Search the Community

...does anybody know if there are specific proportions? I have ~450 gr. of each on hand from some experimenting and want to combine them into "Gluco" or "Calcium Gluconate Lactate" (depending where you order it) but I can't find any information on proportions. I assume there's a reason the two are combined as the gluconate is more neutral tasting than the lactate but I've never seen mention of using the gluconate alone.

Explained by Adrià in his particular spanish language. http://www.gastrovideo.com

Hello everyone, I was just looking on the internet for random food things and I stumbled on this interview with Thomas Keller on PBS. It's really fascinating and I thought you guys would enjoy it too. Hope it wasn't posted already. Anyway here ya go! http://smallbusinessschool.org/webapp/sbs/.../IndexVideo.jsp

Hello everyone, I just wanted to let you know that my friends at TIC just let me know that they opened up their retail line FINALLY. so all you people paying $16 a pound for xanthan gum and higher can now buy all these hydrocolloids and more, plus personalized blends for $3 - $4 for 1/2lb. https://qnet.e-quantum2k.com/~brite/Custom/...od-list-jwf.cgi THANK YOU TIC.

sounds like you greatly enjoyed the experience in spite of disliking the majority of the food... a fair comment on the Marvellous Mechanical Fat Duck Cabaret and Late-Nite Magic Club? ALC isn't a bad move, especially if you persuade them to add an extra starter course to the proceedings, allows some good things not on the tasting menu to be tried... I rather liked the cauliflower risotto, which renders from the combination of chocolate, cauliflower and a generous dusting of cocoa powder an unexpectedly successful dish (in a similar manner to the rather odd combination of fine ground coffee and onion risotto at Anthony's). Then again, I'm sure others found it quite revolting Agree that some of the novelty items not so good, e.g. the parsnip cereal, which is not a patch on corn flakes and milk. Still, must book a visit before the prices go up in March (ALC increases £15), it's been a while. Also, any clues as to when the new Anciente Feastes and Daiyntee Delicasiyes of Grate Brittain menu comes into play?

Im going to do strawberry pearls with alginate. But, does any one have a suitable recipe for the strawberry solution? I boiled strawberries and water but the end result was way to thick, it formed a solid gel when I mixed in the alginate in it.

Heston Blumenthal's series about perfecting classics on BBC culminated a couple of days ago with his perfect Christmas meal. I missed it being at work as usual, but fortunately caught the signed repeat in the early hours of this morning... Wow. Absolutely incredible. And fortunately, available on demand for the next 5 (I think) days, on the BBC iplayer - http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/page/item/b008kj81.shtml - I urge you to watch him create one of the most amazing experiences imaginable. Basically, Heston invites 6 celebrities for a special Christmas meal, which encompasses many of the techniques he has become famous for. But what takes this to another level completely is the phenomenal amount of thought that goes into each course in relation to the psychology of the 'perfect christmas'. This is about the experience as a whole, with specially created sets, perfumes, smoke and yes, snow to work with the food. I was lucky enough to have the tasting menu at the Fat Duck a few years ago, but I would chew off my right arm to have been invited to this. Never have I been so envious of 'celebrities'... Richard E. Grant especially was absolutely bewitched by it, his face registering sheer amazement and wonderment. Watch the programme if you can (you can download it for 30 days as well). I haven't found any record of the dishes online yet, and don't have time to post all the dishes, but would love to read the full menu if anyone's seen it. Cheers Heston - amazing.

Hello there! I had plans to try the steak recipe from Heston Blumenthal's "In Search of Perfection" this coming week but someone has borrowed my copy of the book and I just found out that I won't see said person for a few days. Can anyone out there possibly share the method for preparingthe steak itself (that is to say, not the accompaniments, just the method for the steak)? Thank you for your help. Sincerely, Dante

I thought that others might appreciate this warming holiday gift. Chef Achatz released this statement through his publicist today: via Diner's Journal

Does any know where I can find items such as sodium alginate, sodium citrate, and calcium chloride. I know that there are several wholesale retailers on the web, but I am trying to avoid the shipping time etc. Thanks

I buy my textura-products from a German supplier (Molekularkoch Metropolis ) they have a product called Gelburger which should act like a meat glue, but it does not contain Transglutaminase. It contains: Sodium Alginate (E 401) (yep the spherification agent), Calcium Sulphate (E 516) and Diphospates (E 451). Any one that is familiar with this (or similar) product?

