It's an easy dessert that anyone can do  and it's sure to impress; I love this version with pears even more than the original tarte tatin made with apples - that's because I have a sweet tooth and pears can be really sweet. Serve it warm,  with ice cream and don't look back.

A decade ago I used to make this dessert " a la minute " in my restaurant and we served it with a glass of dessert wine from Pantelleria ( Sicily ) that was like a jam, but liquid - unbelievable concentration of aromas and so persistent. Awesome.

As you already know I'm not too big on recipes, but I'm sure this tip will be more interesting than a recipe; it's about matching dessert with wines: the rule of thumb is that the wine should always be sweeter than the dessert, otherwise the very sweet dessert will make the wine seem more tannic, dull and acidic - did you know that?

On a different note, going back to the first picture, I think it might be worth spending a few words about composition, since that seems to be an issue for many of us; I'm not sure if you noticed, but lately I've been posting quite a few photos shot from this angle: the approach is always the same: board on the floor, camera on a tripod and light source from either 10-11 or 1-2 o'clock ( either natural or studio lighting ). The images shape up one step at a time, looking through the viewfinder: first things first I place the hero ( or a " place holder " ) in any of the four corners of the frame- I usually try not to crop the main subject ( unless I'm very close up ); secondly I counterbalance my arrangement by placing the next important thing in opposite direction to it - in our case, it's the tray with the unturned pear tatin and the two emptied ramequins; these components tell the whole story of the dessert: how it's cooked, where it's cooked, what it looks like when it's ready to be dished out.

Finally I offset this sort of diagonal composition by laying down one or two props in an apparently random fashion : the aim is to engage the viewer by having his/her eyes keep moving in circle to read every clue.

Balance is the key, if the dessert's too sweet it will overpower and kill the wine.

I think soon we should have a contest, how do you like the idea?

Dario Milano, professional food photographer and food stylist, Sydney.

Posted in tarte, tatin

comments