Tarte Tatin, that luscious combination of apples cooked to a caramelized russet on a bed of crisp buttery pastry, can be considered part of France’s gastronomic “Marseillaise.” Few desserts incite such interest and loyalty in France or inspire such a variety of interpretations. Years ago, when I was working on a guidebook to Paris, sampling a restaurant’s tarte tatin was a way of testing its mettle. The meal had to be good, of course, but an excellent tarte tatin shooed it into the final listing. A poor one kept it out.
    Tarte tatin was created in a small town called Lamotte-Beuvron in the Loire Valley, at the Hôtel Tatin. While a variety of legends surround its creation, the most enduring one attributes it to the distractions of a particularly busy day during the autumn hunting season of 1898. Stéphanie Tatin, the pastry chef, was making one of her celebrated caramelized apple tarts and in her haste put the prepared apples in the oven without any pastry. When she realized her mistake, she did what any resourceful chef would do: She simply rolled out the forgotten pastry, laid it over the hot apples and returned the pan to the oven. When the pastry was baked golden, she pulled the tart from the oven and flipped it over onto a platter. The caramelized apples were spectacular, the pastry was melt-in-your-mouth flaky, and it wasn’t long before the tarte des Demoiselles Tatin became a local specialty.
    It was inevitable that its fame would spread, for no one is more adept than the French at celebrating and re-creating gastronomic finds. Today tarte tatin can be found in restau-rants, patisseries and homes throughout France. It is even available in Picard frozen-food stores.
    As with any legend, permutation is inevitable, which is why tarte tatin can now be anything from thoroughly caramelized apple halves on a bed of tender pastry to a pallid blend of apple slices and sugar on an underbaked pastry shell. Pastry chefs also use it as a template, substituting other seasonal fruits, from apricots to pears to quinces.
    I have a special relationship with tarte tatin. As a young cooking school apprentice, I was required to master it before I could claim my degree. The recipe came wrapped in an aura of impossibility, underlined by a comment from the chef who was my teacher. “C’est presque impossible à réussir. Vous n’y arriverez pas.” Basically, “Forget it, you’ll never get this right.”
    Experience builds confidence, however, and I can safely say that I now have tarte tatin firmly within my grasp. Let me share some tips.
    The first step is choosing the best possible apple, which is, hands down, the Cox’s Orange Pippin. It is an old-fashioned variety that is still sold by the bushel in France and can be found in apple-growing regions throughout the world. It hides its beauty under a sometimes rough red-and-yellow striped skin, which can be mottled brown and green. What is truly gorgeous about the Cox’s Orange Pippin is its floral flavor and aroma, its firm flesh and an acidity that pecks without biting.
    Additional options include other members of the Pippin family, a freshly harvested Boskop, a Pink Lady or any Golden Delicious derivative. The Goldens lack acidity and don’t give a great deal of flavor, but they cannot be beat for stamina. (Don’t be tempted to use a Granny Smith, for it will melt long before any caramel has formed.)
    The apples must be carefully peeled and cored, then left in halves—anything smaller will cook too quickly and won’t provide the same drama once the tart is turned out on a serving platter.
    Sugar is important too, both in quality and quantity. Cane sugar is preferable, for it is softer in flavor than beet sugar and caramelizes evenly and slowly. It is best if a vanilla bean has sat in it for a week or so before using, imparting its subtle flavor to the sugar. There must be enough sugar with the apples to caramelize without sticking, which points to a truth about tarte tatin: It is a dessert, and it is quite sweet. There is no advantage to cutting back on the sugar called for in a good recipe. The sweetness is balanced by the acidity of the apples and the round beauty of unsalted butter.
    Last but far from least is the pastry that will tuck the nearly caramelized apples into their final stage of cooking. It must be substantial enough to roll out over the apples yet capable of baking to a near-shattering crispness.
    The tools required to make tarte tatin are simple. The sharp point of a European vegetable peeler can be used to cut out the apple stem, and the blade shaves off just the necessary thickness of skin. To remove the core, nothing works better than a melon baller. A special copper tarte tatin pan with outward sloping sides is ideal for the tart, but a good cast-iron skillet works well too, as long as onions or other strong foods haven’t been previously cooked in it. While the apples are caramelizing atop the stove, a turkey baster is essential for sucking up the juices created by the alchemy of apples/sugar/butter and basting the tops of the apples so they cook thoroughly.
    Once all of these are assembled, all you have to do is follow the recipe. You will want to hover over the apples—don’t leave them alone—and gently tuck them in with their blanket of pastry. Slip the tart in the oven and bake until the sweet and buttery aroma won’t allow you to leave it in for one more second. Then comes the grand finale: Place a large platter atop the pan and quickly flip it before the caramel has a chance to think about solidifying. Be careful as you remove the tart pan from the tart, which is now resting on its pastry bedding, for steam curls up from the apples and can easily burn your wrists. You will find your apples perfectly nestled. If any apple halves have stuck to the pan, simply scrape them up and replace them atop the tart.
    Let the tart cool for at least 20 minutes, so it isn’t blistering hot. When you do serve it, remember two things: A tarte tatin is always served warm, and it requires a garnish of velvety crème fraîche.

