French · Languedoc · snack

Tielle Sétoise

Tielle Sétoise reads richness 6.8, umami 6.0 and salinity 5.1 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a French · Languedoc snack, about 2 hr 20 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

The measured notes (of 18)

Richness 6.8 · Umami 6.0 · Salinity 5.1 · Allium 3.9 · Marine & Briny 3.8 · Heat 2.8 · Funk & Ferment 2.6 · Sweetness 2.6 · Sourness 2.3 · Warm Spice 2.0 · Fruity 1.9 · Bitterness 1.4 · Nutty 1.4 · Earthy 1.2 · Herbaceous 1.0 · Floral 0.6

What's in it (18)

Time & effort: about 2 hr 20 min (2 hr 18 min active) · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 113.3 kcal, 8 g protein, 2 g fat, 15.7 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat · Contains seafood · Contains egg — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (9 steps)

  1. Mix the flour, yeast, salt, water and 60 ml of olive oil into a soft dough and knead 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Cover and rise 90 minutes until doubled. This is a bread dough enriched with oil, not a pastry — it bakes to something between a pie crust and a small loaf.
  2. Meanwhile soften the onion in the 3 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat for 8 minutes, add the garlic for 1 minute, then stir in the sweet and hot chilli powders and let them warm through in the oil for 30 seconds until they smell toasty. Powdered chilli added later to a wet sauce tastes raw and dusty.
  3. Add the octopus, turn it in the sauce, then pour in the white wine and let it bubble 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, the tomato paste, the salt and pepper.
  4. Cover and simmer very gently for 45 to 60 minutes, until a skewer slides into a thick piece with no resistance. Octopus tightens hard in the first 20 minutes and then relaxes; if it is still rubbery at 45 minutes the answer is more time, not more heat.
  5. Take the lid off and reduce for 10 to 15 minutes until the sauce is thick, dark and glossy and no liquid pools when you draw a spoon through. A wet filling makes a soggy base. Cool it completely — a hot filling melts the dough.
  6. Divide the dough into two-thirds and one-third. Roll the larger piece thin and line an oiled 24 cm round tin, letting it overhang. Spoon in the cold filling and level it.
  7. Roll the smaller piece into a lid, lay it over, then roll the overhang up and pinch the two together all the way round in a rope, the way an empanada is closed. Cut three small vents in the lid and brush the top with the egg yolk beaten with oil, which is what gives the tielle its dark red-gold shine.
  8. Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 30 to 35 minutes, until the crust is a deep burnished red-brown. Let it cool at least an hour. A tielle is eaten warm or at room temperature, cut in wedges, standing on the quay with a cold glass of Picpoul — never straight from the oven.
  9. Substitutions: paprika can stand in for the sweet piment doux; another dry white can stand in for the dry white Picpoul de Pinet.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.