cream through a strainer before it’s served.
Pourable and Stiff Creams There are two
broad classes of creams, and they demand
entirely different handling by the cook. The
pourable creams, crème anglaise for example,
are meant to have the consistency of heavy
cream at serving temperature. They contain
the standard eggs, milk, and sugar (sugar is
omitted for a savory cream), and are cooked
only until they just begin to thicken, far below
the boil. The cream fillings — crème
pâtissière, banana cream, and so on — are
meant to stay put in a dish and hold their
shape. They are therefore stiffened with a
substantial dose of flour or cornstarch; and
this means not only that they can be heated to
the boil, they must be boiled. Egg yolks
contain a starch-digesting enzyme, amylase,
that is remarkably resistant to heat. Unless a
starch-egg mix is brought to a full boil, the
yolk amylase will survive, digest the starch,