Ferran Adria´s new Trick ----) "AIR"

schneich · October 1, 2003

''I have created something five times lighter than the foams. The new texture that I create is air. In the bathroom there is the bath foam. This is the same texture.''

A few more questions and his discretion dissipated. ''You will be the first journalist to see it,'' he said. He asked Castro to make preparations in the kitchen. ''It is only done with the product, nothing else,'' he explained. ''For example, the carrot is only carrot juice, nothing else.''

thats a quote of the last thread on ferran adrias carrot "air" there were lots of ideas

like lecithin, agar, gelatin, eggyolx, etc. but that doesnt come close to whats happening...

when i saw a documentary on el bulli ( google 4 : Alchimisten des Geschmacks ) on spiegel-tv

they were whipping some stuff with a "esge zauberstab" (immersion blender) the stuff

that came out was huge and wobbly, it was pretty high and had LARGE pores...

then on guy came on and sucked the whole plate into his mouth as if it was nothing....

so is there ANYONE who has a fucking idea of how to achieve something like it...

with lecithin & co. you can only do minor foams that are not that stable BY FAR !!!

rite now iam trying to get a copy of the documentary.. if i get it i will post a series of images...

to get the ball rolling my first suggestion is

(always keep this in minds----) "is only carrot juice, nothing else.'')

that he maybe uses somekind of "physical" device which changes the electric

charges of some kind which then effects the electrostatic charge somehow....

(iam just guessing here... i have no idea.... maybe there is someone who does...

ok

iam looking forward to get many theories & stuff :raz: :biggrin:

cheers

torsten from cologne

jackal10 · October 1, 2003

Works for me. It would work for you if you try it.

I just now took about 100 gm raw carrot, and liquidised it with 100ml water.

Filtered it, to give about 100ml of carrot juice. Put it in a beaker and had at it with a stick blender.

Produced about 500ml of foam that was stable for about 10 minutes.

1. The foam was pretty tasteless, so I added some salt and sugar to the carrot juice. I think the stability was improved slightly

2. I can stabilise indefinately by freezing to make a super-light sorbet. The original was served over an orange sorbet, which may have disguised the slight amount of run-off.

I guess it is the lecithin and other natural soaps in the carrot juice. Like othre soap films, maybe a biy of glycerine wouls help stabilise.

schneich · October 2, 2003

in the "original" interview they were not talking about carrot but about celery...

and now tell me about all the natural soap and lecithin in celery... :wink:

t.

jackal10 · October 2, 2003

Just tried celery using the same technique; works nearly as well.

So do green peas.

schneich · October 3, 2003

sorry jackal....

i also get some foam like you... but that has NOTHING to do with the el bulli stuff

have you ever seen the stuff ?? damn... i wish i´d get that video...

cheers

t.

Bicycle Lee · October 4, 2003

yeah that pic of Adria on the cover of that New York Times Magazine was crazy...him holding the small "plate" of air...it was like 4 inches high! I have fucked with an immersion blender too to try and get big, architectural product like that, but the shit just doesn't look like that OR hold for long enough to matter...

schneich · October 4, 2003

exactly... Bicycle your ma man !!! :biggrin: :laugh:

cheers

t.

jackal10 · October 4, 2003

sorry jackal....
i also get some foam like you... but that has NOTHING to do with the el bulli stuff
have you ever seen the stuff ?? damn... i wish i´d get that video...
cheers
t.

I can get foam like that, and it is stable for 10 minutes or so. I'm using raw carrot, water, a bit of salt and sugar, a food processor to make the juice, and a doemstic immersion blender to foam it.

You need to hold the blender so it is only just immersed, and skim the foam off as it forms.

One thing I have found is that the juice must be perfectly clear; any particles in it puncture the gas bubbles and the foam collapses quickly. I filter the carrot juice through a coffee filter first.

Edited October 4, 2003 by jackal10 (log)

Bicycle Lee · October 5, 2003

pics?

jackal10 · October 5, 2003

ok, next time...

jackal10 · October 6, 2003

Here we go:

Take some carrot (here 60 gm) of prettty rough old carrot, but that was all there was in the vegetable basket and 100 ml of water

Put in food processor

and whizz

Strain out the solids

Then fillter some more (this is though a bit of kitchen towel)]

You might want to correct seasonings at this point.

Have at it with a stick blender, holding the blender just at the surface so lots of air is incorperated.

Skim the foam off as it forms.

Carrot Air!

