Oh, you lot ask some good questions. Aren’t you a bright bunch?
In response to last week’s post about mozzarella spheres, I received literally two (possibly three if you include Twitter) requests for explanations regarding the ‘inverse’ part of ‘inverse spherification’.
So, how does this differ from regular (!) spherification?
The original method Adria used for creating these suspended ravilo (singular for ravoli, apparently) was first developed back in 2003 and kept hush-hush secret for quite some time.
He discovered that salts and alginates reacted to each other and created colourless, flavourless ‘skins’ capable of holding flavoured liquids within them.
The alginate would be dissolved into the liquid to be sphere-ized and then dropped into a calcium carbonate solution where the two would react thus creating the famous orbs.
For example, alginates would be added to a puree of peas, spoonfuls of which would be dropped into a calic bath.
But there was a problem.
Even when rinsed clean in fresh water, the reaction continued.
Over a period of five minutes the sphere solidified and the diner was left with a rather disappointing ‘jelly’ as opposed to a satisfying ‘pop’ as the skin burst and filled the mouth with essence of pea, mango or mozzarella cheese.
How to get round this?
Well, simply switch the two elements. Inverse them.
Instead of adding the alginates (derived from seaweeds, much like agar agar) to the desired flavour, Adria developed an algin solution which would react with the calcium salts inside the foodstuff.
The reaction produced an almost identical outcome with the benefit of being able to halt it by rinsing the spheres in plain water. No more disappointing jellies.
Instead the result was a more stable sphere whose inside remained liquid for much longer and inverse spherification was born.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Yasima Suizoukan
13 Mei 2009, rabuHari ke 2 liburan, pagi2 da pada siap2 bangun n makan pagi. Makan pagi kali ini all u can eat..hihi, prasmaran, ada telur, sosis, bubur, nasi, ikan bakar, salad, buah, ga ketinggalan miso siru...minumannya juga sip...sayang kali ini juga ga smpet difotoin, abis nya Xiang rewel banget, ngantuk dia.
Sekitar jam 10an kita check out dah, perjalanan dilanjutkan ke yasima, takamatsu pref. Perjalanan agak jauh juga skitar 1 jam dari situ, coz agak2 nyasar dikit...abis ga kenal jalan, n cuman pedoman peta dari inet. So, ma laki gw agak2 berantem dikit, soalnya gw tuh paling bego da kl suruh navi, baca peta...zzz...sekarang aja ada dimana, ga tau...gimana mo nunjukin jalan...pusingg...
Akhirnya nyampe juga dah...jalan menuju yasima suizoukan ini butuh perjuangan juga. Perjalanannya agak jauh, ga bisa dilalui mobil, coz mesti lewatin jinja, templenya.
Nyampe disana, pas banget lagi ada pertunjukan ikannya. Trus liat liat di bagian dalamnya, ga begitu luas tempatnya, jadi 1/2 jam aja uda liat semua. Masih bagusan seaworldnya Jakarta dah, rugi banget kemari, tiket masuknya mahal banget lagi...
btw, anak2 seneng ... kalo dipikir2 ini mah liburannya anak2 ya..hehe
Perjalanan pulang makan waktu lebih lama, coz mampir ke t4 beli ole2, ga beli apa2 si, cuman beli udon, coz kagawa pref, terkenal ma udonnya...sayang ga sempet makan udon ...aaaaaahhh...
Thursday, May 14, 2009
over the transom
May 14
Time for a bit of housekeeping and news reportage
Thanks to the 42 people who participated in the poll asking what type of blog entry you prefer to read here. A solid 16 percent said you like news, so here we go:
Item 1) For national readers, and people in Baltimore, my friend E. Michael Reidt has a new job. He has joined the San Francisco-based Kimpton Group to be the executive chef of B&O American Brasserie in Baltimore, scheduled to open this July.
I sent E. Michael an e-mail about it, and he replied, “Sssshhhh!! Don't tell anyone! It's a secret.....” but as I did, in fact, get the information in a press release I’m going to go ahead and report it.
B&O will be Kimpton's first restaurant in Maryland, and apparently the menu will be “approachable American brasserie” food, plus a pizza oven.
