Channel Orange by Frank Ocean - Blood Orange Saffron Pastry Tart
Treble Chef | Channel Orange by Frank Ocean | Blood Orange Saffron Tart
In 2012, the beloved yet mysterious Frank Ocean released a pivotal record in the wave of internet Hip Hop coming out of California in the early 2010’s, alongside records from Odd Future and The Internet. Channel Orange captured the hearts of millions within just days of its much anticipated and premature release. Prior to Channel Orange, Frank Ocean released his first mixtape, Nostalgia Ultra, for free on his Tumblr page, which left a massive underground fanbase hungry for more music. The Grammy award-winning record that Frank delivered cemented him as a generational talent and a cultural phenomenon.
Channel Orange is poetry in motion, a grandiose drama of love and tragedy painted over ethereal instrumentals. Frank’s incredible lyricism stemming from personal experiences brings vivid stories to life with mysticism and relatability. His conceptualization of a diverse cast of characters with constant references to historical figures and pop culture propels his stories of love and heartbreak into a mythological realm. Songs like “Monks,” “Pink Matter,” and the 10-minute ballad, “Pyramids,” depict potent dreamscape imagery, like stage diving Dali Lama’s, sparing sessions with “Sensei,” and Cleopatra’s lust. On the other hand, tracks like “Sweet Life,” “Super Rich Kids,” and “Lost” crash back down to earth with commentary on a luxurious veil blinding teenagers in suburban California. The heart-wrenching romance carried throughout the record takes on an entirely new perspective with Frank’s revelation of homosexuality. “Thinkin’ Bout You,” “Bad Religion,” and “Forrest Gump” are all expressions of him navigating his own sexuality, and though they may seem unisex on the surface, subtle hints reveal the complexity behind his words.
A few common themes dominate the diverse landscape of Channel Orange: surreal storytelling, the concept of “home,” and of course, troubled romance. Frank constantly flips between a dreamer and realist perspective, dramatizing feelings and emotions into surreal situations and following up with cold hard truths. Most of the record revolves around love and heartbreak, and no matter the dreamer or realist perspective, his stories hit close to home. In fact, the concept of “home” finds its way into quite a few of these tracks. Whether he speaks from the perspective of a lover reminiscing in his room on “Thinkin Bout You,” teenaged lovers living in their parents’ homes on “Sierra Leone,” or drugs leading to lost love and “abandoned homes” on "Crack Rock,” his association with love and home serves as a cornerstone for his storytelling. Not to mention arguably the best song on the record, “Super Rich Kids,” is literally a day-in-the-life story of wealthy kids being left unsupervised at home. His established setting of “home” brings a powerful sense of relatability to the record.
The brilliant subject matter paired with a vintage sound and Hip Hop/R&B roots made me think of a delicate dish with sweetness, surrealism, and the comfort of home: Blood Orange Saffron Pastry Tart. The themes in Channel Orange led me away from cooking and into the world of baking, because there’s just something about a fresh baked sweet that tastes like love and home. In this recipe, I made a beautifully infused pastry cream and piped it on top of a classic vanilla sable tart crust. I also made a blood orange jam to line the tart for an extra pop of flavor and color enhancement.
Beginning with the base of the dish, I made a traditional sable tart shell to act as the vessel for the pastry cream and fruit. Infused with fresh vanilla bean, the shell has a delicate sweetness and offers just enough texture to balance the layered toppings. The shell is the representation of the record’s foundational themes of love and home, which allow for imagination to run wild in both the album and the dish.
The orange jam layered onto the tart is both added depth of flavor as well as an ode to the album name and artwork. I blended fresh peeled oranges and let them simmer with sugar and pectin to form a beautifully consistent orange jam. With vibrant color and potent flavor, it cuts through the thick pastry cream and delicate sable shell.
Building on top of the shell and the orange jam, I captured the surrealism in Frank’s storytelling by infusing a pastry cream with a handful of dreamy spices: Saffron, Jasmine, and Vanilla. Saffron is the highlight of the dish, giving off a romantic spice to compliment the sweetness and providing a rich yellow color to the pastry cream. The significance of Saffron in Greek mythology as a medicinal and aphrodisiac spice, paired with its luxurious status throughout history made it a perfect match for the ethereal and cultured lyricism in Channel Orange. Lifted by delicate sweet notes of vanilla, herbal tones from the jasmine flower, and a hint of citrus from orange zest, the pastry cream makes for a celestial experience for the senses. If I could sum this flavor up in one song from the record, it would undoubtedly be “Pink Matter.”
Finally, the plating is my attempt to reflect the surrealism of Channel Orange over a blank canvas of pastel yellow pastry cream. I turned to the paintings of Salvador Dali to inspire a design that blends reality with imagination, much like Frank’s storytelling that constantly pivots from the dream world to the real world, and back again. The center of the tart layers orange slices to appear like rose petals, and piped-on matcha whipped cream resembles the look of the Olympic olive leaf crown as an ode to the mythological storytelling on the record.
Check out the full recipe here and stay tuned for the next album and recipe pairing!
