I love foam

[FoodMuse]

What do we think of this lobster ravioli with tabasco foam? I can see the point of view of maybe it looking like spit, but it reminded me of ocean foam. The flavor added to the overall dish.

Edited April 6, 2011 by heidih
Fix quote tags (log)

[Florida]

What do we think of this lobster ravioli with tabasco foam? I can see the point of view of maybe it looking like spit, but it reminded me of ocean foam. The flavor added to the overall dish.

IMO, no, it doesn't look appetizing.

[SobaAddict70]

What do we think of this lobster ravioli with tabasco foam? I can see the point of view of maybe it looking like spit, but it reminded me of ocean foam. The flavor added to the overall dish.

I'd eat it.

My issue with foam isn't so much that it looks gross but whether the use of foam in a dish contributes anything of interest.

If it's there just because "it's cool", that will become readily apparent within the first few seconds.

At the end of the day though, not a deal-breaker.

[Mjx]

It's insubstantiality makes it an easy target. A transparent pile of fine bubbles evoking whatever seems precious. Of course, if it were, say, zabaglione, you probably wouldn't hear many complaints.

Or prune whip or lemon or pineapple fluff (all from the '50s)

Hold on. Are you saying that people today wouldn't complain about- or at least make fun of- prune whip? Prune whip? Really?

I know quite a few people, mostly men, mostly all transplanted southerners (with one Newfoundlander), who are very serious about prune whip. Their mama's and grandmama's made it and they really, really like it.

Laugh, at your peril.

I think I tried prune whip once... I believe I liked it, too. As foams go, it's fairly dense, right? I don't think I'd complain about being served the stuff; prunes really don't get much love in the US, do they?

[Florida]

Put me in the camp that doesn’t care for foams. I find that they are often flavorless, rarely add anything to a dish, and are not aesthetically pleasing.

And when we use the term “foam” I think we all know what we’re talking about. No one says “sweet egg foam” when they mean sabayon or “cream foam” when talking about whipped cream. It’s a bunch of semantics bullshit trying to conflate the two.

[Fat Guy]

I will say that one of the worst dishes I've had in the past two decades involved a foam component. Specifically, salt-water foam. It tasted like I'd been pulled down by the undertow. I just can't blaming that on foam in general, though. I've certainly had more delicious foams as a percentage of the total than I've had, say, delicious steaks.

[technophile50]

Foams get a bad rap because they're oversold.

Some restaurant somewhere has a waiter going around with a bottle of mostly air/CO2/N2O asking customers "would you like some truffle foam with that?"

They also get dissed by many because they're derivative - virtually everyone has long experience with whipped cream, meringue, or mousse(or prune whip & lemon fluff; or, how many of you have never had that ever popular 2 layer green & white lime jello/fruit potluck staple?) - just because you produce one which tastes like shrimp, or chili sauce, doesn't mean you've done something special; and when you have done something special because of your depth of understanding of the technology and techniques, most people who aren't egullet readers can't appreciate that.

[Karri]

I have a sense that the places where you've had the spumas really didn't have an idea of what they were doing?

[AaronM]

I use foam in 3 places on my menu. A Parmesan foam on a deconstructed Caesar. A horseradish one on a seared beef dish - in this case I use it because I don't want a sauce on the meat, I just want the flavor of the horseradish to add a whisper as the foam dissolves in tour mouth.

And a (yes) saltwater foam on a deconstructed sushi roll. However, the salt is light, not overwhelming.

Out of 14 dishes, it's only on those. It has a time and place in my kitchen. When I think it adds something another thing would not. Exactly like every other technique I use to cook food.

[gfweb]

I refuse to cater to a lowest common denominator.

Not liking foam does not constitute being a lowest common denominator. But it does appear to be pretty common.

[gfweb]

I use foam in 3 places on my menu. A Parmesan foam on a deconstructed Caesar. A horseradish one on a seared beef dish - in this case I use it because I don't want a sauce on the meat, I just want the flavor of the horseradish to add a whisper as the foam dissolves in tour mouth.

And a (yes) saltwater foam on a deconstructed sushi roll. However, the salt is light, not overwhelming.

Out of 14 dishes, it's only on those. It has a time and place in my kitchen. When I think it adds something another thing would not. Exactly like every other technique I use to cook food.