E. Michael's background is varied and interesting. He’s a New Englander who also spent time in Miami before heading out to California. He has a particular passion for Brazilian things (food, spouses), and recent travels include an extended excursion to Southeast Asia. He’s a Food & Wine Best New Chef, class of 2001. We met several years ago in Aspen, where I bonded with him and another 2001 Best New Chef, Randy Lewis, which leads me to
News item 2) From SF Weekly’s Sfoodie blog, Randy is going to head up the kitchen at Tavern at Lark Creek in Larkspur, Calif. I actually met Randy before meeting Michael. He spent some time as corporate chef for Kendall-Jackson winery, which for awhile was the wine sponsor of the National Pork Producers Council’s national cooking competition, Taste of Elegance, which I attend with enthusiasm whenever I can, less for the pork than for the chefs, because as great as the pork is, the chefs are greater. Mostly Midwestern salt-of-the-earth guys. Randy's not Midwestern, and he’s certainly more high-profile than most of the chefs at Taste of Elegance, but he's a good guy all the same.
And a busy guy. He’s also involved in a would-be burger chain called Best-o-Burger. It just has one unit now, so it’s not a chain, but Randy says they have signed a lease for a second location, are working on a third and are trying to move forward with licensing deals for 50 locations in Los Angeles.
Speaking of burgers, for New Yorkers, news item 3) Elevation Burger, a chain based in Arlington, Va., that serves organic hamburgers (made from grass-finished, free range cattle, thank you very much) and French fries cooked in olive oil, has its sights set on lower Manhattan. It has signed a franchising deal with Fabian Rosario and John Harris.
It might take awhile, though. Elevation Burger currently has just three locations (in Falls Church and Arlington in Virginia, and in Baltimore), but has signed deals to open 40 more throughout the mid-Atlantic as well as in Texas and Florida. It is unusual for all such deals to bear fruit. Then again, Fransmart has been put in charge of the development plans, and that’s the same company that has helped Five Guys Burgers & Fries expand so rapidly. So, you never know.
Rosario and Harris are Brooklyn restaurateurs. Rosario co-owns the Brooklyn IHOP, and Harris owns The Spot American Bistro in Prospect Heights.
Okay, finishing up, the results of my latest poll:
WHICH TYPE OF FOOD WRITER’S DIARY ENTRY DO YOU PREFER?
Quick news about restaurant openings and chef changes: 7 (16%)
Gossipy items about who shows up at what parties: 3 (7%)
Meandering think pieces on food and life in general: 11 (26%)
Personal reminiscences and thoughts of family and friends: 2 (4%)
Entries that let readers live vicariously through a New York food writer: 4 (9%)
Travel pieces: 0 (0%)
All of the above: 15 (35%)
Time for a bit of housekeeping and news reportage
Thanks to the 42 people who participated in the poll asking what type of blog entry you prefer to read here. A solid 16 percent said you like news, so here we go:
Item 1) For national readers, and people in Baltimore, my friend E. Michael Reidt has a new job. He has joined the San Francisco-based Kimpton Group to be the executive chef of B&O American Brasserie in Baltimore, scheduled to open this July.I sent E. Michael an e-mail about it, and he replied, “Sssshhhh!! Don't tell anyone! It's a secret.....” but as I did, in fact, get the information in a press release I’m going to go ahead and report it.
B&O will be Kimpton's first restaurant in Maryland, and apparently the menu will be “approachable American brasserie” food, plus a pizza oven.
E. Michael's background is varied and interesting. He’s a New Englander who also spent time in Miami before heading out to California. He has a particular passion for Brazilian things (food, spouses), and recent travels include an extended excursion to Southeast Asia. He’s a Food & Wine Best New Chef, class of 2001. We met several years ago in Aspen, where I bonded with him and another 2001 Best New Chef, Randy Lewis, which leads me to
News item 2) From SF Weekly’s Sfoodie blog, Randy is going to head up the kitchen at Tavern at Lark Creek in Larkspur, Calif. I actually met Randy before meeting Michael. He spent some time as corporate chef for Kendall-Jackson winery, which for awhile was the wine sponsor of the National Pork Producers Council’s national cooking competition, Taste of Elegance, which I attend with enthusiasm whenever I can, less for the pork than for the chefs, because as great as the pork is, the chefs are greater. Mostly Midwestern salt-of-the-earth guys. Randy's not Midwestern, and he’s certainly more high-profile than most of the chefs at Taste of Elegance, but he's a good guy all the same.