[Moderator note: The original Sous Vide: Recipes, Techniques & Equipment topic became too large for our servers to handle efficiently, so we've divided it up; the preceding part of this discussion is here: Sous Vide: Recipes, Techniques & Equipment (Part 2)] Iknow 63oC for two hours gets you a perfect cooked Hen's egg. Any idea how brief & what temperature for a quails egg?

I've just noticed a new show to FoodTV Canada. Heston Blumenthal's "In Search of Perfection" from the BBC. In this episode he is taking Black Forest Gateau and creating the molecular gastronomy equivalent. Right now he has taken melted chocolate, aerated it with a cream siphon then put it in a vacuum chamber and evacuated it to create large bubbles in the chocolate. He then figured out how to do it at home with a vacuum cleaner. I think I'm going to enjoy watching this show. Here is a link to a topic about the show.

I find it hard to believe I'm the first to post on this topic, but a search on "Keller" didn't produce it anywhere else, so maybe that is the case. Moderators are welcome to combine topics if I missed something. A story on Bloomberg.com. indicates Mr. Keller has a few expansion projects in mind, including his own line of frozen food. Frozen food? Thomas Keller? It'll be interesting, if nothing else. Are you having as hard a time believing this as I am?

Moderator's Note: These posts about The Alinea Book have been split off from the Alinea restaurant topic in the Heartland forum. -- CA Funny enough, just read this earlier today from gothamist.com: "Visionary Chicago chef Grant Achatz made a special appearance on a cookbook panel that also featured Jeffrey Steingarten, editor Ann Bramson, and literary agent Lisa Queen. Achatz is currently being treated for a rare form of squamous cell carcinoma of the mouth, but remains iconoclastic as ever. The chef explained that he will self-publish the Alinea cookbook next year, and that it will be distributed by 10 Speed Press." The entire article can be found here. http://gothamist.com/2007/09/21/report_gothamis.php And for those not lucky enough to have the Art Culinaire, you can see screenshots of the article on Alinea's website: http://www.alinea-restaurant.com/pages/pre...print_main.html

Some tasting notes from the vault, as experienced during a February 2004 visit to Weingut Keller in the Rheinhessen. The full write-up of the visit is available at: Weingut Keller: Shining Star in the Rheinhessen The notes: 2003 Riesling QbA trocken The first of the 2003 Rieslings to be finished, this was due to be bottled a week after our visit. This sample was tasted from a bottle pulled from vat earlier in the day. Very soft mouthfeel and extremely yeasty, showing simple tropical fruit on the palate. The QbA wines are produced with a combination of fruit from non-cru vineyard sites and of declassified fruit from the crus. No chaptalization was used. 2002 Riesling “Von der Fels” Fruit from 15-30 year-old vines in several of Keller’s crus – still too young for the Großes Gewächs bottlings – has gone into “Von der Fels” since its first release in 2000. Though labeled simply as a QbA, this is essentially a non-vineyard designated Spätlese trocken, meant to be representative of the estate’s limestone rich terroir as expressed in a dry style. Lean aromatics gave way to concentrated limestone minerality with a fuller, firmer mouthfeel than in the basic QbA wines. 2002 Hubacker Riesling Großes Gewächs The rather gothic looking rust orange labels of Keller’s grand cru bottlings are facsimiles of the old family labels which were used up to 1953. The ’02 Hubacker was muscular, spicy, and even a bit earthy, with tremendous mineral extract. Very closed at time of tasting, with loads of acidity keeping the 13% alcohol in check. 2000 Hubacker Riesling “Max” Großes Gewächs Named to commemorate the birth of Klaus-Peter’s son, the 2000 was more aromatically forthcoming. Though still tasting very young, its mouthfeel had begun to round, showing orange oil and spicy earth on the palate. A very difficult vintage, with rain at harvest time. Keller explained that the purely spontaneous fermentation methods used for his Großes Gewächs can lead to extremely long fermentation times – think in terms of years – and can leave primary yeast characteristics in the flavor profile of the wines for their first 3-5 years in bottle. 2002 Dalsheimer Hubacker Riesling Spätlese Rich fruit, candied citrus peels. Extremely well balanced. Short notes…. 2003 Dalsheimer Hubacker Riesling Spätlese Tasted from a sample bottle pulled from vat. K-P found 2003 a perfect vintage for the production of Spätlese. Big time tropical fruit, very exotic and, not surprisingly, very yeasty. Far richer and rounder than the ’02, but nonetheless showing good acid (6.5g) for a hot vintage. Elegant. 1997 Rudesheimer Berg Roseneck Riesling Auslese This is a bit of a rarity in the Keller portfolio as it comes from a vineyard site in the Rheingau that was leased by the Keller’s only from 1996-1998, while Klaus-Peter was still in oenology school. The wine was sold only at auction. Beautiful, golden color. A nose loaded with scents of botrytis. Honeyed on the front palate with lovely minerality on the mid-palate. Flavors of fruitcake, along with some petrol hints, typical to the more slate and quartzite soils of the Rheingau. 1997 Dalsheimer Hubacker Riesling Spätlese Very young in appearance and taste, with lively fruit accented by a hint of botrytis character (about 10% botrytis effected fruit). Minerally but not at all petrol in character, with very fine peach and lemon peel tones. 2003 Grüner Silvaner QbA trocken Something forward and refreshing to finish the tasting. Silvaner is apparently quite the thing among German consumers. All of Keller’s Silvaner vines are at least 25 years old; they even produce a varietal Silvaner from 45 year-old grand cru vines. The 2003 showed a typically herbal nose but with riper fruit on the palate than in the previous few years. The grassiness was even more prevalent on the palate. Very fresh. Clocking in at 12.5%, higher in alcohol than the norm but still considered low for the vintage.

