Chef has discovered an enzyme...

[chefseanbrock]

no..........just any one who walked into the kitchen, (purveyors, servers, dishwashers, chefs)..........no one could tell the difference, it's pretty amazing stuff...........we've recently been experimenting with eggs)))))))))))) foie gras is next on the list...........i'll let you know the results..........

[ChefDanBrown]

Are there animal proteins withing the compound? Did vegetarian sausages just get a lot easier to make? I've sent an email to the company requesting information, and (hopefully) samples.

On a similar note, does anyone know what compound of alginate Ferran is referring to when he writes the ingredient "alginato"? I found dental paste powder on eBay, but I'm not sure if it's Calcium, Sodium, or what his alginate is...see

http://www.starchefs.com/events/studio/tec...r_f_adria.shtml

The real joy of finding new things is burning those new neuron pathways in the brain, and mine's on fire. Thank you for this topic!!

[chefseanbrock]

the caviar technique is:

make a sodium alginate base: 20 grams per liter of water, agitate for seven minutes and allow to sit overnight............this will be your base for everything.....I make 4 liters at once.....we use alot daily...

you will need sodium alginate for this....i just googled it and purchased some from a lab company...............

when you are ready to make caviar just use 100 grams of alginate base to 150 grams of whatever liquid you would like to use and lightly stir together (you don't want any air )....have fun...........we are having a blast with it.......hot-frozen cocktail spheres, large spheres with smoked keeda roe inside them, large spheres with small spheres inside them, liquid center noodles, large spheres with fruit caviar suspended inside them, deconstructed dishes using this technique........liquid nitrogen+alginate/chloride=toomuchfun

[schneich]

hi,

this stuff sounds really amazing, i just ordered samples of the "activa EB" stuff, from ajinmoto germany, pretending iam a customer who wants to place a big order :) i also ordered their new hightech MSG seasoning called "Kokumi" which kind of equalizes the taste sensation... these people do weird stuff....

once the schtuff arrives my first project will be all sorts of different

meat to be put in ONE... i will call it the "chimera roast"

imagine a turducken in ONE roast, or a beef tenderloin with a pork crackling crust

or meat ravioli with a dough made of duckskin... or or or....

i really look 4ward to it...

cheers

t.

[docsconz]

I am imagining. It truly sounds interesting. Good luck.

[schneich]

here is my first attempt with the activa stuff wich came today :)

its going to be what i would call a "henduckbunny" consisting of

french cornfed chicken legmeat, breast & filet, two female duck breasts and some nice bunny filets...

all the meat trimmed

bonez go right into stockpot

this is the schtuff

weighed 10 grams which is 1% of 1000 grams of meat

mixed to a weird slurry (use a whisk cause powder tends to be lumpy)

after cutting ALL the sinews and flattening the meats between sheets of plastic

i finally put things together this is layer one consisting of the legmeat which can

bear more heat when searing

after the first layer i salted and sprinkled some thyme. since the meat itself should be pretty tasty i just want to give it a little twist with the thyme, layer 2 is the butterflied and flattend chickenbreast.

here comes the duckbreast also butterflied and flattend also salt thyme and slurry

again little thyme salt slurry and 2 bunny filets

sushilike wrapped in plastic, bound with kitchentwine, voila !

now the thing sits in my fridge until it will be seared in evo, and finished for about 3 hours at 80 degrees celius in my oven.. (images follow) after 3 hours i opend it to have a look and its already nicely ONE...

cheers from cologne

t.

Edited January 20, 2005 by schneich (log)

[scott123]

An impressive presentation!

I can't wait to see the pictures of the finished product.

I couldn't help but notice your choice of relatively lean meats. I wonder how fattier/well marbled cuts of meat would impact the bonding process.

[chefreit]

["The chef has discovered an enzyme, etc etc" sounds to me like spurious grossly inflated egocentric hyperbole.  And then some.

←

I totally agree, but this is Wylie Dufresne we're talking about so I'd still probably like to try these noodles.

←

I remember his first NY Times write-up, I think the place was called "60/40".

Can someone help me here?

I followed him ever since, chick pea fries mmmm.

[hathor]

Dear Schneich: waiting for the next installment of this drama is very difficult! Thank you for taking the time to post all the steps of your experiment. The mind reels with the possibilities!

[schneich]

here we go:

when i took the piece out of the fridge it really welded nicely into one piece

just like a pork tenderloin or so...

the plan is to sear it nicely brown with some garlic rosemary and some kaffir leaves and then put it in the oven at 160C until it reaches 65C then let it rest

for 15 minutes or so

let me tell you it came out just beautiful very tender in the center nice and

brown on the outside

i served it with some nice young spinach and some robuchon style mashed potatoes

the sauce was made by deglacing the pan with some lambrusco and the reduced

the stock of the chicken carcass & trimming from yesterday - thickend with some icecold buttercubes

let me tell you it tasted marvelous...

cheers

t.

[hathor]

WOW! Very impressive. I'm assuming there is no flavor to this enzyme...right? When you cut into it...were the meats firmly welded or could you easily separate them?

And that is a very interesting pan you used to sear the meat. I can't really tell from the photo, do the perforations go all the way thru to another layer? Or, are they just little dents?

