Tarte Fine

 Tarte Fine au Pomme, watercolor, 9" x 11"
 To find a tarte fine aux pomme in Paris look for glass paintings near the doorway of cows, chefs, wheat sowers etc....
 Your everyday, no-name, corner, neighborhood patisserie like this one (on rue martyr 75009) will have les tartes fines...
 Basically a tarte fine is a flattened round crust (usually pate sucre or feuilletee) layered with multiply thin slices of fruit in a spiral pattern. It can be savory as well with tomate/aubergine/basilica etc.
 The top is liberally painted with a brush full of abricotage (apricot jam glaze).
 The tarte fine comes in 'individual' sizes or family size. Not so pretty an example here but it tasted divine I assure you...chomp chomp
 Usually your tarte will be wrapped in pretty fruit- decorated paper that acts as dual napkin/holder...
 You will not find many tarte fine in high-end 'couture' patisseries like Fauchon, Herme, Lenotre, though their pastry chefs learned their tarte skills at their grand-mere's knee bien sur. Is it a snob thing?
 If you see chef figurines inside a Paris pastry shop, you'll see tarte fine too...
 Hand-written ardoise/blackboards announce the fruit flavors of-the-day...
 A tarte fine aux fruits makes a great 4 o'clock snack in my opinion - the next best thing to eating an apple...
Sometimes it comes in an adorable illustrated pastry bag worth collecting if you're into Paris trash...
What's not to love about la tarte fine?

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