Michael Laiskonis
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Posts posted by Michael Laiskonis
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I call it "The Creamsicle" (very identifiable, childhood recognition...)...
Great minds think alike, Brian! I do a clementine sorbet, enhanced with dry nonfat milk, that creates the same effect. It definitely brings out the nostalgia, and people love it.
To echo the above comments, for all the crazy, techno-pastry hoops we create for ourselves to jump through, nailing that luscious, perfect, pannacotta is satisfying enough sometimes...
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Make sure your servers taste everything. Make them love your stuff and you.
The most important element, I think. Sometimes, deeper explanations of your ideas, your motivations, and simply sharing your enthusiasm will win the servers over. Excitement is contagious. There are times when I read a ticket and I know exactly who the server is, just from the order- they will fall in love with a dish and sell it because they like it, and can describe the blend of flavors and textures, as well as explain to the guest how the dish was concieved and how it has evolved. My servers, well, some, know all about Adrià and Gagnaire and Hermé and Passard and can explain how they have an influence on my work. But then, our dining room environments are very different...
Brian, to help you more, can you describe the current overall situation?
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Yeah, brown butter is one of my all time favorites. The ice cream is great, but even using only milk (no cream), and some starch as a binder, it has a very small window texture-wise when spun in the batch freezer. I'm still on a quest for the perfect beurre noisette ganache. How can I infuse a delicate ganache with all that nutty goodness?
I've done some work with "browned milk solids"... slowly, slowly reducing cream until you are left with essentially clarified butter and the caramelized solids, you get the brown "butter" without the fat (I strain the fat and use it to sauté, brush feuille de brik, etc.), but the flavor isn't quite the same. Here is an application for this method, in the form of a Cider-Beurre Noisette Caramel. Though Grant Achatz' description of his caramelized dairy in sous vide at Trio has got me anxious to try that as well.
As for the olive oil ice cream, I want something very subtle and light, with just the finish of the olive oil's flavor and texture- the oil you use is going to determine what that is- with very subtle suggestions of vanilla and perhaps an herb or flower as well. We have this beautiful, though ridiculously expensive, estate oil from Manni. The Per Mio Figlio is just perfectly balanced and nuanced enough to find some cool uses in pastry. I've tried a few olive oil ice cream/sorbets that were almost greasy in texture, which is not what I'm after. And I'm not looking to add salt in this particular application, but I can easily see it working.
And look for my over-exposure come summer...
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Got any new stuff going with the Paco Jet?
It's been a busy couple of weeks, and actually, all of my Paco beakers have been occupied anyway. But I do have some ideas...
One recent quest has been to nail down a perfect olive oil ice cream/sorbet to put in place during the spring. The last attempt, an adaptation of a Chibois recipe, was too fatty, producing a broken, grainy texture, but offered the best flavor. In the same vein, I'm also working on the balance of a mascarpone sorbet- again pushing it until the fat content is just right. And then a beurre noisette ice cream- dealing with the same issues; though a staple on my menu and one of my favorite flavors, it is very temperamental. Do look for an apricot-yogurt (powder) sorbet for the Paco that should come out in PAD soon. Apart from that, just mental exercises...
tan, on the turron, I think it has come to encompass more than just a classical nougat style candy- including praline and ganache type products. I could be wrong on this, but I see the word being used quite liberally.
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Andrea, thanks for taking the time to engage in these discussions, and congratulations on your latest James Beard Awards nomination!
I'm interested in your personal philosophy of wine and dessert matching. Has the ever increasing complexity, and the occasional "savory" component, of restaurant desserts led you to change your strategy? Apart from the obvious issues of sugar and acid, are there specific observations you've made, where a certain element of a dessert might seriously enhance or detract from the synergy of a wine pairing? What obscure, interesting, or off-the-beaten-path discoveries have you encountered recently with regard to "sweet" wines?
Have you experimented at all with alternatives to the usual suspects? For example, at Petrossian in Paris, I've sampled the Parfums à Boire- a flight of infusions incorporating, flowers, roots, spices, and fruits, all prepared à la minute at table- that were designed specifically to accompany the selection of desserts. As a pastry chef, the experience opened up a whole new range of possiblities... juices, infusions, perhaps even beers and other spirits. Any thoughts?
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...but certainly the cuisine of France has shaped the food at these places more than any other.
Is it conceivable that the very restaurants you mention, as well as others, are now, in return, in a position to influence what will happen in France?
