Hello,
I had the opportunity of dining in Munich at Chef Jan Hartwig's three star Michelin restaurant Atelier. The food was delicious and the plating gorgeous. Several of the dishes made use of a "sauce" poured at table side which I have been trying to recreate. I have attached photos of two of these dishes. Unfortunately I cant for the life of me remember the flavor profile (too much wine maybe and too long ago?) but I was hoping some help might be forthcoming from all of you! I asked chef how he created the viscosity and he indicated xanthan gum to which I replied I always had difficulty hydrating it. He shared his secret; hydrate in advance and add to the liquid. He says he uses 640ml of water mixed with 27gms xanthan. This can be stored in the fridge until needed. You then take some of this gloop (at least that what I ended up with!) and add to your base liquid. Questions:
1) Has anyone tried this pre-hydration of xanthan and if so, how do you use it? Best way to mix? How much to use? etc. As noted, I ended up with a goop that was just as hard to disperse in my liquid as just using powdered xanthan.
2) Any ideas as to what the "green" is in either of the two dishes? He makes use of it frequently in other platingsI have seen he posts on his instagram and his facebook pages (Jan Hartwig - Restaurant Atelier, München).
3) What are or causes the "speckles" in the two different green sauces?
Thanks in advance!
