Foams and Gelees

[cbarre02]

I see the use of foams and gelees as a statement for our modern plated desserts. A statement that tells us where we came from and where we are now. To truly perfect these two element one must allow the preparations to be fragile... fragile to time. A truly airy foam will only last for so long when left on a serving plate, as is true for the gelees. This shows that pastry chefs today are taking the initiative to plate a la minute, allowing themselves the power of last second perfection.

I love the idea of a dessert being assembled only moments before the diner is to experience it. Rather than being prepped and sitting in a cooler, only to allow it high sugar content to absorb all of the "Refrigerator Flavor"...yum.

Something that we fail to accept some times is that we are in a changing profession, just as like medicine, law, technology, and so many other things. Yet our profession remained stagnant for so many years, CHANGE IS GOOD! I am sure that doctors had their doubts when orthroscopic surgery made its debut, just as any new idea has skeptics. For how long have chefs been thickening sauces with roux, pastries made with the same ingredients again and again, mousses made with high ratios of fat, flavors muted by over sweetening, and fruit expressed only in it fresh form.

I am not saying that we need to forget our past, our history, but lets not close our minds to things to come. I am sure that Escoffier had many doubters about the brigade system, and we still use that today... though I think that it could use a few changes to. But that is another topic.