One of the drawbacks of sous vide cooking is that you never achieve that brown crust full of delicious flavor that traditional roasting or grilling achieves. These brown bits of goodness occur because of the maillard reaction and can only develop at … [Continue reading]
Transglutaminase is more commonly known as ‘meat glue’ which somewhat simplifies what it actually is. Transglutaminase is a natural enzyme that forms covalent bonds between protein molecules. They occur naturally inside the human body and were … [Continue reading]
Konjac Gum comes from the Konjac plant, which is typically found in the warm sub tropical regions in Asia (China, Japan, Indonesia). The plant is extremely large and can grow leaves up to 4 feet long and stalks 82 inches in diameter. Many Asian … [Continue reading]
An immersion circulator is the one item I believe every cook (modernist or not) must have in their kitchen. It makes cooking virtually foolproof, is easy to master, and is the quickest cleanup you’ll ever have. For inspiration on what you can make … [Continue reading]
If you are attempting to make caviar (like these melon caviar) through the basic spherification method and finding that it takes too long to finish all the caviar before the first ones are hard as a rock, then a pipetting device might be right for … [Continue reading]
Throughout my time exploring modernist cooking, I’ve progressed through the three stages of vacuum sealing: 1) using Ziploc bags, 2) using a traditional vacuum sealer and ziplocs for wet ingredients, and finally 3) springing for a chamber … [Continue reading]
Whipping siphons are for so much more than just tasty whipped cream. They can create luscious potato purees, silky chestnut creams, and zippy carbonated cocktails. But not all whipping siphons are created the same; the basic models will suffice for … [Continue reading]
Fructose is a simple sugar often times found in plants and hence also called fruit sugar. It occurs naturally in honey, fruit, root vegetables, and flowers and is typically produced from beets, sugar cane, and corn. It is one of three sugars (the … [Continue reading]
Carageenans are extracts from red seaweed appearing in kappa, iota, and lambda forms. Their differences are marked by the number of sulfates they have per saccharide. Kappa has one sulfate, Iota has two sulfates, and Lambda has three sulfates per … [Continue reading]
This plate is like summer on a plate. The fresh salsa is best prepared when all the component are in season and ripe so you get the best flavors. Leaving the flavors to meld overnight heightens the flavors. The swordfish basted with brown butter … [Continue reading]