Leek ashes...

[Christopher Haatuft]

The restaurant Im starting work at the august has leek ashes as an ingredient on their menu. I have also heard Mugaritz has had this on their menu. Whats it like and how do you prepare it? Is there any other form of ashes that have any culinary value?

[chezcherie]

as far as culinary value, there are some cheeses (morbier and humboldt fog, for example) that have a layer of ashes in the center--for morbier, i heard that the layer separates the morning milk form the evening milk...don't know if that's strictly true, but it is charming..

will be interested to hear about the leek ashes--what dish do they appear in at your new place?

[aprilmei]

I had leek ashes at a Juan Mari Arzak dinner in Hong Kong. (Arzak wasn't here but one of his chefs cooked). It was a sauce - very dark, tasted like burnt leeks (but it was not unpleasant) and had a very slight gritty texture on the tongue.

[k43]

Morbier from boutique producers has an ash line between the morning and evening milk, but I've been told (by the head of the cheese department at Zabar's) that in the commercial versions it's just for show. She also said that the line in Humboldt Fog is just for show.

How about the ash-coated logs of chevre?

Edited May 2, 2006 by k43 (log)

[scottie]

I understand that in the case of Morbier and other cheeses, the ash was originally there to protect against insects. I.e., the tub of milk from the morning is hanging around, waiting for the evening's milk to be added, so a layer of ashes is added to protect the morning's milk from bugs and other stuff. Maybe the case is similar with the ash-coated chevre logs.

Leek ashes sound very strange. Why would you want to eat carbon of any kind?

[godito]

In Spain they call it "aceite de humo", something like "smoked oil". They cook sliced leeks in a low oven untli burnt. Then they powder it in a food processor (or blender) and mix it with olive oil. Season and serve as a sauce. What it does is it gives the dish some smokiness (without actually smoking anything).

[Christopher Haatuft]

as far as culinary value, there are some cheeses (morbier and humboldt fog, for example) that have a layer of ashes in the center--for morbier, i heard that the layer separates the morning milk form the evening milk...don't know if that's strictly true, but it is charming..

will be interested to hear about the leek ashes--what dish do they appear in at your new place?

←

actually I cant remember, and the menu on their website looks like it was from this winter.

[Christopher Haatuft]

In Spain they call it "aceite de humo", something like "smoked oil". They cook sliced leeks in a low oven untli burnt. Then they powder it in a food processor (or blender) and mix it with olive oil. Season and serve as a sauce. What it does is it gives the dish some smokiness (without actually smoking anything).

←

hmm...interesting. but why leek? do they use the whole leek, or only the green or white part?

[aprilmei]

In Spain they call it "aceite de humo", something like "smoked oil". They cook sliced leeks in a low oven untli burnt. Then they powder it in a food processor (or blender) and mix it with olive oil. Season and serve as a sauce. What it does is it gives the dish some smokiness (without actually smoking anything).

←

Yes, that's how they did it here - mixed it into olive oil and served very sparingly as a sauce.

[godito]

hmm...interesting. but why leek? do they use the whole leek, or only the green or white part?

I don't know why leek. Maybe somebody makes it with something else. It might have to do with the final flavor (not too burnt?) or the amount of water in the leeks.

I've seen the whole leek being used, so my guess is they actually, in restaurants, only use the scraps.