Spherification, Gelification and Foams, oh my!!

Several years ago I was watching a show on Food Network about foods of the future. It was burned into my mind that day... A chef wanted people to "taste light", so he melted sugar and blew it by hand into the shape of a lightbulb. He "served" it with orange oil, which was spritzed into the air as patrons broke the delicate sugar bulb and dissolved it on their tongues.

Another chef wanted to reinvent the peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He made a sphere of peanut butter and froze it in liquid nitrogen. At this point, he liquified the jelly and dipped the frozen peanut butter into the jelly to coat completely. The peanut butter was still so cold that it froze the coating of jelly. He added several more layers of the jelly before setting it aside.  He wanted to get the essense of bread without the same texture, so he made a "soup" out of the bread and plated that first. He then added the pb&j sphere to the plate, and by then the jelly had melted and made a gelatinous shell around the peanut butter.

Why all the effort? And how is this all done? The culinary community a terribly competitive world, so it makes sense that chefs are looking for ways to set themselves apart from others.

More like a prolonged chemistry experiment, molecular gastronomy uses such chemicals as calcium lactate gluconate, xanthan and sodium alginate. Chefs rely on the "cooking" properties of mixing said chemicals in a water bath and work their "cooking" magic on the ingredients, creating spheres with a gummy outer shell and a liquid interior or turning liquids into solid spheres such as spherical yogurt or spherical "olives" made from olive juice. As this is considered fine dining, the portions are small, usually served on Chinese soup spoons. These recipes can take over 24hrs, it can be time-consuming to set up the water bath.

Photo credit: http://www.molecularrecipes.com/spherification/
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Molecular gastronomy completely challenges how we view food. I found a recipe for "ice cream", only it's served hot. As it cools, it begins to melt. It's more like a custard or pudding from what I read, but it's called ice cream because as it comes closer to room temperature, it melts, just as ice cream would.

So when I saw a preview for a show on Syfy for a show called Marcel's Quantum Kitchen, which was ALL about a chef who does special events tailored around a molecular gastronomy menu, I was thrilled! It's a total chemistry experiment, and it's so inspiring to see people use their imaginations (and science) to turn our traditional notions of food on its bum. It's on in FIVE minutes. Can't wait!