Pomegranate Tuile

The picture above is the tuile I used for my new dessert. It is made by taking pomegranate juice, and lemon juice and thickening them with a modified food starch called ultra tex. Ultra tex is derived from tapioca. It exhibits a lot of the same characteristics from that of a modified cooked starch. The interesting thing about ultra tex is that it is cold water soluble, meaning that you do not need to heat the liquid being thickened. The way I hydrate the ultra tex into my pomegranate lemon juice mixture is by using a vitaprep. The ratio of ultra tex I used for this particular application is 5%, meaning if I were to use 500g of liquid I would use 25g of ultratex. It seems like a lot but ultra tex does not exhibit a lot of flavor. When I am done sheering in my ultratex I pass the mix through a fine chinoise. I leave the mix to fully hydrate overnight. The next day I take a piece of actetate and spray it with cooking spray and then wipe off the excess. I spread the pomegranate tuile mix as thin as possible onto the actetate and then place into a dehydrator until crisp. (usually about 24-36 hours) What I think is unique about this tuile is the fact that it spiderwebs. (which was actually a mistake that I took advantage of) Also I really like the clarity of the tuile, it is basically like red glass. I think the tuile itself looks very interesting kind of like a dreamcatcher. You can break the tuile apart into shards and you will still get the same effect on the plate. (See below New Dessert)

New Dessert

Popcorn, pomegranate, brown butter, caramel, smoke

Ai Fiori 2/10

I recently had the chance to go into Michael White's new restaurant Ai Fiori with my girlfriend and her parents. We had a spectacular meal. We played the passing game with every dish, which allowed all of us to try just about everything on the menu. Below are a few of Robert Truitt's desserts. My favorite.....Baba al Rhum, beautiful and tasty. Thank you to everyone at Ai Fiori for a memorable evening

Baba al Rhum, tropical fruit, passion fruit coulis, crema di coco (Baba al Rhum plated separate)

Vacherin, basil cream, walnut, persimmon, meyer lemon sorbet

Dark chocolate tart, grapefuit, anise, hazelnut gelato

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Coulant, lemon honey, stracciatella gelato

Mignardises

WD~50 2/10

Had to make a stop back to check out Malcolm's new desserts. One word...incredible. See for yourself

Caramel, buttermilk, kumquat, orange blossom.

Chamomile, almond cake, dandelion root, apple, celery

Milk chocolate, black bean, plantain, soy, peanut

Computer problems... I will be back up and posting soon

Volatile Compounds

So...I was talking with my friend (and now pastry chef at WD~50) today about flavor combinations. While we were chatting he brought up an intersting topic, volatile compounds in food. Basically a volatile compound is an organic and or chemical compound that can be found in food. I have not yet down much research on the topic but I can assure you I definitely will be. If you know what the chemical breakdown of certain foods are you can begin to match and pair flavor profiles with like chemical structures. Very intersting stuff. My friend told me there are books on the topic but they are extremely expensive. If anyone knows of any online databases or free lists of these compounds PLEASE post me a link. I would love to learn more about this fascinating subject.

Tapioca Pearls

Tapioca pearls have to be one of my favorite ingredients in the pastry kitchen. I really love the versatility they give to a dish. They can impart a great deal of flavor as well as add a unique texture to your desserts. Tapioca is a starch derived from the cassava plant. The starch is then broken down into: powders, flakes, sticks, meal, and pearls. Tapioca pearls being the most common of the commercial starch. All of the forms powders, pearls etc. must be rehydrated before being cooked. When you begin to cook your tapioca pearls they will begin to absorb the moisture and begin to swell. After a few minutes they will begin to get very sticky and "snotty". I have found it very useful to rinse the gelatinous mixture from the pearls through a china cap with warm water, add the rinsed pearls back to your pot with your desired cooking liquid and cook over low heat stiring constantly. The tapioca pearls will become more and more translucent as they finish cooking. I always like to give them a taste to check there doneness. I usually pull them from the heat when there is a small spec of white in the middle of the pearl. You may want to cook them longer or shorter depending on your desired end result. Below are a few pics of some different sizes of tapioca pearls as well as a few of my favorite dishes that include tapioca pearls. Not in any specific order listed from the top picture down.....Oysters and Pearls- The French Laundry (not a dessert, but probably the best two bites I have ever put in my mouth), Pink Lady Apple Sorbet Set- The French Laundry, and Bubble Gum Shooter- Alinea.