Molecular Gastronomy
Molecular Gastronomy
Molecular Gastronomy
ADRIAN GASTRONOMY
En | Chef Tamer
Molecular gastronomy or molecular cuisine is
the science of cooking but it is commonly used
to describe a new style of cuisine in which
chefs explore new culinary possibilities in the
kitchen by embracing sensory and food
science, borrowing tools from the science lab
and ingredients from the food industry and
concocting surprise after surprise for their
diners. Formally, the term molecular
gastronomy refers to the scientific discipline that studies the physical and
chemical processes that occur while cooking. Molecular gastronomy seeks
to investigate and explain the chemical reasons behind the transformation
of ingredients, as well as the social, artistic and technical components of
culinary and gastronomic phenomena in general. The term Molecular
Gastronomy was born in 1992 (complete history on this post
Many of these modern chefs do not accept the term molecular
Basic Spherification
In 2003, Ferran Adria and el Bulli team were visiting a company called
Griffith España to see their installations when they came across a Mexican
sauce that contained little balls in suspension which added acidity and spice
when eaten. This reminded him of a drink he knew that contained little
spheres made by immersing a liquid with sodium alginate in a bath of
calcium. In both cases, the spheres were solid and did not have a liquid
filling.
They got a sample of the alginate and when they returned to el Bulli Taller,
the experimentation began. Their first spherification experiment was with
water as the main ingredient and a syringe to form little drops of the
alginate solution. Because they used water in a water bath they couldn’t
see any spheres but when they strained the liquid they discovered that
they had been able to create small balls with liquid inside (now called
caviar). Right after that they tried with a spoon instead of a syringe to
create a larger sphere and now the first “spherical ravioli” was created.
Spherical caviar and pellets: The team at el Bulli tried different ingredients
for their first caviar dish and the winner was the Cantaloupe melon caviar.
To be able to prepare enough caviar in a reasonable time to serve to
dinners at el Bulli, they created a device with several syringes that could be
pushed at the same time. According to Adria, this was one of the most
exciting times at el Bulli and Cantaloupe melon caviar was the signature
dish of 2003. That year they also created truffle pellets using the
spherification technique and macerating them in truffle juice overnight to
intensify the flavor.
Spherical balloons: After being served caviar and spherical ravioli, el Bulli’s
customers were impressed one more time with another variation of the
spherification technique. Spherical balloons are made using the
spherification technique together with another technique developed at el
Bulli using soda siphons. According to el Bulli, this preparation is one of the
most difficult to make. The balloons were made by pouring rose-perfumed
water and sodium alginate into the siphon. Then, using a special adaptor, el
Bulli team activated the siphon over a calcium solution making opaque
spheres. Minute later transparent balloons are formed.
“Spherical” noodles: This was also the year of the first spherical noodles.
The first noodles were created using a syringe filled with a mixture of
lychee-juice and sodium alginate, then tracing zigzagged laces over the
calcium solution, thus producing lychee noodles.
Spherical filled ravioli: In 2003 el Bulli made filled ravioli but this year with a
frozen liquid inside instead of pepper seeds. This filled ravioli was made by
placing a tablet of frozen lemon juice in the spoon containing tea with
which they went on to form the tea sphere.
Sous Vide
Sous vide, or low temperature cooking, is a process of cooking food at a very tightly
controlled temperature, normally the temperature the food will be served at. This is a
departure from traditional cooking methods that use high heat to cook the food, which
must be removed at the moment it reached the desired temperature.
Sous vide was first used in kitchens in France in the 1970s and traditionally is the
process of cooking vacuum sealed food in a low temperature water bath. This process
helps to achieve texture and doneness not found in other cooking techniques. Sous Vide
has slowly been spreading around the world in professional kitchens everywhere and is
finally making the jump to home kitchens.
As sous vide has become more popular and moved to the home kitchen the term now
encompasses both traditional “under vacuum†sous vide and also low
temperature cooking. Some preparations rely on the vacuum pressure to change the
texture of the food but in most cases the benefits of sous vide are realized in the
controlled, low temperature cooking process. This means that fancy vacuum sealers can
be set aside for home sealers or even zip lock bags.
The basic concept of sous vide cooking is that food should be cooked at the temperature
it will be served at. For instance, if you are cooking a steak to medium rare, you want to
serve it at 131 degrees Fahrenheit.
Normally you would cook it on a hot grill or oven at around 400-500 degrees and pull it
off at the right moment when the middle has reached 131°F. This results in a bulls eye
effect of burnt meat on the outside turning to medium rare in the middle.
This steak cooked sous vide would be cooked at 131°F for several hours. This will result
in the entire piece of meat being a perfectly cooked medium rare.
Because food cooked in the sous vide style is vacuum sealed, when it is cooked it doesn't
lose any of the food's moisture or flavor. This is especially exciting when compared to
braising, where most of the flavor is transferred to the sauce because of the lose of juices.
Sous vide cooking also allows you to cook tough cuts of meat at an incredibly low
temperature, not only tenderizing them but keeping them perfectly cooked at medium-
rare. This is very effective for shanks, roasts and other pieces of meat that are typically
braised or roaster.
Cooking food in the sous vide method also results in new
textures. This is because the vacuum sealing process can make food denser (like
watermelons, for example), and because the lack of the typical high high can result in
silky and smooth textured food that is impossible to replicate in the oven or pan.
A great example of the power of sous vide cooking is short ribs. Normally short ribs are
braised for hours or cooked in the oven at low heat, resulting in very tender meat that
has lost most of its flavor to the sauce. Using sous vide you can cook those ribs perfectly
medium-rare, retain all their moisture and juice, and tenderize them all at the same
time, resulting in the best short ribs you've ever had.
Dehydrator
A molecular cocktail from Grant Achatz that falls in this category is “Elixir
Vegetal”; a sugar cube infused with charteuse, green French liquor made
with 130 herbal extracts, fennel and lemon. At The Aviary, the molecular
gastronomy chef serves compressed watermelon with soju topped with
sesame seeds and cantaloupe compressed with Champagne topped with
Prosciutto.
Paper Cocktails
Molecular mixologist Freeman has also experimented with “paper
cocktails” such as a thin, crispy sheet of quince sour made with whiskey,
quince and lemon.
Powdered Cocktails
Molecular mixologist Eben Freeman also serves powdered cocktails. He
makes dehydrated rum and coke by mixing cola-flavored popping sugar
with rum powder. I guess this has no alcohol content so maybe we should
call it powdered virgin cocktail.
Molecular mixologist Freeman has also jellied gin and tonic and has served
it on lime chips and sprinkled with "tonic" powder. The “tonic” powder,
which adds fizz to the edible cocktail, is a mixture of baking soda, citric acid
and powdered sugar. Molecular gastronomy Chef Michael Han serves gin
and tonic gums in his Singapore restaurant. The gum is served on a cold
stone and the diners are told to place the gum on the tongue and let it melt
in the mouth.
Cocktail Ice Pops
Spirit Granité
Eddie Perez, the Foundry mixologist in Hollywood, created a cocktail served
in a spoon with granité of pear vodka mixed with finely grated dehydrated
maraschino cherries, topped with pearls of Champagne gelée and fresh
Champagne grapes that have been peeled and marinated in Drambuie,
sprinkled with lemon and lime zest.
Foams, Airs and Bubbles
- Rum Havana Club 7 Anos, Darjeeling tea, Lime, Grapefruit and Cardamom
Being
Passionate
with the food
is the key