Pastry

Food · Grain · Food, Typed Supps

The difference between pastries is not the flour. It is the fat.

Stage by stage

Intake (Chewing breaks the layers): Chewing fragments the laminated or crumbed structure and amylase starts on gelatinised starch.
Digestion (Starch and fat separate): The fat phase separates from the refined flour matrix and both begin to break down.
Absorption (Glucose fast, fat slower): Refined starch releases glucose quickly with little fibre to slow it; fat absorbs on a slower curve via bile.
Over time (Saturated fat load): Butter shortcrust and puff carry a heavy saturated fraction; filo carries almost none until fat is brushed on.

Time to effect

Under an hour: Blood glucose rises within roughly 30 to 60 minutes of a refined-flour pastry.

Allergens

Contains: Gluten. May contain: Eggs, Milk, Soya. Derived from what this food is, not from a product label.

Eating patterns

Fits: Vegan, Vegetarian, Pescatarian, Halal, Kosher. Depends on the product: Low-FODMAP.

Satiety

119 on the satiety index, where white bread is 100 — moderate. Modelled from the Holt et al. (1995) measurements.

Environmental footprint

1.6 kg CO2e and 648 litres of freshwater per kg, matched to "Wheat & rye" in Poore & Nemecek (2018), Science 360.

Cost band

Cheap — roughly £2.5 per kg, as a band midpoint rather than a price.

Key nutrients

Refined starch
Saturated fat
Sodium

Nutrition per 100g

Calories: 307
Protein: 10.2g
Carbohydrate: 55.8g
of which sugars: 1.3g
Fat: 3.8g
of which saturated: 0.5g
Fibre: 2.5g
Sodium: 581mg

Food vs. supplement

Not applicable — pastry is a carrier food. The comparison worth making is between filo, shortcrust, puff and danish, which differ several-fold in fat despite looking like one category on a menu.

Kitchen tip

Filo is the only member of the family where the cook controls the fat, because it is added at assembly rather than built into the dough. Brushing rather than pouring is the whole difference.

Common myth

"Puff pastry made with vegetable oil is the healthier option." In reality: It is a swap in fat type, not fat quantity. Lamination needs a fat firm enough to hold layers, so oil-based puff uses hardened or blended fats and lands at a similar total fat and calorie count; the saturated share falls, the energy density does not.