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Charlie (and of course, Michelle, Andrew, etc.) was one of the first chefs to embrace the Paco, from what I understand. Chances are all the sorbets and ice creams you've ever had at CT were made in one. Essentially, this machine is a high speed, pressurized food processor. Ingredients are placed in a beaker and frozen to 0ºF, then processed on the Pacojet to create superfine textured purées...
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Also, if you haven't already I'd recommend checking out www.joseandres.com...
Beautiful site!
I've had an eye on Jose for quite some time. I've only dined at Jaleo (Bethesda); when I was last in DC (Fall 2001), I was under the impression that he had left CA, and therefore I chose Citronelle for the 'big meal.' Looks like I need an excuse to return...
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OK. Powdered glucose, or glucose atomisé... There is surely a longer, better explanation that I'm uncapable of giving, but here is the short form...
All sorbet and ice cream formulas can be broken down into percentages of water and dry matter, right? Water in its frozen state crytallizes, and though the crystals created by freezing/agitation are small, its tendency is to expand into larger crystals, which makes for a poorly textured sorbet. By increasing the dry matter enough, you are keeping those water molecules apart, inhibiting the spread of crystallization. Using powdered glucose, dry milk, dextrose, etc., you are getting the benefits of those ingredients without the excess water. I hope I'm making sense.
The target percentage of dry matter (again, simply everything that is not water) seems to lie between 31-34%. Powdered glucose can factor in up to 5-6% of total weight. Some of the fruit purée manufacturers have created sorbet formula charts for their products- I've seen both Boiron's and Ravifruit's. These charts illustrate the concept and typically calculate the dry matter for you; they can give you an idea or a starting point, and I've adjusted most formulas as I've come along. Everything does have its limit, of course. Too much stabilizer or powdered sugar products will result in sticky, gummy textures.
I find ice cream and sorbet 'technology' fascinating as there is so much to learn and consider. Having said that, the Paco presents us with a whole different set of criteria. We're making sorbet 'backwards', in a sense, starting with a solid, frozen mass. At the same time solving problems, yet creating new ones, yes?
On to Adrià's Powdered Chocolate Ice Cream. I've seen two references to it; one, in an article on the El Bulli press site, and two, from the materials of Adrià's November 2002 class at French Pastry School in Chicago. The magazine article saw it paired with corn and toffee, while the dessert demo'd in his class combined it with a lime gelée and wasabi purée. I'm still looking for a way to personalize it, but here is the recipe, in English...
Powdered Chocolate Ice Cream
Albert Adrià
80g chocolate couverture, 70%
30g cocoa powder
30g sucrose
100g heavy cream, 35% fat
300g water
1. Combine and boil water, cream, sugar, and cocoa powder. Remove from heat and combine with chopped chocolate, melting thoroughly for a homogenous texture.
2. Transfer to a Pacojet beaker and freeze for 24 hours.
3. Process in Pacojet. "Return to freezer to stabilize." Repeat.
Also, thanks to tan319 and his link to ICC, I found a downloadable PDF file of Paco-specific recipes. Not surprisingly, its in Spanish, but it may be useful!
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Brian,
Has this event happened yet? What was your final version, and how did it work out?
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I know I've heard something about ICC before, but i don't recall from where... The Superbag is a new one to me- very interesting...
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Kareen, who started this thread, is one of my assistants. We were discussing gianduja and nut/praline pastes one day recently and at one point we both simultaneously looked at our Pacojet (which sits on the counter right next to my Taylor batch freezer, incidentally). She asked whether the Paco could produce these kinds of things, and I suggested she pose the question here, as I was curious to see who, if anyone, would bite! I need to learn these techniques, too!
When I acquired the Paco, or rather, rescued it from abandonment in a dusty closet, I had to start from zero. The literature and recipe books that are available from the company are quirky at best, and offer little as to the science behind the formulas, or how to exploit the machine, using the technology to tread some new ground. I tend to see it used often as an equal replacement for the conventional batch freezer, but apart from convenience or portion control, I think the Paco should be approached as a unique, quite separate entity.
What can be frustrating is the continued absence of Pacojet-specific recipes out there... sure they surface from time to time in Art Culinaire, however, say, Pastry Art and Design, who prints advertisements for the machine, has not, to my knowledge, ever run a treatise on its uses, nor do they often publish recipes utilizing it. Try an internet search- the last time I did, I didn't find anything all that exciting. When I can pay lip service to the Paco- in a demo or published recipe- I do, in hopes of making such recipes more commonplace.
