Sethro

...thanks?

You don't have to pull it right away. You can pour it, cool it, break it into small chunks and reheat it. I've never tried it with caramel, but I guess that would make it harder in general... It looks nice anyhow though.

Of what, a pectin bisquit? Sure, its not going to be clear or pull-able like a handkerchief, but here's a pretty basic recipe: 400 g glucose 400 ml milk 200 g butter 400 g sugar 15 g pectin Cook the first three together till a boil, then whisk in the sugar pectin mixture and bring back to a boil, whisking constantly. Drop by small scoops or spread thin on silpat and bake at 375-400 until golden.

I've had the totally opposite experience as far as that's concerned. All of the times I've been there I've found the cocktails to be well mixed, interesting and delicious.

If you want to smooth the air out of any sauce/custard, you can do it in a cryo-vac. Pour the custard about 1/4" high in a half-hotel pan, and vac it uncovered. It will bubble up violently, and then the valve release will suck all the bubbles out of it leaving you with a smooth, de-volumized product. This technique works great for "clarifying" xantham thickened sauces as well.

Its a "handkerchief". Think its like 50/50 white fondant and glucose, cooked to about 310, poured and pulled.

Heh heh. I don't envy the job of cleaning that pot.

Puree young coconut meat with whatever else you're using, and strain. Young coconut meat is available in cans at most good asian and indian markets.

Don't use too much stabilizer? Make a "sorbet syrup" that's saturated with dry ingredient (glucose atomize, stabilizer, etc), then experiment with balancing that and simple or strong syrup with your puree, juice, etc. Its the simplest way to find the best results (unless you are provided a recipe that calls for the exact base you plan on using). Cremodan makes a perfectly reliable and easy to find "sorbet stabilizer", as far as that goes.

Like I said, I was giving the benefit of the doubt that the execution was just off. Like I mentioned, it was our bartender's first night, he was working off a cheat-sheet, and these drinks are VERY complicated. The Mai Tai was the first thing I had, so my palate was pretty neutral, and it was VERY sweet for me, and not (to my taste) the best I ever had. It wasn't bad by any means--it was good. The Zombie Punch tasted like 5.5oz of liquor, and just not very pleasant overall. My friend and I shared it and still ad a hard time putting it away. Definitely a medicine aftertaste. The Quimby Fizz just tasted horrible. No way it could have been mixed correctly. As for the bubblies; p*ong's website fails to mention the candied rose in "roses" (which is why it's called "roses"), making both drinks really similar in the they are: sparkling wine, rose, something sweet and sour. I think my palette remained pretty intact thoughout the night, as I was able to taste all of the ingredients in the Rita Hayseworth in perfect balance. Once again, I applaud the creativity and I hope the next time I visit the execution is on point.

I went there once on your recommendation and had an equally shitty experience.

Mai Tai: Pretty sweet even for a mai tai. The flavor of Rum did come through well, and overall it was a pretty pleasant if not exciting version. Zombie Punch: This tasted like jungle juice with cinnamon. It was really, really strong and strong tasting. It got me pretty drunk pretty quickly. Electric Ladyland: Far inferior to the "Roses" at P*ONG, which is pretty much the same ingredients. I think it could have been a lot better if it was mixed spot on. Ginger Rodgers: Once again on the sweet side, but otherwise very well balanced and enjoyable. Rita Hayworth: Absolutely brilliant, and easily one of the most successful tequila cocktails I've had. I could drink this all night. Quimby Fizz: Disgusting. Like carbonated cologne--and not a nice cologne either. Old man cologne. Basically way too heavy on the bitters. We learned at this point that it was our bartenders first night. Probably not a great idea to let the guy fly unsupervised at peak hours on a Thursday night (when they should very well be on critic-watch at this point). Overall I was disappointed. Lots of potential, and the menu reads like a dream, but the execution was poor.

I'm going tomorrow night and I haven't been so excited for drinks in a while (don't worry, I will have a few apps and desserts as well).

Yeah, when the kitchen turns over shifts, L'Ecole goes from a great value to a hideous rip-off. At least thats what I gathered from my only two trips there. The later led to to never want to go back again, at any cost. Literally one of the worst "fine dining" experiences of my life. Rude, uneducated service, sloppy plates, cold entrees, awkward timing and absolutely juvenile desserts.

Any idea what ratio of agar to use? ← I think my recipe called for 6g per 600ml of juice, so around 1%.

Bring the lemon and the sugar to a boil with agar powder before adding the yolks. Once its chilled, process in vitamix like a fluid gel, then chill again. It should be fine. I always substitute part of the butter for white chocolate in my curds, and it seems to keep them from running on the plate too.

That is definitely the problem. 100% potato starch is the best way to go.

I dunno, most of the sous chefs are pretty young and energized. I haven't eaten there recently but I get the feeling that pride goes into the cooking. I find zero stars to be pretty unlikely, political reasons aside.

Heh, maybe. I've seen babies at JG and we had tons of em at Nobu.

Every restaurant in NY over 19 seats has to have high chairs by law.

The pectin is going to do nothing to minimize ice crystals. In fact it won't even activate at 180 degrees and with no acid. What else do you have in your big bag of additives?

They don't have ovaltine where you live? Barley malt has a milder flavor.

Oh I had a lot of fun with the Paco last Christmas! Roasted chestnuts, caramel and milk work well. So do chunks of toasted gingerbread soaked in coffee and condensed milk. Wish I still had one.

That's true. It also depends on how you like your ice cream/sorbet. Initially I started all the futtzing around because I wanted all my ice creams to be eggless. This led to a whole period of experimentation to get that custard-y texture without a proper custard. The stabilizer in particular is very important to develop that unctuous mouth feel. In terms of sorbet, I like the texture to be slightly sticky, like the ones you get in Little Italy (that get that stickiness from an excess of sugar and honey) without being cloying. Some of it is a matter of practicality and some of it is a matter of taste.

Both are around 30% less sweet than sugar but dextrose has a much lower freezing point. Glucose performs a lot like dry milk in the way that it gives a richer more substantial mouth feel. So in short I'm using one for texture, one to depress the freezing point, and both to reign in the sweetness. I should qualify here that I am NOT a scientist food or otherwise, and this is just what I've found works through experimentation. Stabilizer also affects texture pretty drastically by creating "gumminess", which in the right measure I really like. Its also pretty important if your service freezer is opening and closing all night. Ice crystals will develop even faster when sugar and dry mass is decreased, which is the case with a lot of paco recipes.