Went to the Manchester festival and had Heston's Summer (there was no summer) treats (see here http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=4891&st=698) Does anyone know how to candy raw bacon in a way that makes it pasturised? I presume a stock syrup & a dehydrator were used?

hi I am tryinn to make agar agar crystalized sheet with lemon falvour. It seems that the agar agar will not set if there is acid in the mixture. Does anyone have exoerience in this? Is there anyway to make this set? Please help! Thanks

I've put together a collection of more than 100 recipes utilizing the full range of hydrocolloids that are becoming available to the average consumer. The collection is available for free download from: http://khymos.org/hydrocolloid-recipe-collection-v1.pdf (433 kB, 29 pages) Download it, use it and let me know if you have recipes that should be included in a future update! Here's what I've writting in the introduction:

I'm not too sure where to post this, but I reckon it would be of interest for eGulleteers who are into molecular gastronomy and are familiar with the "sferization" process to make 'caviars' and 'raviolis' using sodium alginate. Some unscrupulous Chinese vendors have been using the same process to make fake eggs. Fake eggs report The site is in Chinese, but they do have interesting pictures of a fake egg getting made. The part that puzzles me (and have not been shown on the site) is how they get the shell on there. According to various news accounts, the "egg" is dipped in a "calcium bath", or "poured into a previously prepared shell of plaster." The most credible-seeming website (a pop-science websitefrom Hong Kong) said that plaster powder is mixed into liquid paraffin before the "egg" is dipped in the mixture to form the shell. This page shows a photograph comparing a fake egg and a real egg. There does not seem to be external visible difference between the two. Photographs on the same page claims to show that the substance inside the egg does indeed stiffen just like a real egg when cooked, although the result is supposed to be rubbery and unappetizing. I briefly considered whether this news report could be a hoax, like the "paper buns" debacle, but I have found many reports and it seems unlikely that a reporter would have perfected the technique of making a fake egg just for a fake news story. I wonder if the process of making the shell is safe, if so, I can think of some non-nefarious applications for the process. Imagine a cocktail served in an "egg" that the drinker get to break into the glass!

These are large artichokes. We halved them without removing most of the leaves. I bagged them with lemon juice and evoo and they are in the water bath at 85°C. They have been there for an hour now but, although we like them with a bit of a bite left in them they do not yet seem to be ready. I suppose I should have trimmed them down to the hearts. Does anyone have any experience or advice? Should the bath be hotter? Ruth

looking to buy transglutanamase, anybody know where I can but it online? meat/protein glue

[Moderator's Note: Earlier today, chefg, Chef Grant Achatz, wrote the post below in the Alinea topic (click here for that post). We've created this topic in member news to enable our members to share their wishes for a strong and speedy recovery. -- CA] ChefG, I'm so sorry to hear of your diagnosis, but am happy to hear that you remain positive and upbeat. Thank you very much for sharing this bit of personal news with the boards. I wish you the best in your treatment. u.e.

Where can one find the proper ratios of water to sodium alginate to calcium chloride. Google was of little help. I assume there is one "main" ratio when trying to achieve the "caviar" effect with fruit juices. -harry

I understand that filming has started on Jose Andres' new show to be aired on PBS called Made in Spain. I enjoyed watching Jose's show in Spain when I was there last May. This should be fun. It is going to be filmed at his home.