On sorbets and ice creams, yes adjustments have to be made, in the form of sugar and fat content. Stabilizers are often unnecessary as well, though I still like to boost the dry extract of my bases with things like powdered glucose and dry dairy powders. It can be tempting to simply fill a beaker with chopped fruit and sugar syrup and give it a go, but I'm working from the other direction- weaning myself off of the Taylor by adjusting my old recipes to take advantage of all the Paco has to offer, which in turn informs me and leads toward formulating new bases 'tailored' for it alone. I have the working knowledge of how water, fat, sugar, dry matter, stabilizer, etc. perform when frozen in a batch freezer, yet I find, with the Paco, I'm left with pure trial and error to enlighten me!
As for the nut pastes, ground spice blends, or other possible uses, I have yet to get down and dirty. I did just recently try an Adrià recipe for a "powdered chocolate ice cream". I liked it a lot and am pondering what I'll do with it. Funny, though, as I can't help wonder if this was the result of a happy accident on the part of Adrià, as it is essentially a ganache, but when processed it is sort of pebble-like, not exactly a granité- was he initially looking for a different result?! Very cool, nonetheless...
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I thought it best to move this one out of the Pastry Forum and into New York...
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I wonder... if some of the top chefs in America smoke?
Jean-Louis Palladin did, and a lot. Unfortunately, it eventually killed him. No one can argue, however, his skills and palate.
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I believe to a certain degree tradition must be overtaken by intellect, expectations reworked, and open mindedness brought to the front.
I agree with you on this, as I'm sure you would agree, and as your experience would suggest, that only with a knowledge of the 'rules' are we successfully able to break them! Our generation just may be the one that casts a new mold- especially if we do it for the right reasons- through equal parts good taste, continued respect for ingredients, a sense of playfulness, and solid science.
In terms of the ever growing 'sweetness' of food, I've experienced it not only expressed at Gagnaire and Arpège (I've dined multiple times at both), but more recently here in the US, at the likes of Clio, Aquavit, Union Pacific, Blue Hill, and Café Boulud, or Toqué in Montreal. Even Takashi's food at Tribute reveals complex layers of sweetness. Apart from its role in the flow of this 'new' tasting menu, from where do you think this subtle sweetness evolved? I find it interesting, but also delicious in the right hands!
Back to tasting menus, I like the idea of 'rolling hills'! To cite a couple of examples from my meal at Trio nearly a year ago, I did think the subtle sweetness of the 'ice cream sandwich' was a perfect amuse, especially paired with the sherry. Likewise, the 'spiced water' and 'oysters and beer' (was this the course paired with sake? - very cool), as well as the 'hot/cold coconut' demonstrate your intentions of creating such peaks and valleys, even within a given course!
This may be of interest to you especially. It seems we have the most resistance to pastry dishes utilizing savory ingredients and techniques.True, but I think with the 'sweetness' spread throughout a given menu, the challenge for the pastry chef is to further explore subtler flavors and textures, or simply, as a reknowned French pastry chef told me, use sugar as one uses salt- as a seasoning. As I mentioned, we're really beginning to look at ingredients blindly, disregarding all but the basic building blocks of flavor, then restructuring them into something familiar again. Salt with chocolate or caramel is widely acknowledged as a new classic, while caviar and white chocolate, or olives and chocolate, or a soy sauce based caramel, or bacon with a pedro ximenez reduction, are deemed 'revolutionary'! (The nori-pear-chocolate dessert I tasted at Trio was among my favorites, by the way.) The general dining public may long resist such thinking, and that 'tightrope' can be mighty scary at times... but as I always say, to anyone who'll listen, it is a very exciting time to be a pastry chef...
I am, of course, interested to hear what else you have to say on this...
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I appreciate your time with us Grant, as the issues being discussed here are difficult to find in the 'traditional' food media...
In my own research, cooking, and dining experiences, I've noticed an encroaching 'sweetening' of savory cuisine. Conversely, desserts are seeing the integration of more traditionally 'savory' products, i.e. vegetables, salts, etc. I see this particularly in the work of the 'innovators'- Adrià, Gagnaire, Passard, Conticini, Blumenthal, and pastry chefs like Butron. It is my view that chefs are now looking at their ingredients as base flavors- considering first that ingredient's acidity, sweetness, etc. and simply plugging it into a theoretical equation, resulting in interesting new combinations. While I don't necessarily think it is a negative development, I think this trend can have an affect on taste memory, physiological matters of taste perception, appetite, wine pairing, course progression, etc. Perhaps a "devil's advocate" view might suggest that today's use of sugar, in its various guises, is an all too easy way to enhance flavors- analogous to the overuse of cream and butter in the past. What are your thoughts?
