Molecular Gastronomy

Molecular Gastronomy-History• Molecular gastronomy is the science of cooking but it is

commonly used to describe a new style of cuisine in which chefs explore new culinary possibilities in the kitchen

• It embraces sensory and food science, borrowing tools from the science lab and ingredients from the food industry and concocting surprise after surprise for their diners.

• Molecular gastronomy seeks to investigate and explain the chemical reasons behind the transformation of ingredients, as well as the social, artistic and technical components of culinary and gastronomic phenomena in general.

• The term Molecular Gastronomy was born in 1992

Molecular Gastronomy-History• Molecular gastronomy experiments have resulted in new innovative dishes like hot gelatins, airs, faux caviar and spherical ravioli,

• Ferran Adria from El Bulli restaurant used alginates to create his system of spherification which gelled spheres that literally burst in your mouth. The potential of molecular gastronomy is enormous. It is revolutionizing traditional cooking and transforming eating into a whole new emotional and sensory experience.

Perception• When people hear molecular gastronomy for the

first time they often mistakenly view it as unhealthy, synthetic, chemical, dehumanizing and unnatural.

• The truth is that the "chemicals" used in molecular gastronomy are all of biological origin.

• Even though they have been purified and some of them processed, the raw material origin is usually marine, plant, animal or microbial.

• These additives are also used in very, very small amounts and have been approved by US standards.

Overview• Most of the molecular recipes need to be followed

precisely. • More than often, steps need to be followed in a very

specific sequence or the whole dish will be a disaster. • Quantities are measured in fractions of a gram or fractions

of a percentage.• Slight variations in food acidity levels could be disastrous. • At the same time, molecular gastronomy is about

experimenting, being curious, using intuition, playing with emotions and creating a multi-sensory dinning experience with artistic dish presentations, textures, aromas, flavors and even sounds.

Basic Spherification• The Basic Spherification technique is ideal for obtaining spheres with a very, very thin membrane that is almost imperceptible in your mouth. It results in a sphere that easily explodes in your mouth as if there is no solid substance between your palate and the liquid. • This technique the foundation on which Molecular Gastronomy was built• The main problem of this technique is that once the sphere is removed from

the calcium bath, the process of jellification continues even after rinsing the sphere with water.

• This means that the spheres need to be served immediately or they would convert into a compact gel ball with no magical liquid inside. The other issue of this technique is that jellification does not occur if the liquid acidity is high (PH<5)

• This can be corrected by adding sodium citrate to the liquid to reduce the acidity level before the spherification process.

Information for Basic Spherification• This technique is ideal for obtaining spheres with a very, very thin

membrane that is almost imperceptible in your mouth and easily "explodes" as if there is no solid substance between your palate and the liquid.

• There is no need to let the calcium bath rest. This allows you to start and finish the preparation within an hour

• It is easier to get a perfect sphere on the plate with Basic Spherification Even if the resulting product is not a perfect sphere it will most likely look as one once you plate it as the subtle and flexible membrane will adapt and reshape when the quasi-sphere is placed on the plate.

• This is the preferred spherification method for producing “caviar” (small spheres) since the viscosity of the bath is thin allowing the small droplets to cohere into a spherical shape in the bath and the spheres don’t stick together as in reverse spherification.

Key points in Producing • Water and citras are mixed with a buerre mixer together. Citras is

used to reduce ph. levels. It is not always used• Buerre mixers are used frequently because we are dealing with

small quantities of ingredients and the ingredients swell when they come in contact with water and need to be shredded by the mixer

• Algin is added and this mixture is brought to a boil, puree is added, shredded again, and bought to room temperature

• Get the right viscosity. The difference in viscosity between the flavored solution and the bath affects how easy is to form a sphere with basic spherification.

