Vol-au-vent

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A vol-au-vent (pronounced [vɔlovɑ̃], French for "fly to the wind", to describe its lightness) is a small hollow case of puff pastry with a filling. It was also formerly called a 'patty case' in the USA, though patty cases in the rest of the world are heavier in pastry. A vol-au-vent is typically made by cutting two circles in one piece of rolled out puff pastry, cutting a hole in one of them, with the 2nd cut smaller and only 3/4 the way through so to make them rise at different levels. Then stacking the ring-shaped piece on top of the disc-shaped piece. The pastry is cooked, then filled with any of a variety of savory or sweet fillings. The pastry is sometimes credited to Marie-Antoine Carême. However, an entremet called petits gâteaux vole au vent is mentioned in François Marin's 1739 cookbook Les Dons de Comus, years before Carême's birth. In France, it is usually served as an entrée (that is, an appetizer) or une mise-en-bouche (a "put-in-mouth"), filled with meat, fish, prawns, cheese...

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