Jonathan Kaplan

I can only answer one of the four questions, but here it is: In general, for freeze-clarifying stocks, etc., that have no or limited natural gelatin, .5% gelatin by weight is a good starting point. Oh, and I very much doubt that it'll make a difference whether it gels in the 'fridge first or not. I suspect that the freezing will overwhelm any such effect. But that's a guess. Best, jk

I'll second both the fried capers (I use them as a garnish for, well, lots of things! But I can easily imagine mixing them in with home-made potato chips as a snack) and the Jean-George caper-raisin sauce. Fried capers, aside from tasting really good, look *really* cool, too. They will "blossom" and look a bit like little fried flowers. Best, jk

I'm using "gluco" (Calcium Gluconate), and I generally use about 25g/l. jk

"My main concern is it does not seem like there is a consistency in the solution." That's odd. I wonder if it isn't getting well enough mixed? To make 1 liter, I usually start with about 500ml of water in a standard blender with 5g SA, whirl until it seems well dissolved (often over a minute), and then slowly add the additional 500ml with the motor running. My reason for this is the initial blend tends to leave some small bits of alginate stuck to the blender walls; the additional water seems to smooth things out. I guess I would suggest vigorous re-mixing of the varied solution, and then let it rest and see what happens..? You *can* drop them from a height, but I sometimes find that they "splash" into the surface rather than sink. Too low and they end up with "tails." My only suggestion is to just try a couple different heights / sizes until you get the shape/size you want... You might also try reducing the % alginate. Rather than .5%, perhaps try .4% and see what happens? You might have to leave the sphere in the mix longer, but other than that it really ought to work... jk

How thick is thick? I use a 5g/l alginate bath, mixed in an ordinary blender. Even once de-aired, it is pretty slimy -- about the thickness of heavy cream perhaps? I blend it well, and put in the 'fridge overnight to de-air. It is pretty thick out of the blender, less so the next day. I guess that the incorporated air makes it into, in essence, a kind of foam, and that letting it rest un-foams it. The fact that it is pretty thick does mean you have to modify the techniques a bit from "normal" spherification. Dropping small drops from a height does not reliably produce small spheres, for example. But after playing around a bit you'll see what works. Oh, but I do find medium-sized spheres *much* easier to make in the reverse mix, in part because the alginate bath is thickish... Hope this helps! jk

The first time I noticed this in a context in which it seemed odd was at the Park Kitchen in Portland, where "Ken's bread and house made crackers with good olive oil" is 4.00. While I was initially a bit put off, the bread was *excellent* as was the olive oil, and I didn't mind paying for it. When I considered how much this must reduce waste, I even sort of liked the idea... But that's just me. jk

For reverse spherification using gluconate-lactate, the acid in the tomato water won't be a problem, and you won't need to thicken the tomato water w/ anything. Gluconate-lactate ("Gluco" in the Texturas line) to 25g/l in the tomato water, and a 5g/l sodium alginate bath, and you should be golden. My guess is that tomato water isn't acidic enough to mater w/ "ordinary" spherification either. Here, I no longer remember off the top of my head the numbers here, but prob. something between 3-8g/l sodium alginate in the tomato water, and I think around 5g/l calcium chloride for the bath. Remember that for "ordinary" spherification the "skins" of the spheres will continue to thicken even after they are rinsed, so you have to serve quickly. There is a thread down-stream somewhere called "experiments with sodium alginate" that you might find useful. Hope this helps. jk

One suggestion that's come up a few times above is to not start with the formal "internship" idea, but rather start by asking if you can observe & maybe help out a bit, just to see what it is like to work in a good restaurant. You may get more uptake from that -- you aren't asking to be trained, just to watch & get a feel for the job. (You might already "know" that this is what you want to do, but still, the basic idea is to get a feel for the field...) Now, if in fact you can help out -- really help and not just slow people down by needing to be trained -- then if you make a request to make the arrangement more formal, you'll be in a better position. You'll have earned their trust, at least a bit. This is more or less the path I took, before I decided *not* to pursue cooking professionally. I started out by hanging out in a (very good) professional kitchen, "just to see what it was like," and helping out w/ odd prep jobs, etc. I worked my ass off, helped with anything I could, stayed out of the way when I couldn't help, stayed 'til closing to help clean, etc. After a few weeks, I was "scheduled" into various prep jobs and to observe particular aspects of service more or less formally. And after another month or so, I was hired to do prep and a bit of garde manger. But after about 6 months, it was really time for me to decide which career option I was going with. Working in the kitchen was the best job I've ever had, except for the low pay, long hours, and appalling working conditions Now I'm an academic who cooks for a hobby. I've still got the low pay, but the hours and working conditions are much more pleasant. The job isn't nearly as fun, though. So starting off by taking that more informal approach might be a way to go... Best, jk

