Workbook

Variation on a Theme

 

 

Saying that presentation comes second, after flavor, of course, makes for great theory, but we really do put it into practice. Sometimes that process of arranging and rearranging is an important part of constructing a finished dish; I find I learn more about the components themselves and how we can further manipulate them. And by trying this and that, new ideas are improvised on the spot.

 

 

 

With the recent discovery of our caramel sheets, I began thinking of riffing on the idea of the familiar caramel-dipped apple. There’s a fascinating contrast at play, notably the soft, rich caramel against the crisp and juicy raw apple. In most plated dessert situations, apples are often cooked, transformed, and laden with spice; we rarely get a glimpse of their formerly snappy tendencies.

Part of the plan in preserving that freshness involved taking a page from the Sam Mason playbook, borrowing his idea of a stewed apple confit set with gellan gum. I’ve always loved how mixing low and high acyl gellan provides a toothsome, poached fruit quality. I simply switched out a slowly cooked apple purée with one of fresh green apple, heated just enough so not to prematurely set once incorporated into the hydrated gellan.

 

 

 

So, with a fresh tray of our caramel film and the green apple gelée- set into various shapes- I could then play around with plate presentations, and just how these two components worked in tandem. Interestingly, I kept finding myself increasing the proportion of caramel to apple for balance, or figuring out a way to wrap or layer the apple in such a way, that there was sufficient caramel in each bite. What follows are various exercises toward a pre-dessert or full plated dish. Some themes that inspired me include terrines, mille feuilles, maki rolls, and of course, the classic caramel-apple on a stick.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was all just the result of just an hour of messing around, so we’re not quite there yet. The components themselves are in a state of flux as well, but I’ve included the latest versions of them here:

 

Download: Caramel Film- Workbook 25.10.2010

Download: Green Apple Gelee- Workbook 25.10.2010

 

 

 

Sweetness, Developed

 

 

Among our recent menu changes is the welcome return of sweet potato, and our vanilla infused sorbet. I think I first became hip to the notion of refined sweet potato desserts from an early appearance by Joachim Splichal in Art Culinaire, almost twenty years ago now (yes, I'm getting old). The key to success is the slow roasting and development of the sweet potato's natural sugars, which need such coaxing; boiling doesn't even come close in ternms of flavor. We roast them whole, and when they've wrinkled and begun to ooze a caramel goodness onto the sheet pan, the sweet potatoes are ready. Peeled, and run through a tamis, the puree is then combined with the vanilla syrup and processed.

 

The new tasting menu dish finds the sweet potato simply paired with a dark chocolate cremeux (Cluizel's 'Los Ancones' estate, which I visited earlier in the year) and a bourbon caramel. I still find myself streamlining, slowly moving away from too many flourishes. I still have the urge to throw something else on this plate, but I think we've captured the essential.

 

Download: Sweet Potato Sorbet-Workbook 19.10.10

 

 

Smoke, Salt, and Sweet

 

 

It started a few weeks ago. The Chef had been wanting to play around with a dry chorizo component for a first course dish, and between the sous chefs and I, we figured the best place to begin would be a powder. The precious fat collected from very slowly rendered chorizo was simply blended with tapioca maltodextrin.

The flavor of spicy pimenton crept up on you, and lingered for some time. Once incorporated into the intended dish, however, its subtlety was lost. As my savory counterparts went back to the proverbial drawing board, I snatched what remained of the experiment and headed to the pastry kitchen.

 

 

 

Trends are funny. I barely take notice of them anymore. I do find that once something hits the mainstream, someone quickly steps out from the shadows to proclaim it 'over'. That seems to be the case with our beloved bacon; the ubiquitous pork belly has yet to completey disappear from menus far and wide, but we do seem to be moving on. Pastry chefs have yet to fully retreat from the pig- I think there are still a lot of ways we can harness its salty, smoky allure. 

So, I decided chorizo was next.

 

 

 

The brainstorm mentioned above just happened to go down the week of the recent International Chef's Congress, to which I'd been running back and forth before lunch service at the restaurant. All of those out-of-town chefs have to eat somewhere, and I found myself with three or four parties of pastry chef colleagues in our dining room, all in the same night. I was delighted to share my new obsession with them.

Loaded into a shell casted from dark chocolate, the powder was spooned over a drop of caramel, a touch of lemon confit, and an extra hit of smoked salt. With little else to get in the way, the chorizo flavor seemed more intense. Perhaps the fattiness of the melting cocoa butter even helped carry that smoky flavor longer. Presented as a transitional petit four after dessert proper, I realized it might also work as well, if not better, as a transition early on, between savory and sweet.

 

 

 

By coincidence (no, really!) this week's episode of Avec Eric finds me in the pastry kitchen with Eric Ripert, after his inspiring trip to Colonnata and a visit with its top producer of lardo. You know what we made. Check your local listings for air date and times.