LA PATE

Pastry for one 10-inch to 12 1/2-inch tart

• 1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 12 pieces
• 5 to 6 tablespoons ice water

1. Place the flour and the salt in a food processor and process once to mix. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, pulsing five to eight times. Add the 5 tablespoons ice water and pulse just until the pastry begins to hold together, not more than nine to ten times. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon water if the pastry seems dry.

2. Transfer the pastry from the food processor to your work surface and form it into a flat round. Let it rest on a work surface, covered with a tea towel, for at least 30 minutes and as long as 1 hour. The pastry is now ready to be used. For flakier pastry, however, proceed with step 3.

3. Lightly dust the work surface with flour. Roll out the pastry to form an 8 x 4-inch rectangle, and fold it from one short end into thirds, as for a business letter. Turn the pastry so the fold is to the left, like a book, and repeat the rolling out and folding. Let the pastry sit, covered, at room temperature for 15 minutes. Repeat the rolling out and folding. Let it rest another 15 minutes. Repeat the rolling out and folding once more, and then let the pastry sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before rolling it out to fill a tart pan (French farmwives let it sit at room temperature for 1 hour). Dust the work surface with more flour as needed.


LA TARTE

One 10-inch tart; 6-8 servings

• 1 1/2 cups vanilla sugar
• 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into thin slices
• 4.5 pounds tart cooking apples, peeled, halved, and cored

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly flour it.

2. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured work surface to form an 11.5-inch round. Transfer the pastry to the prepared baking sheet and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

3. Spread the sugar evenly over the bottom of a very heavy (10 to 10.5 inch) ovenproof skillet; a simple cast-iron skillet is perfect. Place the butter slices evenly over the sugar, then arrange the apple halves on top of the butter. Begin at the outside edge and stand the halves on their sides, facing in one direction with stem ends toward the center. Pack the apples as close together so they are held standing by pressure. Make a second circle of apple halves inside the first, packing them in on their edges as well. Place one apple half right in the center of the second circle to fill in the small space that remains. The idea is to get as many apples into the pan as possible while keeping them nicely arranged.

4. Place the skillet over medium-low heat and cook the apples in the butter and sugar, uncovered, until the sugar turns golden brown; this will take at least 1 hour. Watch the apples closely to be sure they don’t stick; you may want to adjust the heat now and then, to slow down or speed up the cooking. As the sugar and butter melt and the apples give up some of their juices, baste the apples occasionally with a turkey baster. Gradually, the sugar will caramelize the apples nearly all the way through, though they will remain uncooked on top.

5. Preheat the oven to 425 °F.

6. When the cooking juices are deep golden and the apples are nearly cooked through, remove the pastry from the refrigerator and quickly and carefully place it over the apples, gently pushing it down around them, simultaneously easing it toward the center so that if it shrinks on the sides, there will still be enough of it to cover the apples. Using a sharp knife, trim off and discard any extra pastry.

7. Place the skillet on a baking sheet. Bake in the center of the oven until the pastry is golden, 25 to 30 minutes. Don’t be concerned if the juices bubble over; the tart will be more or less juicy, depending on the variety of apple you’ve used.

8. Remove the skillet from the oven. Immediately invert a serving platter with a slight lip over the skillet. Quickly but carefully invert the two so the crust is on the bottom, the apples are on top, and the juices don’t run off onto the floor. Remove the skillet. Should any apples stick to it, gently remove them and reinsert them into their rightful place in the tart.

9. Serve generous slices as soon as the tart has cooled slightly but is still very warm.