These Culinary Thymes

Someone once told me that no matter what we do we never stop learning.  I would have to agree with them.  The moment you stop looking for the answers is the moment you stop growing.  At the age of 28 I took a chance and went to culinary school.  I think that I was destined to become a chef because I graduated in the top five percent of my class and I never studied once.  I am now on the other side of the text book shall we say.  I am an instructor at the Viking Culinary Center at Loaves & Fishes Cookshop in Garden City NY.  Although the classes are more recreational than professional it still doesn’t change my demeanor.  No matter what, where or why I still teach my students how to cook.  This being said, the teacher still needs to be the student from time to time.

For about a year or so I have been into the whole molecular food science thing, but with no real luck in achieving any real training.  The closest thing so far was making some “airs” with soy lecithin or powdering some nutella and peanut butter.  I really had no idea where to turn until my boss handed me this piece of paper a few weeks ago.  On this said piece of paper was information about a class being held right here on Long Island.  The class I signed up for was being taught by Chefs Aki Kamozawa & H. Alexander Talbot of www.ideasinfood.com and it is the first in a series on different food additives.  Today’ class was on hydrocolloids and I have to be honest…I had a blast.  Hydrocolloids are used to thicken liquids (ie. water based liquids, hence the hydro) such as gelatin and corn starch.  These were among the very first ones.  To work they need to be dispersed in the liquid, given time to hydrate and then they will gel.  Today we went beyond those common items and moved on the Agar, Carageenan and Xanthan gum.  I don’t want to give anything away but all I can say is that with these new methods and products there are endless possibilities ahead.  For those of you out there who think that these “new methods” are more science fiction and magic tricks think again.  Most of the things that are “cutting edge” have been used for centuries.  The next time you are in the store, pick up a carton of ice cream, or Good Season dressing mix or even an egg.  You just might be shocked to find out that you have already been exposed to Xanthan gum, or Carageenan or Sodium Chloride.  For all that it’s worth, going back to school can be a great thing.

Until next time…have a good one.

       When you think of marshmallows it brings back memories of camp fires, s’mores and pieces of flaming goo on the end of a stick.  The origin of the marshmallow dates back to Egypt where honey was mixed with the sap of the mallow plant.  This was the case up until the 1800’s when cornstarch was used to replaced the mallow plant.  These days there are so many places you will see marshmallows…from little “Peeps” at Easter time, to breakfast cereal and even on the menu’s of some high end restaurants. 

I had eaten at a restaurant in New York City some eight years ago.  The name of the restaurant was “First” and the chef there was a friend of a friend.  It was a very nice place, with an industrial look to it.  The food was pretty good, from the wings to the mussels, but the dessert was worth the wait.  Out to the table came all the fixings to make s’mores, which included a tiny cauldron of hot charcoal.  It was like you were camping out at your table.  The experience was a lot of fun and it was one of those times that a person won’t forget.  Not only will I never forget that night (mostly because it was one of the first restaurants in NYC I had ever dined in) but it got my big brain cooking too.  I have been curious about making my own marshmallows, but seeing what goes into them I had been reluctant…that is until now. 

Seeing that Molecular Gastronomy is the wave of the future I decided to try my hand at making some in a different way.  I did some research on the web and ordered both Xanthan gum and Methyl-cellulose F50.  If you have ever had “Good Seasons” Italian dressing then you have had Xanthan gum before (it is the reason the dressing stays thick) and you might find Methyl-cellulose in ice cream.  I decided to use them in a different way than ever before.  The following is my recipe for “Molecular Marshmallows.”  I am still in the working stage, but this is my first go at them.  They are pretty cool and not exactly what you are used to…but they are cool just the same.

250g. Bottled water (tap water has a funny after taste with this)

1.5g. Xanthan Gum

1.5g. Methyl-cellulose F50

Dash of Vanilla

Dash of Salt

2-3 cups Confectioners (powdered) sugar, more if you like it sweeter

In the bowl of a 7qt. mixer dissolve the Xanthan gum and Methyl-cellulose with the water and vanilla.  Turn on the mixer on medium and treat it like you are making a meringue.  Once the water comes to soft peak start adding the confectioners sugar, a little at a time.  As it turns it will start to become more dense and elastic, similar to something between marshmallow fluff and canned vanilla frosting.  This can be spooned out and caramelized just like a real marshmallow.  It will hold its shape, but will be more like whipped cream rather than a commercial marshmallow.