Sous Vide report, a few weeks in... Well, after my waterbath and home vacuum pack machine arrived, I set about playing around w/ SV. First, let me thank everyone for all the work that's gone into this thread -- I would never have tried without all the information, the time-temp tables, etc., that have been gathered here. An esp. big thanks to Nathan! So, here are some of my initial observations. My attempts with salmon were less than satisfactory, in large part because the salmon was less than superb. I'll try again in season. Similarly with my attempts with shrimp -- I'll try again when fresh spot prawns are available. Scallops were the first big success. I tried them at 46C, 50C, 55C, and 60C, usually bagged with butter. I, personally, much preferred those done at either 50C or 55C -- I found the texture excellent, and the taste still very fresh and clean (startlingly close to in flavor to raw, but with the texture of gently cooked). At 46C, the texture wasn't there for me, and at 60C, the flavor was moving towards cooked. Lobster was another success. I tried it at 46C, 50C, and 55C, and 60C, and, in the case of the latter temps, played with time. Here, I much preferred 55C for about 4 hours. This was true with both a butter and a cream-based bagged medium. Finally, the other night, I tried a standard old boring chicken breast. This was done on a bit of a whim, and so I didn't try many tricks. I cooked it at 60C for about 8 hours, in a bag with truffle "juice," a bit of chicken fat, salt, pepper, etc. The chicken was quite nice, very moist, but here I think going down a few degrees would have been better. The flesh was permeated with the truffle, but only very mildly (if I do this again, I'll use more juice &/or switch to oil). The 'sauce' in the bag I thickened slightly -- it was excellent. This weekend, I'm hoping to try short-ribs. I'm limited in my ability to experiment by the fact that my spouse is mostly vegetarian, so I only get to fool around when she isn't eating at home... Best, jk

Here in the U.S., live scallops in shell can sometimes be found at very good "Asian" grocery stores (there is one in Seattle that usually has nice, large, live scallops), but rarely outside of that context, alas. More people should ask about them. Frozen "dry" scallops are OK, sometimes even very good, but they really aren't as good as live from the shell. Sigh. Glad to hear that in the UK it is becoming more standard... jk

One of my favorite ways to use garlic is to simmer it until very soft (if you are going for a more pronounced garlic flavor, use a very little bit of water -- a milder flavor, use more water and perhaps change the water a few times), and then use the puree with, well, lots of things... Half blanched garlic puree, half avocado, salt to taste, is really really good. about 1/4 puree, 3/4 potato is pretty nice... All puree, a bit of water, a bit of cream, a bit of fresh herb, is a great soup etc etc. Just another idea, along the 'confit' lines mentioned above... jk

Not really novel, this is adapted from the "Elephant Walk" restaurant in Berkeley -- I really love it. Mix cubed raw tuna and cubed very ripe avocado (about half of each) together with a sauce made from about 1/2 very high quality fish sauce, 1/2 lime juice, sweetened with some brown sugar and maybe with a little hot pepper (to taste). You can add some cilantro on top when plating it if you like. BTW: I like plating it with some height, using about a 2" diameter 2" tall bit of PVC or similar. jk

Thanks -- I was mostly interested in whether anything interesting would happen re: texture, etc., with cooking times longer than necessary to get to core-temp with shellfish (I have Nathan's excellent tables printed out and next to my waterbath for easy reference -- thanks for all the hard work, Nathan!). I'm hearing that the answer is a) no, not really, and b) it wouldn't be worth the risk, even if it was. I searched for but couldn't find Nathan's posts re: safe time limits for the so-called danger-zone. My "a couple of hours" comment was based on Nathan's up-thread comments that cooking times of greater than a few hours for fish and shellfish at 113 or so would be best avoided, because of the greater risk of bacterial growth / spoilage more generally. But if nothing interesting is going to happen to most shellfish after the product gets to core temp, then there isn't any need to push it at all, I think. After I get everything set up and checked, I'll post reports of my experiments... I've got some frozen "truffle juice" that I'm excited about using... Thanks again to everyone for their hard work and willingness to share! jk

Well, my waterbath arrived last week, and I just got a consumer-level vacuum sealer, so I'm finally ready to go. I'm looking for advice re: prawns and scallops. I've looked upthread, and noted that Nathan cooks prawns to 45C / 113F -- I'm assuming the same would work for scallops? And, how long should they cook for after reaching core temp? I know with temps this low, it shouldn't be more than "a few hours" but that still leaves a lot of lee-way. Has anyone tried cooking shrimp or scallops at a higher temp for longer? Thanks! Any input would be valued. jk

