MOLECULE-R CUISINE: A PRE-FATHER'S DAY GIVEAWAY
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"Molecular gastronomy" seems to be going through a backlash, but cynics be damned: cooking has truly changed since all these fancy foams started showing up everywhere. Jacques Pepin put it best in an interview with the Village Voice:
"What do you think about modernist cuisine or molecular gastronomy?
It's an addition to what we do now. You always learn. We had nouvelle cuisine in the 1970s. Sous-vide is repackaging of what I did at Howard Johnson in the 1970s. We'd put turkey breast in sealed Cryovac bags to prevent loss and to keep them moist, so there was a lot already done in that area. Now, it's about using new ingredients and gelatins and it's creating the "wow." It's like when you see a great couturier. Like when Christian Lacroix makes an enormous hat and you laugh as you see [a model wearing] it down the runway. You'd think, Who wears that? But it trickles down to prêt-à-porter. Not everybody and even Ferran Adrià doesn't eat that way all the time. It's about pushing the envelope. It's more for younger people than for me. After 60 years, I see it as an interesting thing but it's not like I'm going to reincorporate that into my recipes. I'm too old for that."
Here we are with our prêt-à-porter, Molecule-R's "Cuisine R-evolution" molecular gastronomy kit, our grown-up home chemistry kit. It can't really be denied: these new-fangled techniques are finding their way into the home, and they're pretty fun, much like making mud pies were fun or putting anything and everything into a blender when you were five was pretty fun.
That said, it's pretty intimidating too. The kit comes with food-grade chemistry lab tools (pipettes, tubes, syringes and, uh, a set of measuring spoons) and an assortment of powders in individual pre-measured sachets: agar agar, sodium alginate, calcium lactate, soy lecithin and xanthan gum. What was this stuff, and how do you pronounce all of it?
Rooting around some key books didn't help calm the nerves either: Alinea is not exactly well-suited for an untrained amateur. But it did (try to) help explain what most of these powders were and de-mystify them a bit, and eventually we got our spherification on.
We tried the "yogurt ravioles" recipe that came with the kit, which comes with a DVD of recipes and other nerve-calming how-to videos:
Yogurt Ravioles
2g sodium alginate (1 sachet from the kit)
1/2 tsp calcium lactate (which is not quite 1 sachet from the kit)
2 cups water
1/3 cup milk
1/2 cup plain 2% yogurt (or higher)
If you don't happen to have Molecule-R's kit, get a digital scale, because shizz has got to be precise when it comes to chemistry.
Dissolve the sodium alginate in the water. When you first dump it in, you'll see why a handblender is recommended: this alginate does not go easily into that watery night. As it dissolves, the solution becomes more and more viscous. Refrigerate it for 15 minutes, and the solution becomes more fluid. Let the first of those excited mad science giggles begin.
While the sodium alginate solution chills, dissolve the calcium lactate in the milk. Mix in the yogurt while stirring, and let the butterflies and anticipation build up: tricks are about to begin.
Using a measuring spoon (pick a size corresponding to the size of 'raviole' or sphere you want), quickly dump in one spoon of the milk/yogurt mix into the chilled sodium alginate solution. As the two liquids meet, the spherication begins. In darker times one would be stoned for witchcraft.
Don't get greedy: do one sphere at a time, unless you're using a large bowl that can accommodate the spheres without touching each other. If they do touch, they'll stick together (much like our "rat king" sphere cluster).
After the spheres sit for 3 minutes, use a slotted spoon (one comes with the Molecule-R kit) and carefully fish them out. Use a steady hand: they'll pop if you don't. Put them in a bowl of cold water to wash off the solution.
At that point, they're ready to serve. We served ours on top of roasted peaches, a good contrast between simplicity and fussiness. The yogurt ravioles were fun to burst, but probably could've used a bit more sweetness (or a higher dose of yogurt) in the end.
Which, incidentally, is a useful example of what this modernist cuisine is all about. Don't be mistaken: this kit is not going to magically transform you into Ferran Adria, much like all these techniques are not going to save a rudderless chef. After we finished making our dessert, combing through the Alinea and El Bulli books made it even more apparent how genius those folks actually are.