It sounds tasty. Really. But the look of it would get me.

[mkayahara]

And when we use the term “foam” I think we all know what we’re talking about. No one says “sweet egg foam” when they mean sabayon or “cream foam” when talking about whipped cream. It’s a bunch of semantics bullshit trying to conflate the two.

No, trying to draw artificial distinctions between different types of foams is semantically indefensible. You say "we all know what we're talking about," but what are we talking about? Foams made in an iSi canister? Egg-white foams? Lecithin-based foams? (Which are more properly called "airs," though even I find that pretentious.) What about Versawhip foams? Methocel? They're all similar, but all have different applications, textures and flavour-release properties.

Or is it not the production method but the application that defines the "objectionable" foams? Are foams OK on desserts, but not on savoury courses? I think this Thanksgiving I'm going to serve my pumpkin pie with a "sweet cream foam" and see if anyone objects.

[Florida]

And when we use the term “foam” I think we all know what we’re talking about. No one says “sweet egg foam” when they mean sabayon or “cream foam” when talking about whipped cream. It’s a bunch of semantics bullshit trying to conflate the two.

No, trying to draw artificial distinctions between different types of foams is semantically indefensible. You say "we all know what we're talking about," but what are we talking about? Foams made in an iSi canister? Egg-white foams? Lecithin-based foams? (Which are more properly called "airs," though even I find that pretentious.) What about Versawhip foams? Methocel? They're all similar, but all have different applications, textures and flavour-release properties.

Or is it not the production method but the application that defines the "objectionable" foams? Are foams OK on desserts, but not on savoury courses? I think this Thanksgiving I'm going to serve my pumpkin pie with a "sweet cream foam" and see if anyone objects.

Well, as long as we're being perfectly clear, the insulation under my house is foam and my wife has a memory foam pillow. I find both of them to be entirely inedible.

As for the serving of "pumpkin pie with a "sweet cream foam"" please do so. Let me know how it works out for you and how many people (count them please) ask why you didn't just call it whipped cream?

[thayes1c]

The salt air on Jose Andres' margaritas is delicious. I usually get mine without salt but I would gladly order them with this foam. If there was any kind of dish that might turn a foam hater around, that might be it.

[mkayahara]

As for the serving of "pumpkin pie with a "sweet cream foam"" please do so. Let me know how it works out for you and how many people (count them please) ask why you didn't just call it whipped cream?

So is it just the term foam you don't like? 'Cause I could just call it "whipped Tabasco sauce," too, but I suspect you'd still object...

[AaronM]

And when we use the term “foam” I think we all know what we’re talking about. No one says “sweet egg foam” when they mean sabayon or “cream foam” when talking about whipped cream. It’s a bunch of semantics bullshit trying to conflate the two.

No, trying to draw artificial distinctions between different types of foams is semantically indefensible. You say "we all know what we're talking about," but what are we talking about? Foams made in an iSi canister? Egg-white foams? Lecithin-based foams? (Which are more properly called "airs," though even I find that pretentious.) What about Versawhip foams? Methocel? They're all similar, but all have different applications, textures and flavour-release properties.

This strikes me as oversemantical and a bit precious.

[David A. Goldfarb]

I've made a few foams. Potato foam from a cream whipper is much lighter than whipped potatoes made with a stand mixer. It's perfect when you want the flavor of potatoes without the heaviness.

I had a great yuzu foam as part of a dish at Corton once. Yuzu is a very strong flavor, and a foam communicates that cutting acid flavor without letting it take over.

[IndyRob]

Reading this topic has brought up a broader pet peeve I've been developing - Food that's fashionable, or on-trend, versus food that is not.

If a foam is there because foams are hot right now, then the foam probably didn't need to be there. If a foam is not there only because foams have become passe, it probably should have been there.

I feel the same when a dish is dismissed for being, say, "heavy, so '70's". Some of our great dishes come from the 1910's. Bourdain raved about a classic French restaurant still doing the classics ("Who does this stuff anymore?. Nobody!" - but in an almost ecstatic tone). If you're 18 years old today, what are the chances you're going to get to experience this sort of thing?

Fashion seems to destroy itself decade after decade with a mad rush to the new, or the old made new. We jump on the new things so enthusiastically that we over-expose and smother them in their infancy. And in so doing, we turn our backs on what came before in our quest for what's next.