I actually like the plan as stated, with the modification suggested by several people already that there is no need to add stock. Sweat leeks and garlic, add potatoes, salt pepper, and some water, cook until potatoes are falling apart tender. Puree, strain through a fine strainer. Back into the pot w/ a bit of heavy cream. Taste and adjust seasonings. I love the fried leek garnish idea -- mostly because I love fried leeks! Serve with a swirl of sour cream or creme fraiche (in either case lightened with enough cream to make it easy to swirl) and top w/ the leeks. This is one of my 'go to' soups (w/o the fried leeks, but...) and it never disappoints... jk

Thanks! The walnut foam itself isn't sweet, but the dish is a dessert -- the pear puree is sweetened (pears poached in sugar/water/wine mix, thinned with the poaching liquid). So the walnut foam is slightly bitter, and the pear "pearls" quite sweet. The idea is you get the slightly bitter toasted walnut taste first, and then the sweat pear flavor hits you when you break the pearls... The dish is meant to be a play on Keller's "walnut soup" dessert. I think it captures the spirit of the dish, while adding a bit of textural fun. jk

I've been wanting to try something like this with potato foam / espumas. I can't quite figure out how to stabilize the foam enough to permit the outside to fry w/o the inside melting... Perhaps a chemical like the texturas product metil -- something that thickens at high temp but then melts again at low temps... Hmm.... jk

This past weekend, I had a dinner party with three spheres! The first, which I somehow never got a picture of, was blue cheese served in a pear chip cup, topped with with balsamic vinegar "caviar." The second was "strawberries and cream" Strawberry consumme, reverse sphere, served in cream lightly sweetened and thickened with a bit of "gellan" Finally, a dish I've been working on for ages and think I've finally nailed: "Walnut Soup Redux" Walnut foam, with pear puree "pearls", topped with crushed pear chips. Another take on the Walnut soup recipe from Keller's TFL book. Sorry that the pic isn't great. Thanks for all the suggestions and help! Best, jk

My personal fav -- Heat a big cast iron pan. Drop the mussels in and place in a *very* hot oven until open. Remove them and add 1 shot of Galiano, Sambuca, (?sp -- sorry, I'm too rushed to look up the proper spelling) or your other fav. anise flavored liqueur. Serve with melted butter, laced with more of the same anise flavored liqueur. If you do it outside on a grill, add fennel stalks to the fire. jk

I may be misunderstanding the question, but I don't think it is just a matter of proportion. Calcium Gluconate Lactate isn't just a mix of Calcium Gluconate and Calcium Lactate but is its own salt. Weirdly, it looks like the CGL salt is much more soluble in water than either of the other salts. See e.g. http://www.jungbunzlauer.com/media/uploads...onate_Aug02.pdf and/or http://www.natlife.com/PPS/CalGluLacPPS.htm I don't know enough chemistry, though, to know whether one could easily produce the CGL salt by mixing the other two (in water, say) and then drying it and collecting the precipitates, or something. Or even if I've got any of this right. Good luck! jk

Like mtigges, I normally would not suggest corn -- but in your case, if you really have lots of space and lots of labor, it could work. Plant corn varieties that will ripen in succession, and space them to prevent cross-pollination. Tomatoes are a must, of course. Lately, I've been focusing on cherry-tomatoes, and "one size up" from that (e.g., fruits from about 1/2" to about 2.5" diameter). They aren't as much trouble, and, again, it is fun for kids to harvest them. With hbk, I'd go with snap peas, and perhaps (if labor really isn't a problem) traditional shelling peas, as well -- but only if you can get someone else to shell them. French fillet beans are a good choice from a culinary standpoint. But they are mostly bush beans, and growing pole beans might be more fun. Either way, though. Er, that's four already, isn't it? Oh well. If I had to limit it to 5, I'd add some lettuce and call it. Otherwise I'd plant some cukes, some melons... jk

Cool, thanks! jk

I've avoided buying truffle juice because I can never think of anything that I'd do with it that would both use a whole can and be worth the $$. But if it freezes well, then I could freeze it in usable-sized cubes, and use it as needed. Anyone had any luck with this? Also, what are the best sources for truffle juice -- preferred brands, etc? Oh, and favorite uses would be welcome, as well. Thanks! jk

"A plastic tray for holding eggs" I *thought* of that (after searching in vain for some kind of cool silicon mold), but couldn't get around the hemispherical nature of them... Did you just freeze them in the trays as half-spheres and then stick two half-spheres together? jk

Very Cool! How did you freeze the spheres? I wonder if sprinkling a couple of grains of the Texturas "Fizzy" or a related product on just before serving would give the fizz... jk