Mango Sisters' Tatin !

My poor, dear, non French people,

I don't know how it works for your guys, but in my country, friendship is very important. 
French and Perfect women all have their own little gang, girls with whom they can redefine a better world, talk about Poetry and the last Vanessa Bruno Collection, and get wasted.

I've been living in LA for two years now, and have had the great chance to form my own precious perfect local gang.
But sometimes I get nostalgic, and think of my French BFFs. 
Most of them are journalists like me, and are scattered all over the world.

Like my friend Elsa for example.
She just moved to India with her whole family (two daughters and a boyfriend), and, whilst trying to edit a documentary and unvealing a new breaking news scandal, discovers the joy of warm warm warm weather, and of cooking abroad. "There are mangoes everywhere ! What can I do with them ?"

Well that's how I came up with the idea of this recipe.

Tatin de Mangues for my friends.

Ingrédients

1 pâte brisée

2 or 3 mangoes

2,5 oz sugar

2,5 oz butter

You might have heard of the whole Tatin myth.

This upside down pie is called like this because of two sisters who ran a small auberge near a train station in Lamotte-Beuvron, a village not very far from mine, in Sologne.

They were called Tatin... They were sisters... So everybody called them les soeurs Tatin...  the Tatin Sisters.

The story goes that on a very busy day, one of the sister got stressed out by the sound of the train whistling in the station : people were coming and she had been chatting all morning with the neighbors !

She tried to do a last minute dessert so quickly that she didn't even realized she put the dough on the apples, and not under.

CA TA STROPHE !

But what can you do when you can't do anything else ?

You do it !

They served it to the customers anyway, hoping they would already be drunk by too much Sancerre...

And....

They loved it. 

So much that more than a century later, you still can find this made from scratch, messy, but incredibly good pie in any upscale restaurant and patisserie all over the world.

A very handsome Tatin fan

So much that there's even now a very serious tatin lovers guild, la confrérie des Lichonneux de Tarte Tatin.

They wear la biaude, the traditional outfit peasants would wear in this part of France, swear to follow very specific rules, and worship the amazing Sisters. 

(Of course being chosen to be part of this guild is one of my secret wish...)

I know this very high society would turn me down if they knew I use mangoes for my tatin. 

Who finds such exotic fruits in the green woods of Sologne? 

But what, Solognots are also adventurous.  

Like my great great great great uncle, Daniel Brottier. 

He was a missionary in Senegal, and gave his name to a mango he discovered there, la mangue Brottier. 
 

Now, he has been sanctified by the pope, a few years ago.

Incroyable, non  ? 

And what a beard !

 So anyhow, here is how it goes

Slice the mangoes and take out the skin.

Pour half of the sugar on a pie pan.      Add the mango slices, the butter in small pieces all over the fruits, and pour the rest of the sugar
 

Put the pie pan on a high set gas for 3 minutes, so that the sugar caramelize. 

Then place the pie crust on top of the mangoes. Tuck it in around the edges of the pan. 

Put in a 425 F preheated oven for 30 minutes.

Then let rest for 10 minutes before flipping the pie again with a platter...... 

annnnnnd

Voilà

So here we are. 

A tarte Tatin, direct from LA, baked just like home, for my Tatin sisters all over the world.

Miam !

Bon appétit les amies !