This bubbly bit came from a random sift of files that tend to pile up. I was delighted to find the notes from well over a year back, when I attended a demo by Ramon Morato, promoting Chocovic and his new (at the time) book, a mammoth tome I still haven't managed to get myself. Ramon embodies all the qualities of a great chef: he's a generous teacher, a skilled technician, a creative spirit, occasionally expressing himself with a sense of humor.
Presented by Morato and intended as a digestive mignardise, the memory of this little tablet came back to me at just the right time, while planning out a big presentation I'm working on later this month. It's simply white chocolate encapsulating sugar, powdered fruit, baking soda, and citric acid. The mixture is piped and pressed between acetate or stamped out, obviously remaining inert until the cocoa butter melts in the mouth, allowing the acid and base to react with each other in fizzy fun.
It's not something I ever see hitting the tables in our restaurant- it can be a bit jarring if the proportions are off- but it's a great, simple to tool to use in explaining how baking soda or other leaveners actually work in doughs. It can also push the idea of how we can explore other mixtures of acitve/inactive ingredients and reactions, how the forms and functions of components might become kinetic rather than just static food on the plate.
Download: Effervescent White Chocolate-Workbook 2.5.09
Does this have to be pressed into a thin sheet or could this be served as like a petit-fours style chunk of chocolate? Would it still have the same effect?
Posted by: Dr. Acula | May 19, 2009 at 04:58 PM