• The general rule is that it is easier to form a sphere if the flavored solution is thicker (more dense) and the bath is thinner (less dense). In basic spherification try adding more sodium alginate to the main ingredient

Key points in Producing • While algin mixture is cooling the calci bath is made.• Calci and water are shredded together, set aside. This is placed

in shallow pan• Place water in another shallow pan• Tap water? If the calcium content of your tap water is high, it

will cause Use filtered or bottled water instead. Not mineral water since it can also contain calcium.

• Fill the bath containers up to the top. it will be easier for you to place the pouring spoon almost horizontally touching the liquid for an easy and smooth pouring with the twist of your wrist. Otherwise, the container sides may be on your way not allowing you to hold the spoon horizontally close to the surface of the liquid.

Making Spheres• Use a spherical spoon. For preparations other than caviar in which you use a syringe, use measuring spoons with a spherical shape. These help get a better spherical shape when pouring the main ingredient into the bath, they conveniently come in different sizes to create ravioli, gnocchi, etc and are inexpensive.

• Pour the liquid carefully. This is the most critical step in spherification and it requires practice. There are a few ways of doing this and some techniques work better for some people. Be patient and try different things until you find the right process for your preparation.

• It is recommended you always start with one sphere first to adjust the pouring process and the time in the calcium bath. If the sphere membrane is too subtle and the sphere easily breaks when handling it with the slotted spoon carefully or when plating it, extend the time in the calcium bath until you get the desired strength. Keep in mind that the thinner the membrane the better experience people are going to have when eating it.

Making Spheres• Don’t pour the main ingredient from high above the surface of the

bath. The impact of the liquid on the surface of the bath will flatten the sphere. Place your spoon horizontally close to the bath surface or even touching it and, with a fast but gentle twist of your wrist, pour the liquid into the bath.

• Another technique is to place the spherical spoon in the bath and with a syringe, inject the liquid in the bath in the spoon cavity to help form the sphere. When mastered, this technique

allows you to create spheres a little faster since you don’t need to go back and forth between the bath and the main ingredient container while cleaning the spoon in between.

Making Spheres• Don’t let the spheres float at the top. After pouring the sphere

into the bath, sometimes they stay floating. You don’t want this to happen because the top won’t get much exposure to the bath solution and it won’t gel and form a sphere. To make the sphere sink in the bath, gently create a few waves in the bath around the sphere using a spoon or your fingers so that the bath solution gets on top of the sphere. This will also help form the sphere shape as the floating edges of the sphere fold into the center of it.

• Flip the spheres occasionally while in the bath. If they stay touching the bottom of the recipient, the bottom of the spheres will be less in contact with the bath resulting in a thinner membrane than the rest of the sphere which could break easily. This side of the sphere will also be somewhat flattened.

Making Spheres

• Clean your spoons. Always wipe your spherical spoon after each pour, especially if you are placing the spoon bottom on the bath to pour the liquid. Also make sure your slotted spoon is clean before you dip it in the bath to fish your spheres. If you don’t clean your spoons, you may get small lumps of extra gel or “baby” spheres stuck to your sphere.

• Keep the bath clean. If a sphere breaks in the bath and there are small particles floating around, pass the bath solution through a sieve and continue the spherification process with a clean bath to avoid these particles from sticking to your sphere.

Making Caviar• Follow the steps form basic spherification except• Apply constant pressure to the syringe pump: to obtain caviar

spheres of consistent size, push the syringe pump at constant pressure and slow speed and allow the droplets to break away from the tip of the syringe on their own without tapping or shaking the syringe. Try holding the syringe horizontally to obtain more control and slightly larger caviar spheres.

• Release the droplets from the right height: to avoid getting flattened or oval spheres, the droplets should have enough distance from the surface of the calcium bath so that they have enough time to cohere into a sphere and enough speed to penetrate the surface and sink. Don’t go too high up or the impact with the bath will deform them and you will end up with flattened caviar. You can also try a more diluted calcium bath to give time for the drop to cohere in the bath.

