Chausson Aux Pommes

Turnovers can be more than a figure in a Corporate balance sheet with a healthy dose of zeros suffixed at the right end.

- RAJEEV NARAYAN

In the world of boulangerie or pâtisserie, a Turnover is a pastry made by folding the dough over a filling, and then baking it to delectably-layeredsucculence. Each land has its own version of the Turnover. There are Spanish empanadas, Chinese dim sums and Indian kozhaikattais or samosas. The first written accountof the Turnover goes back to 1753, but the craft of creating these pies datesfurther back. For good reason... they are easy and inexpensive to make,easy to transport. They are convenient, especially for sporadic lifestyles (and ancient nomadic tribes).

Today's India needs a Turnover to save the day, preferably one with apples in it. Be it "apple a day keeps the doctor away" or a French legend from St Calais, the humble Apple Turnovereven helped keep the grim reaper at bay.Let's revisit the French legend of the 'Chausson Aux Pommes. In 1630, in St. Calais in France's Sarthe region, an epidemic felled people like ninepins in a bowling alley. The frantic lady of the town, the 'Chatelaine, supplied free flour and apples to the people which was used to make Turnoversfor bare survival.

Today, St. Calais is thriving. The apple savoury saved their lives. To remember it, the town celebrates each year by baking some on one day-the 'Fete du Chausson Aux Pommes.

Fast forward to the present. India too needs a Turnover. As a people, a nation, a society and culture, we are facing a flood of epidemics. We desperately need the right apples and saviours to wade through the raging waters, for us to come out alive and kicking on the other side.

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