough of flour, water, salt and eggs is chilled and rested overnight, then stretched on a 5-meter table covered with cloth. The stretched dough is left to dry for a while and then brushed with butter. In this method, apples soaked in Armagnac are placed on a base of many layered sheets, more thin dough is layered on top, and the pastry is baked.

Using many sheets of thin dough is a different process from pastry in which butter is folded into the dough to create layers. Handling the stretched dough without tearing it and forming light layers over the fruit as well are what give this pastry its character. The apple version is one example; methods and fillings differ from place to place and from household to household.

Local Ingredients and Celebrations

A maker in Gondrin says this pastry was present not only at family celebrations but also at religious events and during work in the fields. That shop combines flour from the Gers, apples from nearby growers and local Armagnac.

Around Gascony, some places call similar thin-dough pastries tourtière or croustade. Recipes and processes cannot be uniformly distinguished by name alone. Pastis gascon also differs in shape and texture from the leavened-dough pastry of the Landes that shares the name “pastis.”

Glossary