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A Valentine's Day dessert from P*Ong

By Daisy Carrington | dcarrington@am-ny.com

2:30 PM EST, February 12, 2008

Chef Pichet Ong's coeur a la creme

Pichet Ong is laboriously smoothing the edges of a heart-shaped crème de la Coeur -- or, as Ong describes it, a "no-bake cheesecake."

"Dessert lends itself to the possibility of being a dish you can linger over. You can savor it; you're not in a hurry to finish it," he says. "When you eat dessert, you've gone past your hunger, so it's all about indulging."

It all sounds so very sexy. Which is why enlisted Ong, the former pastry chef at Jean George and the owner of the West Village'd p*ong, to come up with a dessert that even kitchenphobes can handle.

Ong, who earned a master's degree in architecture from the University of California at Berkley, finishes sculpting his creamy confection, but not before giving it one final inspection.

As with a good romance, Ong doesn't like desserts to be overly sweet. Rather than rely on sugar, he prefers to use an array of natural sweeteners. "If you look at sugar as a seasoning, you don't want to add too much of it," he notes. "Too much sweetness can be cloying, and you get that from adding too much sugar." Some of Ong's favorite sweeteners include honey, chocolate and dairy.

"I enjoy working with my hands," he confesses. If technology hadn't transformed architecture into a more sit-down, behind-a-desk affair, Ong might have pursued it further. But once the handiwork left the profession, Ong's interests quickly shifted.

Despite his background in desserts, Ong offers an eclectic menu of savories and sweets at his restaurant, though he enjoys blurring the boundaries between the two.

"I enjoy meals that have sweet notes in every course," he says. "With my desserts, I like to add some kind of acidity, like citrus or even vinegar. The tartness opens up the palate more to other flavors and to the notes of the other ingredients."

p*ong 150 W. 10th St., bet. Greenwich Ave. and Waverly Pl.) 212-929-0898

Q&A with Pichet Ong

Why do you enjoy working with desserts? Well, I have a sweet tooth, but also professionally, you can create things much more spontaneously. Plus, at the end of a workday, I go home smelling good, like strawberries and chocolate, as opposed to onions or fish.

What's your favorite type of dessert? I tell you, my fondest memories of cooking, of food, from early on, are the simplest dishes. I think the simplest foods are the ones that linger on in your mind for a really long time. Especially with the 21st century, in the modern restaurant, where the chef creates a lot of really original dishes, I'd say a lot of them are just terrific, but very few of them, five years later, will I say, 'I remember that dish.' I'll remember that dish with just those five ingredients.

Have you ever used your cooking to get a date? No, I don't usually need to impress somebody with my food. I've cooked on a date before, but not the first date, maybe after a couple dates. It's an occupation of hazard. Everyone expects free food.

Recipe: Coeur a la creme Serves 8

Ingredients:
2 cups creme fraiche
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla powder or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups goat's milk yogurt
3 egg whites