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Pastry is a general name for baked articles of food made of paste as a necessary ingredient. The name is also used for the paste itself. The essential eleements of paste are flour, liquid in the form of milk, water or beaten eggs, shortening and baking powder. It is also defined as an individual cake or turnover made of flaky pastry, usually topped with icing and having a sweet filling.  Pastry is classified according to the amount of shortening used and the method of blending it with flour. Pastry is classified as plain, flaky, and puff pastry. Plain paastry is used to cover fruit pies, flaky pastry is used in strudels and puff pastry is used in making of cream puffs and eclairs.
A good pastry is light and airy, easily broken in the mouth but firm enough to support the weight of the filling. A lot of care is taken to mix the dough, if overdone the pastry can become tough or hard. Small cakes, tarts and other sweet dishes involving pastry are often called `pastries`after their prime ingredients. Pastries are a culinary delight and are usually had on ocassions to celebrate. Decorating the pastries is an art and is keenly followed in most parts of the world.
Regional variations: The earliest pastries were known to be baked by the Portugese who possessed the art of using eggs and chocolate creams in pastry recipes. Pastries were often referred to as `religious cakes`in Portugal. This art was then passed to France. The ones that France is famous for are called mille-feuille which means thousand layers. The pastries consist of many layers that are sandwiched with sweet fillings like jam, whipped cream with a thin layer of icing. The top is dusted with powdered sugar or savoury fillings like cheese. Beignet is another form of French pastry that is made from deep fried dough and sprinkled with confectioner`s sugar. The type of pastries famous in the middle eastern regions are called `sambusak` and the filling in the pastries is made of either cheese or meat. It is commonly served at meal time. Knafeh is a kind of sweet made of pastry, cheese and syrup and is relished in the Arab world as well as in Israel.
Low fat pastries: It is common knowledge that standard or regular pastries are rich in calories because of the presence of butter and margaraine as one of the main ingredients. For a low fat diet one can easily cut down on butter, cheese, full cream milk and fatty meats. There are websites and magazines that offer recipes for pastry making that are low in fat content. Because of the growing awareness of health issues the confectioners and bakers offer low carb pastries in attaractive styles. For example `filo` dough is a great low fat substitute for regular pastry. Use of mashed potatoes, low fat milk and low fat yogurt can go a long way in making pastries healthful. Owing to the health factor pastries are also made without eggs and meat fillings. Even while buying pastries it is recommended that one should buy the low fat vaariety to keep the flab away. Low fat recipes donot take more time to prepare than any other types of recipes but they certainly are an important foundation to healthy eating and healthy lifestyle.
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