Panna Cotta
I've been researching various methods for making panna cotta, and I absolutely cannot find one that doesn't use gelatin or agar. (In my area, I've never ever seen either one, and I'm not too thrilled about ordering odd ingredients online for just one or two dishes. Stinks to be a poor college student, haha.) Is this a futile search, a question not even worthy of an answer? Am I going to have to resign myself to a panna-cotta-less life until I can get home and search NYC specialty stores?
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14 Comments:
Really? I thought Knox gelatin can be found everywhere.
It's usually sold near jello boxes.
I've never tried it, but pectin may work. I usually find pectin near mason jars (for jam-making) and other containers.
It may be possible to use tapioca powder or other starch.. it'd be more like a blanc mange, though.
hmw0029 at 5:08PM on 04/08/09
oh btw, agar would give it a totally different texture. It melts at higher temp than gelatin, so your panna cotta would be less melty (not sure if this is a word).
hmw0029 at 5:20PM on 04/08/09
I've seen geltain near the Jello boxes in every Walmart Supercenter I've ever been to and sadly, I've been to quite a few throughout the country. Everyone has a Walmart Supercenter nearby, right? Plus, it's like a buck fifty for a box.
PumpkinBear at 7:41PM on 04/08/09
i used to live in baltimore, and i know for a fact that they have gelatin in the grocery stores there. if you're not looking in the correct isle (usually with the baking stuff, but separate from jell-o. near other canning supplies), ask a clerk.
dmarina at 7:46PM on 04/08/09
I don't know of a Walmart nearby.@dmarina, it might be at the new Whole Foods in the Harbor, or at the Giant in the Rotunda, but neither are really nearby, so it's not really feasible for me to just pop over for one ingredient -- when I said I couldn't find it, I meant locally.
kfarrel3 at 8:30PM on 04/08/09
Any Walgreens, or absolutely any grocery store period should have it. You can find it with vitamins and stuff (good for joint health) at any corner pharmacy. Sheet gelatin may be a bit harder to come by, but any restaurant supply company should have it, or better yet, a local bakery may be willing to sell you a few sheets, or even a box.
MaresyDotes at 10:56PM on 04/08/09
I just moved back to NYC from Baltimore last July! I know for a fact that the Eddie's in Mt Vernon has Knox gelatine so I would assume that the one up in Charles Village has it, too (and I assume that's where you live since you're a JHU undergrad). Feel free to send me an email if you need a few more suggestions!
charm city cupcake at 12:29AM on 04/09/09
Hi,
Sheet gelatin is the best!
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/sheet-gelatin-20-sheets
http://www.lepicerie.com/customer/product.php?productid=121901&cat=0&page=1
Gina DePalma at 9:09AM on 04/09/09
P.S.,
It lasts forever, too, if you keep it well wrapped!
I hate working with powdered gelatin....it is so great that home cooks have the alternative of sheets now. When I lived in Italy, I never, ever saw powdered gelatin, and you could find the sheets in any grocery store...I am hoping that this will be the case here someday.
Gina DePalma at 9:14AM on 04/09/09
You pretty much have to use something to make the panna cotta firm up, and those are your alternatives. I would also point out that gelatin desserts, whether Jell-O or anything else, get firmer after about the first 24 hours, so if you're particularly concerned about texture, take that into consideration. Corn starch or tapioca will make a pudding-like texture.
Yes, sheets are indeed the choice of many chefs. But many of us have never had it available and good ol' Knox is what we've worked with.
lemons at 9:33AM on 04/09/09
Panna cotta needs gelatin or agar, sorry. The other way to thicken is eggs, but then you would be making a custard not a panna cotta. You can always try to make flan or creme caramel without adding the caramel part and it will be similar... but not the same! Good luck. It's actually hard for me to find little packs of gelatin, too and I'm in NYC. My mom and I bought a big box at Walmart upstate and split it! And, everyone else is right that it last forever.
meem21 at 11:08AM on 04/09/09
@charm city cupcake, you hit the nail on the head -- I dunno, Eddie's just seems to have such a random selection of things; I've only ever been able to get scallops there ONCE, I've never seen the gelatin (and I spend half my life in their baking aisle, haha) .. it's very weird. I guess I'll have to go back again and start asking around.
kfarrel3 at 12:24PM on 04/09/09
And, officially beating a dead horse, went back to Eddie's and they not only didn't have Knox, no one knew what it was =/. Road trip! I guess.
kfarrel3 at 10:48PM on 04/09/09
I remember going to Wegmans near Baltimore. is it too far? I bet they have it.
hmw0029 at 10:43AM on 04/10/09