Since the foaming is quite a tedious process and must be done a la minute, I find it easier to do it before hand as a mise, and freeze the product. As a solid frozen foam it is much more stable.

drinkingchef · October 6, 2003

I think this is fun as an experiment. But what is the point if it doesn't taste like anything

1. The foam was pretty tasteless, so I added some salt and sugar to the carrot juice. I think the stability was improved slightly

Sure, it looks impressive, but all your tasting is air.

Maybe I just don't get it.

However, I could see a benifit for dieters, can you do it with chocolate :biggrin:

Bicycle Lee · October 6, 2003

nice, Jack

I like the look of it.

Now all we have to do is figure out how to make it last.

fuck that "ephereal" quality, I want something that holds! hahaha

nah, really I do like it...

could you just juice a carrot? or do you have to blend it with water?

Edited October 6, 2003 by Bicycle Lee (log)

jackal10 · October 6, 2003

I don't have a juicer, but I expect that would work if you filter the result.

The local supermarkets don't carry pure carrot juice. I tried using V8, but not successfully. Maybe the cooking of the pasteurisation destroys some of the foaming principles,

This stuff holds for a few minutes, so it would be OK for service, but labour intensive. It took maybe 5 minutes of hacking with a blender to get that bowlful. Not something I would want to do for a table of 10 in the middle of service.

Frozen "frozen air" (and it seems to freeze quickly) it holds forever, and it a nice twist on a sorbet.

You can also get away with less - say a small ramekin. You could experiment with flavourings, or with base materials - celery, peas, green beans all work.

"Carrots and celery" or "Carrots and peas" side-by-side in a ramekin look nice.

Bicycle Lee · October 6, 2003

what about fruits? is there something about those veggies that helps it? Cuz I'm thinking if you want to do a "sorbet" then it would be nice to have a sweetness incorporated....possible provided solely by a fruit's juice...

eh?

oh yeah, and do you use the whipping attachment (the disc)? Or do you just use th regular chopping attachment?

Edited October 6, 2003 by Bicycle Lee (log)

jackal10 · October 6, 2003

Regular blade chopper.

Haven't tried fruit. I guess apple would work, Why don't you try and report back?

Bicycle Lee · October 6, 2003

aiight....

I'll give it a go and let yall know how it goes...

Bicycle Lee · October 9, 2003

eh, apple air didn't work too well...

I juiced 2 apples, ended up with about 150mL of juice....went at it with the immersion blender for about 3 minutes and the froth that formed immediately dissipated...I could have done something wrong, but I basically followed the same path as Jack did...I chalk it up to some fundamental difference between carrot and apple that doesn't allow it to form a froth...

schneich · October 9, 2003

if its the natural pectin it should have worked quite well !?!?

did u heat ya juice ??? ;-)

i did some MARVELOUS air the last days.... milehigh :biggrin:

i faked a little with a tiny amount of lecithin though... :raz:

i found it important to do the immersioning at a quite hot temperature...

cheers

t.

Bicycle Lee · October 10, 2003

ahhh, now you tell me!

hehe

nah I had it room temp....

I'll try again and see...

would a tiny bit of agar be too much for it???

tan319 · October 10, 2003

or maybe pectin? Mixed with a wee bit of sugar?

Michael Laiskonis · October 10, 2003

You guys know me well enough; I'm all for experimentation of kookiest kind. But I have to join the chorus and ask, once you nail this, what exactly are you going to do with it? And chefs have been foaming this way for years- what exactly is the difference we're acheiving with this?

Really, I ask this quite sincerely!

jackal10 · October 10, 2003

would a tiny bit of agar be too much for it???

Not Agar - it doesn't foam. Gelatine maybe or glycerine

Bicycle Lee · October 10, 2003

You guys know me well enough; I'm all for experimentation of kookiest kind. But I have to join the chorus and ask, once you nail this, what exactly are you going to do with it? And chefs have been foaming this way for years- what exactly is the difference we're acheiving with this?
Really, I ask this quite sincerely!

I figure there has got to be a way to combine this vehicle with others to make a caravan of flavors delivered together....

I do not think it should stand alone, but I am still learning the dynamics of the process and product so I want to do the experimentation with it alone to whittle the number of variables down.

Plus, when I saw the guy posing on the cover of the NYTM with his "air" I was very intrigued...

jackal10 · October 10, 2003

It gives mousses that are much lighter (bigger bubbles) than anything else I know.

It has the texture of washing up or bath bubble foam. Lighter than the froth on a cappucino.

It literally just vanishes in the mouth, leaving only flavour traces, so the original liquid needs to be pretty concentrated in taste.

I use it to make super-light sorbets, since the freezing stabilises the foam, but I'm sure there might be other ways to make it room temperature stable - freeze drying for example, or maybe using some other setting agent.

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