the explorers journal - The Explorers Club

Baumé (1728–1804). It is simple science, but it can
help us make new and better foods. If we are able to
understand why a certain food is tasty and pleasurable,
we can describe its preparation scientifically."
Molecular gastronomy as it is practiced in some of
the foremost kitchens in the world—at Ferran Adrià's El
Bulli in Spain, at Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck in the
United Kingdom, and at Pierre Gagnaire's eponymous
restaurant in France—has come to include many ingredients
common in industrial food manufacturing but
seldom seen in a professional kitchen: hydrocolloids,
emulsifying agents, and a host of reactive ingredients.
Among these are calcium chloride (a firming agent
for canned goods) and sodium alginate (a gum product
made from seaweed often used in candy making).
Together they form a stable gel that can be flavored in
all manner of ways. Techniques in large part involve
gellification, emulsification, and spherification—the
mixing of liquids with small amounts of alginate and
dripping the concoction into a bath of calcium chloride.
For the latter, the chemical reaction produces
caviar-like pearls with liquid centers.
Here are a couple of recipes that rely on some of
these techniques and elements so that you get the idea.
The specialized ingredients they contain may be obtained
from: www.albertyferranadria.com/eng/texturas
-info.html or www.koerner-co.com —AMHS
Stefa n D. Cz a pa l ay 's
Tom ato & Goat Cheese
rollups
ingredients:
• 200 ML TOMATO JUICE
• 550 ml distilled water
• 2 grams sodium alginate*
• 8 grams calcium lactate*
• 100 grams soft goat cheese
• HANDFUL FRESH BASIL LEAVES
• GRAPESEED OIL, FOR FRYING basil leaves
• PARMIGIANO REGGIANO, CHILLED IN THE FREEZER
Utensils:
• ~ 20 × 30 cm cookie sheet
• spray bottle
• pastry bag with cake-decorating nozzle or a small ziplock bag, one
bottom corner cut to make 2 cm opening
1. BLEND TOMATO JUICE, 50 ML DISTILLED WATER, AND SODIUM ALGINATE
AND ALLOW TO REST FOR A few OF HOURS FOR AIR TO DISSIPATE.
2. MIX 500 ML WATER AND CALCIUM LACTATE together AND PUT IN A
SPRAY BOTTLE. SPRAY COOKIE SHEET WITH CALCIUM SOLUTION.
3. POUR TOMATO MIXTURE ONTO COOKIE SHEET IN A THIN LAYER. SPRITz
tomato mixture WITH MORE CALCIUM SOLUTION. ALLOW TO REST FOR
10 MINUTES. YOU NOW HAVE A FLEXIBLE TOMATO GELée.
4. Put softened goat cheese in bag and pipe along one of the long
edges of the gelée. Roll up. Garnish with fried basil leaves and
shaved frozen parmigiano reggiano.
Stefa n D. Cz a pa l ay 's
Spik ed space candy
ingredients:
• 450 grams sucrose*
• 50 grams isomalt*
• 170 grams water
• 200 grams of your favorite liquor, such as Grand Marinier
• box of corn starch
Utensils:
• cookie sheet
• non-reactive sauce pan
• candy themometer
• two clean non-reactive dishes
• dehydrator or oven set to lowest possible temperature
1. place sucrose, isomalt, and water in sauce pan and bring to a
rolling boil, 117ºc/242ºF, continuing to clean the sides down
with a spoon.
2. upon reaching 117º/242ºF, add liquor, kill heat, and cover with a
clean dish cloth to trap all alcohol and eliminate evaporation.
3. after a few minutes, pour mixture into one of the clean nonreactive
dishes and then into the other to make sure the
mixture is well combined. DO not use a spoon to stir or the
sugar will crystalize.
4. cover cookie sheet with loosely packed corn starch and pour
mixture on top.
5. place in dehydrator at 40ºc/104ºF for 45 minutes. If you do not
have a dehydrator, use the lowest possible setting on your
oven , heating it for five minutes, killing the heat, and placing
cookie sheet inside for 2 hours. The result is small crunchy
candy balls with liquid liquor inside.
El Bulli's
Fiz z y Lyor a spberry
rocks
ingredients:
• 250 grams sugar
• 100 grams water
• 50 grams fizzy*
• grated peel of 1 lime
• 10 grams powdered Lyoraspberries*
utensils:
• candy thermometer
• nonreactive sauce pan
• silpat-lined container
1. Mix the water and the sugar in a saucepan and cook at
130°C/266ºF until sugar dissolves.
2. Remove from heat and let sit until it reaches 140°C/284ºF.
3. Add Fizzy, powdered Lyoraspberries, and the grated lime peel
and stir so that everything dissolves completely.
4. Pour quickly into silpat-lined container and leave to cool & harden.
5. Break the rocks as desired.
* ingredients and a video showing preparation of the recipe above and more
can be found at www.albertyferranadria.com/eng/videos-and-recipes.html