And a busy guy. He’s also involved in a would-be burger chain called Best-o-Burger. It just has one unit now, so it’s not a chain, but Randy says they have signed a lease for a second location, are working on a third and are trying to move forward with licensing deals for 50 locations in Los Angeles.
Speaking of burgers, for New Yorkers, news item 3) Elevation Burger, a chain based in Arlington, Va., that serves organic hamburgers (made from grass-finished, free range cattle, thank you very much) and French fries cooked in olive oil, has its sights set on lower Manhattan. It has signed a franchising deal with Fabian Rosario and John Harris.
It might take awhile, though. Elevation Burger currently has just three locations (in Falls Church and Arlington in Virginia, and in Baltimore), but has signed deals to open 40 more throughout the mid-Atlantic as well as in Texas and Florida. It is unusual for all such deals to bear fruit. Then again, Fransmart has been put in charge of the development plans, and that’s the same company that has helped Five Guys Burgers & Fries expand so rapidly. So, you never know.
Rosario and Harris are Brooklyn restaurateurs. Rosario co-owns the Brooklyn IHOP, and Harris owns The Spot American Bistro in Prospect Heights.
Okay, finishing up, the results of my latest poll:
WHICH TYPE OF FOOD WRITER’S DIARY ENTRY DO YOU PREFER?
Quick news about restaurant openings and chef changes: 7 (16%)
Gossipy items about who shows up at what parties: 3 (7%)
Meandering think pieces on food and life in general: 11 (26%)
Personal reminiscences and thoughts of family and friends: 2 (4%)
Entries that let readers live vicariously through a New York food writer: 4 (9%)
Travel pieces: 0 (0%)
All of the above: 15 (35%)
Chocolate Mousse Redux - Video Recipe
No, that's not me. It's (a slightly more hirsute) Heston Blumenthal demonstrating the method I wrote about last week to make mousse from just chocolate and water.
For all you naysayers, here's the proof:
For all you naysayers, here's the proof:
Family Trip
12 Mei 2009, selasaHari ini rencana buat trip keluarga, pagi pagi jam 6 uda brangkat dari rumah, tujuannya ke kagawa pref, kira2 3 jam perjalanan dari matsuyama by tol. Lumayan juga perjalanannya, anak2 uda ga sabar, Mei nanya terus jam berapa nyampe nya..da pada cape perjalanan mobil.
Nyampe di hotelnya, taroh barang n ambil tiket masuk Reoma World, karena udah 1 paket ma hotel n 2 kali makan. Jam 10an kita nyampe di sana, anak2 uda ga sabar pengen main main di taman bermain yang mirip2 dufan kalo di Jakarta, cuman bedanya, disini ada ruangan ruangan yg dilengkapi banyak mainan.
Pertama ke kamar block, lego. Disitu banyak banget block yang dimaenin bisa dibentuk macem2. Bagus banget buat perkembangan otak anak. Ada ruangan yang khusus main masak2an, mainannya anak cewek, trus ruangan aneka mainan dari kayu. Ada lagi ruangan khusus mainan Licca, boneka n Sylvania Family. Banyak banget dah...
yang paling enaknya, itu ruangan uda kayak punya pribadi aje, coz musim liburan uda lewat n bukan weekend, jadi sedikit banget orang yg datang ke situ.
Di arena lain, ada mainan seperti jet coster, ato train, ato bianglala, komedi putar, cuman perlu beli tiket lagi n cuaca saat itu panas bangett, jadinya ga main dah...cukup main di dalam ruangan yg ber AC..hehe...
Main mpe sore, trus kita balik lagi ke hotelnya buat istirahat. Mei bukannya istirahat, langsung ngajak ke pool n onsennya...wak...akhirnya kita main di poolnya da...airnya hangat, menyenangkan banget, mpe disuruh udahan pada ga mau...
Abis itu kita makan malam di restorannya, kali ini dapet pilihan makan steak, soup, n ebi chili n sashimi, ada dessertnya puding ice cream. Mei dapat makanan anak2, omurice n burger , sup kentang, n puding. Makanannya enak, kenyang banget dah...
sayang ga difoto, ribet gara2 Xiang meledak nangis, minta tidur..kecapean kayaknya.
Link reoma park disni.
Link hotelnya disini..
Hari kedua, ke yasima suizoukan...hari ini blom sempet ditulis, sabar ya
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