BUT: that doesn't mean you can't one-up at your own home, or better yet, your pop's home. The Molecule-R Cuisine R-evolution kit is extraordinarily fun, and with Father's Day coming up, we're giving you and your dad a treat.
We have ONE Molecule-R Cuisine R-evolution kit (regularly $58.95 from their website) to giveaway. All you have to do is leave a comment describing what you would make for your dad (or what you want your dad/husband/partner/etc. to make for you) using this kit.
Canadian entries only (sorry!), and please remember to leave some way for us to contact you.
Enter right up until 11:59pm (Vancouver time) on Sunday, June 10th, 2012, just a week before Father's Day!
Joe.
That said, it's pretty intimidating too. The kit comes with food-grade chemistry lab tools (pipettes, tubes, syringes and, uh, a set of measuring spoons) and an assortment of powders in individual pre-measured sachets: agar agar, sodium alginate, calcium lactate, soy lecithin and xanthan gum. What was this stuff, and how do you pronounce all of it?
Rooting around some key books didn't help calm the nerves either: Alinea is not exactly well-suited for an untrained amateur. But it did (try to) help explain what most of these powders were and de-mystify them a bit, and eventually we got our spherification on.
We tried the "yogurt ravioles" recipe that came with the kit, which comes with a DVD of recipes and other nerve-calming how-to videos:
Yogurt Ravioles
2g sodium alginate (1 sachet from the kit)
1/2 tsp calcium lactate (which is not quite 1 sachet from the kit)
2 cups water
1/3 cup milk
1/2 cup plain 2% yogurt (or higher)
If you don't happen to have Molecule-R's kit, get a digital scale, because shizz has got to be precise when it comes to chemistry.
Dissolve the sodium alginate in the water. When you first dump it in, you'll see why a handblender is recommended: this alginate does not go easily into that watery night. As it dissolves, the solution becomes more and more viscous. Refrigerate it for 15 minutes, and the solution becomes more fluid. Let the first of those excited mad science giggles begin.
While the sodium alginate solution chills, dissolve the calcium lactate in the milk. Mix in the yogurt while stirring, and let the butterflies and anticipation build up: tricks are about to begin.
Using a measuring spoon (pick a size corresponding to the size of 'raviole' or sphere you want), quickly dump in one spoon of the milk/yogurt mix into the chilled sodium alginate solution. As the two liquids meet, the spherication begins. In darker times one would be stoned for witchcraft.
Don't get greedy: do one sphere at a time, unless you're using a large bowl that can accommodate the spheres without touching each other. If they do touch, they'll stick together (much like our "rat king" sphere cluster).
After the spheres sit for 3 minutes, use a slotted spoon (one comes with the Molecule-R kit) and carefully fish them out. Use a steady hand: they'll pop if you don't. Put them in a bowl of cold water to wash off the solution.
At that point, they're ready to serve. We served ours on top of roasted peaches, a good contrast between simplicity and fussiness. The yogurt ravioles were fun to burst, but probably could've used a bit more sweetness (or a higher dose of yogurt) in the end.
Which, incidentally, is a useful example of what this modernist cuisine is all about. Don't be mistaken: this kit is not going to magically transform you into Ferran Adria, much like all these techniques are not going to save a rudderless chef. After we finished making our dessert, combing through the Alinea and El Bulli books made it even more apparent how genius those folks actually are.
BUT: that doesn't mean you can't one-up at your own home, or better yet, your pop's home. The Molecule-R Cuisine R-evolution kit is extraordinarily fun, and with Father's Day coming up, we're giving you and your dad a treat.
We have ONE Molecule-R Cuisine R-evolution kit (regularly $58.95 from their website) to giveaway. All you have to do is leave a comment describing what you would make for your dad (or what you want your dad/husband/partner/etc. to make for you) using this kit.
Canadian entries only (sorry!), and please remember to leave some way for us to contact you.
Enter right up until 11:59pm (Vancouver time) on Sunday, June 10th, 2012, just a week before Father's Day!
Joe.