Again, thanks for sharing.

[phifly04]

Amazing stuff there schneich,Thanks a lot for sharing your experience with us all.im blown away with the potential of this

Dave s

[schneich]

WOW! Very impressive.  I'm assuming there is no flavor to this enzyme...right? When you cut into it...were the meats firmly welded or could you easily separate them?

And that is a very interesting pan you used to sear the meat. I can't really tell from the photo, do the perforations go all the way thru to another layer? Or, are they just little dents?

Again, thanks for sharing.

←

well the interesting thing is that between the chicken layers the bond was pretty strong, and not so strong between the chicken and duck... but overall it was very very easy to handle and cut - just like one piece of meat.

the pan has just little dents...

cheers

t.

[docsconz]

Very cool. I am drooling. Thanks for sharing the photos.

[chefzadi]

hi,

this stuff sounds really amazing, i just ordered samples of the "activa EB" stuff, from ajinmoto germany, pretending iam a customer who wants to place a big order :) i also ordered their new hightech MSG seasoning called "Kokumi" which kind of equalizes the taste sensation... these people do weird stuff....

once the schtuff arrives my first project will be all sorts of different

meat to be put in ONE...  i will call it the "chimera roast" 

imagine a turducken in ONE roast, or a beef tenderloin with a pork crackling crust

or meat ravioli with a dough made of duckskin... or or or....

i really look 4ward to it...

cheers

t.

←

So the activa has a "taste" and you add MSG to mask it?

[schneich]

hi,

this stuff sounds really amazing, i just ordered samples of the "activa EB" stuff, from ajinmoto germany, pretending iam a customer who wants to place a big order :) i also ordered their new hightech MSG seasoning called "Kokumi" which kind of equalizes the taste sensation... these people do weird stuff....

once the schtuff arrives my first project will be all sorts of different

meat to be put in ONE...  i will call it the "chimera roast" 

imagine a turducken in ONE roast, or a beef tenderloin with a pork crackling crust

or meat ravioli with a dough made of duckskin... or or or....

i really look 4ward to it...

cheers

t.

←

So the activa has a "taste" and you add MSG to mask it?

←

no - the msg just happend to be another product of the company.

the activa stuff has no taste whatsoever. i tasted some of the slurry

that turned into a gel yesterday...

t.

[jbonne]

if anyone'd like to see a good pic of the WD-50 noodles -- and some additional backstory on all this ... read here.

The all-shrimp noodles exist thanks to a naturally occurring enzyme that binds together proteins without residue or much water. It's possible, using what Dufresne calls "meat glue," to adhere two pieces of protein that were never intended to go together -- chunks of pork and duck, say.

Edited February 11, 2005 by jbonne (log)

[Pan]

Nice article (2 pages, so it goes into some detail), and eGullet gets a mention with a link.

[judyfoodie]

Either way, hats off to Chef Wylie Dufresne for a novel application of industrial food science in gastronomy.

←

Here, here! I wish I would have seen that on the menu when I was there recently. It sounds good regardless of the purported hyperbole..

←

Not to rub salt in your wounds but I was there recently and had the tasting menu and the shrimp noodles were part of the Tasting. I can tell you honestly and without exaggeration..... it's fabulous!

[GLUEMAN]

My name is Bob Tinay I am a sales manager for Ajinomoto Food Ingredients LLC. Ajinomoto is the manufacturer of ACTIVA Brand Transglutaminse Activa the highly functional cross-linking enzyme used in the molding, laminating and texture improvement of protein substrates. for additional information you can log onto our web site> http://www.ajiusafood.com.

I also welcome any questions on ACTIVA Transglutaminse (TG)

GLUEMAN

[chefseanbrock]

bob.....

welcome to egullet.......your knowledge is much appreciated......

could you explain how tg works with egg yolks...........

could you explain why you can't sheer tg???

sean in nashville

[GLUEMAN]

bob.....

welcome to egullet.......your knowledge is much appreciated......

could you explain how tg works with egg yolks...........

could you explain why you can't sheer tg???

sean in nashville

←

Sean ...

ACTIVA cross linking reaction forms protein to protein links It links the natural amino acids through covalent bonds... egg yolks, and sodium caseinate are a postive protein for cross linking (bonding)

High sheer will effect TG by breaking breaking it's natural bonds However if there are still activa sights left for bonding TG will continue cross linking Theses bonds may be weaker...

Bob

[twodogs]

After slowly working with activa for the past year, we have a few results we are pleased with. These may be observed in our photo diver scallop and flank steak photo albums at ideasinfood

Enjoy, we did

[SMW]

I am interested in how this produce might work in baked goods - any thoughts?

My boyfriend has celiac disease and can't eat wheat because of the gluten. It seems like this stuff might be a reasonable substitute for gluten in baked goods (and there is a growing market for this). Rice flour breads and other baked goods tend to be very crumbly. Will this stuff bond with proteins in grains (besides wheat, barley or rye)? will it hold up to baking textures?

[Adam Balic]

I haven't read this thread before (title didn't grab me), but now that I have it has been one of the most interesting that I have seen for some time. Thanks for the photographs and experiments schneich.

So much potential. Bags being the first person to weld an octopus to a duck.