Entries tagged with 'molecular gastronomy'
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If you've eaten at a fancy restaurant in the last five years, chances are, at least part of your food was cooked sous-vide (French for "under vacuum"). It was only a matter of time before a home version of the $1,000-plus thermal water circulators required for controlling the water baths would hit the market. And who better to shill for the new toy but molecular-gastro-uber-chef Heston Blumenthal?
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The Chicago Tribune ran a piece this week about the supposed "ten worst dining trends" of the last decade. We all know top-ten lists are a great way to get people's attention, and a negative list like this really sets people off. But are these trends really all bad? I don't think so. Let's take them one at a time. 10. Fried Onion Blossoms This monster is from Dallas BBQ in Manhattan. Read more here » [Photograph: Erin Zimmer] That's all you got? C'mon, a fried onion blossom is basically just a great big pile of onion rings. Granted, they usually run a little greasy. But who doesn't like onion rings? I'm not recommending you have one of these for...
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Photograph by Austin Bush Inspired by the awesomeness of the South Korean street food French fry-coated hot dog on a stick and subsequent recipe, Bangkok-based photographer Austin Bush and Hock of food blog Stomach On Legs created a "modern" version: sous-vide potato confit with panko crust and hot dog foam. The ingredients weren't fancy (hot dogs sourced from 7-11, potatoes confited in Crisco), but the preparation was. They used the liquid from the sous-vided hot dogs to make hot dog-flavored foam which, with a dab of ketchup, accompanied the deep fried panko-crusted potato log. Related: The Craziest Food Ever: Deep-Fried, French-Fry-Coated Bacon on a Stick...
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Since the Chicago restaurant L20 opened last May, chef Laurent Gras has been quite the blogger, sharing food porn shots of cotton candy radish soy and Cabernet Sauvignon film. From Chicagoist: "The blog is a great way to share what we’re doing with the outside world..." It's also why he gets only three to five hours of sleep a night....
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Theo, a self-proclaimed five-and-a-half-year-old (at the prime age when half ages matter), has trouble pronouncing "agar" and needs a step stool to see over the counter, but he can cook from the Alinea cookbook (previously reviewed on Serious Eats). His brother James (nine-years-old) isn't professionally trained either, but doesn't fret over a recipe with pheasant, gray shallots, and burning oak leaves. While some home cooks have expressed frustration with the unapproachable quality of the Alinea cookbook ("it took seven hours and produced eight bites of food") these two munchkins have proved them wrong. It doesn't hurt that their father is Nick Kokonas, the business partner of Grant Achatz, Alinea's head chef. Both videos on both sides of the argument,...
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At the Alinea Thanksgiving, there are two magic words: "plastic" and "bag." Earlier today, we showed you turkey, the Grant Achatz way. (aka, throw it into a plastic bag). Not much changes in the stuffing department. Achatz calls it his bag o' stuffing, in lieu of the more traditional cavity o' stuffing. Since he's such a pro, Achatz doesn't need tongs when placing bags into bubbling-hot water baths. He scoffs at tongs. He uses his bare hands. For the pumpkin pie, Achatz gives the baggies a break to whip out the blowtorch. "This doesn't look like pumpkin pie. This looks like Alinea. With funny gels and stuff," noted Nick Kokonas, an Alinea business partner. Those gelatinous pumpkin-bourbon cubes get...
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Mustard ice cream on braised pineapple with coconut foam, pineapple tuille, and mustard sauce at wd-50 in New York. Photograph from roboppy on Flickr. Molecular Gastronomy doesn't have to be scary as it sounds. As our Chicago correspondent Michael Nagrant points out at Hungry Mag, frying an egg in a skillet "southern grandmother style" is molecular gastronomy. The egg proteins get friendly with other molecules. The runny yolk solidifies. Molecular gastronomy—in action! Done. Then you have Alinea chef Grant Achatz and his idea of molecular gastronomy. Before dining at Alinea, Nagrant thought the experimental foams and mousses might "reinforce or mimic the alienation of the world, leaving us more cold and unsettled than we were before." Cold and unsettled:...
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Rice and parmesan cookies at El Bulli from smashz on Flickr Whether you love or hate the over-the-top concoctions that marry cuisine and lab experiments, molecular gastronomy may not even be healthy. In his new book, The Kitchen Laid Bare, renowned Catalan chef Santi Santamaría criticizes molecular gastronomy for not only being pretentious, but posing public health concerns. A proponent for natural ingredients, Santamaría compares using synthetic products to "an athlete who dopes." He's had no problem singling out Ferran Adrià, the man behind Michelin-starred El Bulli, where the menu has included liquid ham croquette, passion fruit caviar, and a range of flavored foams. Adrià responded, asserting that all amounts have been approved by EU standards, and that additives...
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©iStockphoto.com/oriba Why am I always dousing my eggs in hot sauce while my dad winces at the faintest chile heat? Why do I believe beets embody deliciousness while they rank at the top of your "utterly disgusting" list? Prize-winning veteran journalist Bruce Feiler weighs in on this question and a host of others in a fascinating article Gourmet story about the fast-changing science of taste. Flavor chemist Terry Acree from Cornell University says, "Flavor chemistry is finished." He explains: “Flavor chemistry is finding the chemical molecules that are important to aroma and taste. We spent decades doing this. But the other side of the equation is what’s been missing: how these chemicals interact with our bodies. That’s the part we’re...
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Science News looks at the history and growing popularity of lab science-inspired cuisine, along with explaining some aspects of food science and including feedback from scientists and chefs. [via Bitten]...
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