January 3, 2012
The contemporary cooking technique called molecular gastronomy is really restructuring food chemically, which allows technology to improve food and flavors. It’s been around for a few decades, thanks to a creative chef who brought it into the limelight.
Molecular Gastronomy is not the term world reknown chef Ferran Adria likes; he prefers to call it modernist cuisine, and offers it in his El Bulli restaurant in Spain. Now, Chef Adria has decided to close his restaurant to turn it into a think tank for chefs.
Heston Blummenthal is the first to put the concept of molecular gastronomy on the map, and Wylie Dufresne, the head chef for WD-50 in New York City, followed in a close second offering up his freeze-dried, nitrogen test tube bacon ice cream.
With the varied products and cooking techniques, not taking into account the danger involved in recreating molecular gastronomy onboard, is it practical for yacht chefs to use this concept in our food production?
If there ever was a poster child for molecular gastronomy and what can go wrong is the German chef who made headlines more than two years ago when he accidentally blew his hands off when working with nitrogen. This is not the ideal ending to a career that I would want. However, I do want high-end modern cuisine uniquely mine. So how and what do you select?
When trying something new, be sure to check with the captain first as these products can produce serious risks if not handled properly such as nitrogen in combination with other ingredients.
You will need specific tools coupled with the effort it takes to create experimental foods. You might just forego the effort.
If you want to achieve that molecular gastronomy look, first you need to know the basics and how to use them. There are now several conferences on modernist cuisine offered around the globe.
If you happen to be in the neighborhood, be sure to take one in. It is quite easy to find those hard-to-find culinary products if you know what you need. These Web sites offer books on the subject, recipes, and culinary tools, not to mention incredible food photography.
www.lomejordelagastronomia.com
http://blog.khymos.org/tag/herve-this
www.moleculargastronomynetwork.com
And Amazon carries several books that are well worth investigating.
“Modernist Cuisine” by Nathan Myhrvold et al., a volume set. This is expensive.
Alinea the Cookbook, well worth having onboard.
“Keys to Good Cooking: A Guide to Making the Best of Foods and Recipes” by Harold McGee.
“Cooking for Geeks: Real Science, Great Hacks, and Good Food” by Jeff Potter
“The Big Fat Duck Cookbook” by Heston Blumenthal
“Bakewise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Baking with Over 250 Magnificent Recipes” by Shirley O’Corriher. She knows what works and why. Don’t pass this book up.
“Kitchen Mysteries” by Herve This
“Kitchen Chemistry” by T. Lister and H. Blumenthal
“Molecular Gastronomy: Exploring the Science of Flavor” by Herve This
“On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen” by Harold McGee
“Eleven Madison Park: The Cookbook” by Daniel Humm and Will Guidara
“Cooking Science” by Adria Vicenc
Here are a few staples to have on hand in a modern cuisine kitchen:
1. Methyl Cellulose, which is mainly used as ice cream stabilizers. You would use it as a thickner or emulsifier. It only dissolves in cold liquid. When heated, it turns back into a viscous gel.
2. Activa. This was sent to me by the company that produces it, Aginnoto, and there are varying forms of it. The one sent to me binds proteins together such as a multi-layered sushi (salmon, tuna and a white fish).
3. Calcium Lactate Gluconate, also known as Glocol. This is used with acid or fatty items, and the process of reverse spherication. Add it to the item you want to gel and then dip it into a sodium alginate bath and the gelling agent is stopped, producing a caviar.
4. Ultratex 3. This is a modified food starch that uses a cold water application made from tapioca.
5. Freeze-dried Berry Powders or Dehydrated Fruit Powders. These can be used in candy fillings or dessert toppings, and when used with sugar produce a perfect color coating for fruit jellies and sauces.
6. Freshcut. Instead of using lemon juice or sugar to prevent oxidation, which can alter the taste of vegetables or fruits, sprinkle with Freshcut instead.
7. Versawhip. This item produces twice the amount of volume for whipped egg whites than sugar or cream of tartar.
To read Mary Beth's recipe this month, using a molecular gastronomy technique, click here.
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