Well, that’s about it for this round.  Join me next time for more…until then, bye.

Trends may come, and trends may go…but sometimes those self same trends become reality as we know it.  Do you recall the 1960’s show “the Twighlight Zone?”  Every episode opened with this fairly monotone guy in a black suit, and he would pose us all with an interesting question. That question challenged the very fabric of what we know as reality.  The man was Rod Serling, and he was the creator of that show.  Men like Serling, Gene Roddenberry (Star Trek) and other such as Orson Wells were visionaries…far beyond their time.  They were the dreamers that helped spark some of the great inventions that we have today.  What?…don’t think so?  Really…what about that Razor phone you have?  It doesn’t oddly resemble Captain Kirks communicator…not even a little??  Sure it does.  What about on Star Trek when they were hungry.  All they had to do was push a button and “whoosh” out comes a Cheese Burger.  Quite simple right?  All things that someone thought up and viewed as “science fiction.”  Well, this science fiction as it is so notably called is quickly becoming science “fact.”

Take if you will some of the things going on at a certain few restaurants in Chicago.  One of the owners there is quite the science whiz.  Homaro Cantu is the executive chef at Moto which is located in the meat packing district.  Between cooking things with a Class IV laser (an infrared CO2 powered one at that) and using quite a bit of liquid nitrogen they are trying to help change the way things are done.  The term they are using is “transmogrification” and aiming it towards the stars.  Now, when I say “the stars” I don’t mean actors, I mean the ones up in the sky.  Not unlike on Star Trek, Homaro is working on a 3 Dimensional food printer…far more advanced than the one he uses to make edible menus.  He has pretty much been successful at inventing so far, so I have no doubt that he will become the Einstein of Gastronomy.

What is in store for us at this very moment.  Taking a little bit of a break from the use of chemicals to alter how we eat food…let’s look at the way we make food.  I am really a big fan of food, science and how things work so let’s touch base on some really cool inventions shall we?  First up is something that I am very keen on…speed cooking.  There are so very many ways that we can speed up meal time.  It all depends just how much money you have in the bank.  At the top, there is Turbo Chef oven weighing in at around $8,000.  A very cool piece of equipment that will cook your food about 8x faster than conventional ovens.  The big downfall is…the oven cavity isn’t very large.  If that doesn’t really appeal to you, try one of the GE Advantium or Trivection ovens.  Price a bit lower (a 30 inch Trivection electric range is about $3,400) it pretty much is the same size as what you may be replacing.  The process is simple using a double electric element, a multi directional convection fan that blows more like a blow dryer, a huge broiler and microwave technology.  A computer will convert your recipe if needed, will actually tell you the better way to do it…and cooks in about half the time.  The Advantium actually uses microwaves and high powered halogen lights to do the job just right.  If both of those are too steep for you, or just looking to supplement your culinary needs I recommend the Black & Decker Infra-Wave oven.  Yes, it does look a lot like a toaster oven, but is far more I promise you.  It works through infrared radiation.  Now, before you start to panic, light is radiation…even the light from your bedroom or living room lamp.  Infrared is a wave length of light that is just longer than we can see, but shorter than a microwave.  What does this mean to us?  This means that the light will penetrate the food (you can cook food from a frozen state) and cook it faster with a better finished product.  Your Lamb chops will be crispier and more succulent and people will flock to your house for dinner.  Typically these ovens use far less power than a conventional oven, so I guess that this is “green” cooking too.  There are several brands out there, so pick the one you like best.

Remember the Microwave?  When it was first introduced it was called the “radar range” and a lot of people turned their noses up at it, scoffing that it would never catch on.  Well…in light of everything else that is catching on and called “trendy” now a days I will just say this.  As far as the technology thing goes…all of these new ways will be a part of our everyday life.  Give it time.  As far as the Molecular thing goes…I have four words that will make sense.  Kraft Macaroni and Cheese.  It has been in almost every American home since it was created.  Before you turn your nose up at these things just remember that Jell-O, and all of these “convenience foods” have stood the test of time.  Like everything else in this world…you cannot stop progress.  You might as well sit back and enjoy the ride.  As you look out that window take notice of what is going on in the world around you…just remember to watch for the sign post up ahead.  It just may read “welcome to the future, take off your coat and stay a while.”

Well, that’s all that I have this time.  Join us next episode as we turn the page on These Culinary Thyme’s.  Bye.