[SobaAddict70]

Reading this topic has brought up a broader pet peeve I've been developing - Food that's fashionable, or on-trend, versus food that is not.

If a foam is there because foams are hot right now, then the foam probably didn't need to be there. If a foam is not there only because foams have become passe, it probably should have been there.

I feel the same when a dish is dismissed for being, say, "heavy, so '70's". Some of our great dishes come from the 1910's. Bourdain raved about a classic French restaurant still doing the classics ("Who does this stuff anymore?. Nobody!" - but in an almost ecstatic tone). If you're 18 years old today, what are the chances you're going to get to experience this sort of thing?

Fashion seems to destroy itself decade after decade with a mad rush to the new, or the old made new. We jump on the new things so enthusiastically that we over-expose and smother them in their infancy. And in so doing, we turn our backs on what came before in our quest for what's next.

Foam, along with "soil", "air" and so forth seems to have come about from the whole molecular gastronomy thing ... which was not too long ago the province of a select few.

This too shall pass but not for a long while I suspect. At least until the next trend arises.

PS. I also look forward to the impending demise of bacon, meatballs, pork belly, single-ingredient restaurants, slow-cooked egg and sous vide. Just sayin'.

[andiesenji]

I really don't care much for "foams" on foods that are not inherently soft, sweet concoctions made with whipped cream, egg whites or similar foods.

Classic Sauces are the way they are and I like them in the traditional manner.

A year or so ago I had dinner with friends at a somewhat trendy restaurant on Ventura Blvd., in the Valley and was served an appetizer of foie gras with some kind of frothy stuff on it and I couldn't eat it. And I love fois gras.

It reminded me of the foamy exudate that one sees after sprinkling salt on garden slugs or snails. Yuck! I have a strong stomach but it was all I could do to avoid looking at the plate while one of my friends summoned the waiter to remove the plate.

I can't even recall what else I had for dinner, all I remember about that evening was the unfortunate effect the appearance of that stuff had on me.

Not as bad, but a somewhat similar incident a few years ago when a dessert was served with a sort of balloon of something on top of it. It was not unattractive but my friends and I, all teens in the '50s, with no discussion, chorused as one, "It's the Blob!" - It looked just like the scene in the theater. We had a good laugh but wondered why a perfectly lovely peach charlotte had to be "decorated" with something so odd.

P.S. If bacon goes, so do I!

Edited April 6, 2011 by andiesenji (log)

[gfweb]

As for the serving of "pumpkin pie with a "sweet cream foam"" please do so. Let me know how it works out for you and how many people (count them please) ask why you didn't just call it whipped cream?

So is it just the term foam you don't like? 'Cause I could just call it "whipped Tabasco sauce," too, but I suspect you'd still object...

For me this isn't a word game. Whatever you call it if it looks like froth keep it on the beer and off my food.

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[Chris Amirault]

I think that the foam haters don't like the subset of foams that involve bubbles that are a mm or two in diameter. And whenever anyone talks about smaller bubbles, those haters think that we're not talking about foam any more. Yes?

[Karri]

Chris: So we should set down the ground rules first?

I propose that everything that gets passed through a sifon is a foam, be it hollandaise, or whipped cream.

[gfweb]

I think that the foam haters don't like the subset of foams that involve bubbles that are a mm or two in diameter. And whenever anyone talks about smaller bubbles, those haters think that we're not talking about foam any more. Yes?

Yes. If I can't see bubbles it isn't a foam.

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[lstrelau]

I have had foams that were a great addition to the dish they were served with (El Celler de Can Roca, Alinea, Trotter) but also where they were just there for effect.

The funniest experience was a small, very obscure and in-the-middle-of-where-rural-Germany restaurant that we went to with good friends west of Frankfurt. The chef must have JUST purchased a siphon and I think at least half of the items on the chef's tasting menu included foam. This was probably 10 years ago when foams were very new so when we had the first course including it we were suitably impressed/surprised to have this 'new' thing. But then as the menu continued, foam followed foam and by the 3rd or 4th iteration we just started laughing as the courses were delivered. To be honest, they all tasted good - no firm recollection of indivitual dishes at this remove but it did show that any culinary technique can become boring/trite/useless if it is over done. In the right context, with a properly flavour-concentrated application foams can be the perfect finishing touch to a dish.

Llyn