Making Caviar• “Cook” the spheres for less than 1min: you want the caviar

spheres to have liquid inside so just let them rest in the bath for a minute or less or they will become a jell ball. This could be a challenge if you only have one syringe and you are planning to make enough caviar for a few servings.

• At the speed droplets come out of one syringe you probably need a minute to make enough caviar for one serving so this means the first caviar sphere will be ready when the last droplet touches the bath for the first time. And because all the little spheres get mixed in the bath, you usually fish them out of the bath all together.

• An easy solution is to produce them in batches and serve them to one diner at a time. Another solution is to use an array of syringes or a caviar box to produce a large quantity of caviar in a short period of time.

Making Caviar• Use a bowl for the bath and a round sieve to fish the

caviar: this will make it easier to fish all the caviar at once. If you use a rectangular container it will be harder to catch the spheres in the corners.

• Serve immediately: remember that spheres produced with Basic Spherification continue to jell even after they are removed from the calcium bath and

rinsed with water.• You need to serve immediately after preparation to delight your diners with a caviar sphere with subtle membrane and liquid inside

Making Foams or Airs

• The term foam or air are interchangeable• They are a liquid combined with an emulsification

ingredient such as lecite or sucro• The are combined with a buerre mixer and placed

in shallow rectangle pan. By moving the mixer across the surface foam is created and collected

• This generally made at the last minute because of it short shelf life

Gelification

• Liquid is combined with a gelling agent. Those include agar, gellen or iota • Agar and gellen work best for liquids, iota works

well for high fat liquids• The mixture is brought to a boil and will cool

when it hits room temperature• The mixture can be heated to 160mdegrees and

still hold their shape

Dust and Powders

• High fat , low water content ingredients such as peanut butter, chocolate are mixed with maltoto produce a powder.• This powder will revert back to a liquid state when it

comes in contact with mositure, your tongue• 40% malto by weight is combined with high substance

and mixed by hand until a powder is formed• Malto is a VERY light powder, so it weighs next to

nothing but has a large mass

Molecular Gastronomy Product Translations

Product Translation Dosage What it does Application

Algin Alginate 5g/L Spherification: when placed in calcic bath, generates skin on outside to make a sphere

Fruit/vegetable spheres

Calcic Calcium Chloride 5.6g/L Spherification: add calcic to water to make bath; add in algin to make spheres

Fruit/vegetable spheres

Citras Trisodium Citrate Dihydrate

- Spherification / pH alteration; helps make product more acidic

Lower pH in products going to be used for spherification

Gluco Calcium Lactate + CalciumGluconate

20g/L Spherification: add to product and place in algin bath to create sphere from outside in

Food and alcohol spheres

Lecite Soy Lecithin 6g/L Emulsification: Mix in cold; use hand blender

Airs and foams; mix immiscible liquids

Sucro Sucrose Fatty Acid Esters 10g/L Emulsification Use for alcoholic mediums

Molecular Gastronomy Product TranslationsProduct Translation Dosage What it does Application

Glice Mono-Diglycerides of Fatty Acids

9g/L Emulsification: add in while warm, then cool

Mix immiscible liquids; solid oils/butter

Gellan Gellan Gum 20g/L Gelification: thermo-reversible Cold = thickener

Heat resistant fillings, sauté, pastas

Iota Carrageenan (Iota) + Sodium Chloride

6g/L Gelification: creamy texture to final product; More elastic gel

Mix in to liquid and boil

Agar Agar-Agar 2-4g/L Gelification: Soft texture, not very elastic

Jellies, spaghetti, cannelloni, pastas

Fizzy Sodium Bicarbonate + Citric Acid

Surprise: Fizzes in the mouth when eating

On its own; covered in chocolate, added to desserts

Fizzy

Ingredients Side Notes• Most molecular gastronomy ingredients can

be purchased online and for the most part are reasonably priced

• Concentration and purity vary greatly

• We use the Texturas line from Albert Uster Imports www.auiswiss.com because they were developed by Ferran Adria and have consistent purity and concentration