By CHARLES FERRUZZA
I have friends who won't touch bread pudding. The idea of a dessert made from old, stale bread offends their sensibilities to the very core, even though the history of the dessert as a clever way of salvaging dried bread dates back to the 13th century.
One of the finest pastry chefs in the city, Megan Garrelts -- who co-owns Bluestem with her husband Colby -- gave me a look of distaste when I asked if she ever offered bread pudding as a dessert. "It's kind of boring," she told me. "And it's made with old, leftover bread."
And what's wrong with that?
I mean, isn't it a good time to be frugal, even in the dessert business?
I like bread pudding, but it depends on the texture. It can't be too dry or bready -- who wants to eat a sweetened crouton? A chef once told me that the secret to great bread pudding is that "you have to be able to forget, when you're eating it, that bread is even part of the recipe." That's why I prefer a more custardy bread pudding, like the pillowy soft, seductively spiced creation on the dessert table at the Peach Tree Buffet on Eastwood Trafficway. It's indescribably wonderful.
Another new discovery is the pumpkin bread pudding (pictured) being served at Pangea, the eclectic little bistro on 39th Street. The co-owner of that venue, pastry chef Wendy Rudderforth, makes individual puddings from both leftover bread and pumpkin bread and it's a wonderful autumn spin on a familiar dessert. All of that caramel sauce helps me to love more.
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My grandmother made it for us all the time when I was growing up. I loved it. I still love it if it's moist. I was a teenager before my grandmother let me in on the secret that we ate it all the time because we were poor and it was a cheap dessert. I didn't even know it was made from stale bread until pretty late in the game. I think if you eat it not realizing it's a staple of the struggling-folks-diet, it's delicious. And now I take pride in bread pudding as a symbol of my working class roots.
I like bread pudding that is pudding, not a solid brick. Most people overcook it or don't make it moist enough before baking. If it isn't a little wiggley, it's not right.
Not my favorite dessert, but people rant and rave about the bread pudding at McCoy's more than any other place (except maybe peachtree buffet).
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