And as the dessert course often becomes less sweet, or even if it simply toys with our perception and association of certain ingredients, does this represent a radical new approach to traditional multi-course menus, or is it simply a natural and gradual evolution?
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In case some of you missed it, there is a current thread discussing Jordi Butron (chef of Espai Sucre, the 'dessert-only' restaurant in Barcelona) and the special event he attended in Montreal.
No veggies if you don't finish dessert...
And some background... apologies... both are in Spanish....
Edited to add additional links...
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As if we haven't widened the scope of this Elizabeth's original question already, here are some older discussions of the topic...
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'Chocovic'
I have not, unfortunately. There has been at least one previous thread addressing it- I'll look for it. I do like to check in on their www.chocovic.es- they run a school (Albert Adrià is heavily involved) and post the schedule on the site, in addition to some recipes and technical info. I'm curious to hear if they've worked out their US distribution yet...
On a related note, member Kareen brought me some of the CB origine Cuba 70%. I think I'd agree with Steve- nothing too special. Over the weekend, I did uncover some forgotten, still sealed treats from my last visit to Paris and La Grande Epicerie... two bars of Michel Cluizel. One is the 1re Cru D'Hacienda "Concepcion" from Venezuela, a 66%. The second is the Pure Origine du Monde "Ilha Toma" from Ile de São Tomé, off central Africa, a 65%.
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Manchego cheese, frozen thyme parfait, pineapple sorbet & thyme "dust"
wine : Vidal Icewine, Inniskillin
Where did this one fit into the menu, before or after the yogurt "biscuit"/Tokaji?
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Yogurt "biscuit" with mandarine and rhubarb
I'm interested in this dish in particular. What made it a "biscuit"... was it a sort of whipped yogurt gelatin?
The courses appear to mirror the progression of a 'savory' menu, which Butron does at Espai Sucre. I'd like to hear some specifics, such as the relative size of each course, the sweetness of each course as it went along, and the progression of textures, temperatures, etc...
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...the only Valrhona I really love and which I think is worth the money ( $67.00 for about 7 lb.) is the grand cru, 'Manjari'.
Ouch. Is that your wholesale price? Tan, you're paying too much! You shouldn't be paying any more than $7 a pound for this. I get the 3kg block for under $45. Please, shop around!!
Elizabeth, you are in Chicago, right? Look into European Imports (773.227.0600) and see if you can buy direct. They sell Barry, Callebaut, Sharffenberger, Valrhona...
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If you go the professional supply route, or can simply buy a box or block from a shop or restaurant, I'd also suggest Cacao Barry. For dark, try the Guayaquil 64%, and for milk, the Lactée Supérieure which I think is a 38%. Both typically wholesale from $3.50 to $4.00 a pound. Decent quality to value ratio, and tempers well. The Papousie milk from the Barry Origine line is good; the Sainte Domingue 70% is average. I have yet to try the other Origine products, but am interested in the Cuba, even if only for the novelty of it...
I'm a huge fan of the E. Guittard high end milk, which gives Valrhona's Jivara and Guanaja serious competition. Though many are loyal to Manjari, I like the Caraïbe 66% more. If you can locate it, I find Felchlin's Maracaibo Creole 49% really interesting. Made from Venezuelan beans, with added milk solids, but very little added sugar- it gives the mouthfeel of milk with more cacao complexity in the flavor.
I have a question for longtime users of these brands: Barry-Callebaut-Carma... with the consolidation of these lines over the years, has any one noticed significant ups or downs in quality? In terms of manufacturing, and apart from the national origin of the original companies (France, Belgium, Switzerland), are they still run as completely separate entities?
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Retains the shape you mold it into, e.g., a muffin tin (I guess you would then lift it out of the tin and put it onto a baking sheet?).
Almost. If one is looking to make a cup-like form, I would use two cut-out circles or squares. Brush each with clarified, or simply melted, butter. Layer the two pieces (you can inlay herbs or a flavored sugar mixture also, for example), and form around the outside of a timbale or dariole mold. Then place a ring mold (slightly larger in diameter than the timbale mold) around it and bake. The brik will want to straighten out while baking, so the ring mold helps hold the shape. Oh, and spraying both the timbale and the ring helps! Lacking the timbale mold or ring mold, simply leaving the brik in a muffin pan while baking will suffice, most likely. I recommend two layers, as once filled, the baked brik does tend to absorb any moisture very quickly.
Phyllo has its uses, but I can't remember the last time I used it since I discovered brik.
West Coast Pastry Chefs
in California: Dining
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