FUYUKO KONDO

65, pâtissière, Pasadena

Recipe: Apple Galette

THE SWEET SMELL ofapplesbaking in the oven brings me back to memories of my mother who raised five children. Because of my father’s job as an airline executive, we moved back and forth between Japan and the United States a lot. Although Thanksgiving is not a Japanese holiday, and turkey is not a common poultry in Japan, they both meant a lot to my family. My mother would purchase the frozen turkey from an American supermarket. She got excited about the big bird, which to her meant she could invite lots of people, like foreigners who were away from home and alone.

As much as we all enjoyed her roasted turkey, her apple pie was actually the highlight of the feast. It was a latticed pie on a sheet tray with a precooked apple filling. In the center of the pie, there were roses made out of pie scraps. Her pie almost always came out perfect, flavorful and delicious, even though she never followed a recipe. Years have gone by since my mother’s apple pie days. I have tried to make an apple pie as good as hers, but I have yet to get a full approval from my siblings — until I came up with my Apple Galette in recent years.

My galette is made out of three components. The galette dough is not overmixed, so as to achieve a flaky crust that keeps fresh for a couple of days. The green-apple compote filling has a tart flavor that enriches the flavor of the sweet red apples on top, which are soaked in sugar to take away excess water before baking. My American and French pastry skills make this galette, but its essence is the sweet memory of my mother on Thanksgiving day.