M olecular Gastronomy
Ta b l e o f C o n t e n t s
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Feature Spreads wd~50 Learn about the restaurant wd~50 and owner and chef, Wylie Dufrensne.
Molecular Mixology
Learn how to make a cocktail using science.
The Father of Molecular Gastronomy A short biography of HervĂŠ This, the father of molecular gastronomy.
Departments Welcome An introduction about molecular magazine.
Dish of the Month Recipe for a new way to eat tzatiziki.
Home Experiments A starter kit that can help you start on homemade experiments.
Welcome Molecular gastronomy is the science of cooking but it is commonly used to describe a new style of cuisine in which chefs explore new culinary possibilities in the kitchen by embracing sensory and food science, borrowing TOOLS from
the science lab and ingredients from the food industry and concocting surprise after surprise for their diners.
FORMALLY, THE TERM MOLECULAR GASTRONOMY REFERS TO THE SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINE THAT STUDIES THE PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROCESSES THAT OCCUR WHILE COOKING. Molecular gastronomy seeks to investigate and explain the chemical reasons behind the transformation of ingredients, as well as the SOCIAL, ARTISTIC and TECHNICAL COMPONENTS of culinary and gastronomic phenomena in general.
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wd~50 WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY
6.00PM - 10.30PM 6.00PM - 10.30PM 6.00PM - 10.30PM 6.00PM - 10.30PM 6.00PM - 10.00PM
wd~50 opened at 50 Clinton Street, between Rivington and Stanton, on Manhattan’s Lower East Side on April 9th, 2003. The 65 seat restaurant occupies a former bodega and has a full bar. Dinner is served five days a week. The restaurant also offers private dining in its wine cellar for up to fourteen people. Frank Bruni of the New York Times awarded wd~50 three stars in March of 2008. In 2006, in the Michelin Guide’s inaugural American edition, wd~50 received one star, which it has retained through 2011.
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WYLIE DUFRESNE
The chef, , was formerly the sous chef at Jean Georges and in 1999 became the chef at 71 Clinton Fresh Food. wd~50 is the first restaurant where Wylie is both the chef and an owner along with his partners, former employers, Jean Georges Vongerichten and Phil Suarez. The menu at wd~50 utilizes elements and techniques from a wide array of cuisines. The restaurant has garnered praise for its inspired culinary combinations, cutting edge culinary techniques, and innovative use of ingredients.
The pastry chef, Malcolm Livingston II, previously worked at Le Cirque and Per Se. He was then hired as pastry sous chef at wd~50 in May of 2009, becoming pastry chef in January of 2011. The restaurant was designed by Dewey Dufresne and Louis Mueller. Louis is responsible for the copper work, including the fireplace, the lighting, the shelving and the door fixtures in the restaurant. The bathroom features a mosaic with an aquatic theme by the artist Tim Snell. The artist Marlene McCarthy designed all of the restaurant’s graphics.
Appetizers range from $15 to $19, entrees from $25 to $37, and desserts $15. The nine-course tasting menu is $140 and a wine pairing is offered for $85.
MIXOLOGY
Molecular 5
Molecular Mixology is the term applied to the process of creating cocktails using the s c i e n t i f i c equipment and techniques of Molecular Gastronomy .. These methods enable the creation of greater intensities and varieties of flavour, flavour combinations and different ways of presenting drinks, for example using gels, powders, foams, atomised sprays etc., as well as affecting the appearance of the cocktail.
B-52............ Gin Tonic Prosecco
Place each liqueur in a separate small bowl or measuring cup. Place 4 1/2 sheets each of the gelatin, one at a time, in each of the three liqueurs, breaking the sheets if necessary to thoroughly submerge them in the liquid. Cover each of the liqueurs with plastic wrap to prevent evaporation while the gelatin softens. When the gelatin is softened in the KahlĂşa, pour the KahlĂşa and gelatin in a small saucepan. Heat the saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly, until the gelatin is completely dissolved and incorporated in the liqueur. If there are small particles that will not dissolve, strain the liquid to remove the solids. Pour the liquid into the bottom of a 4-by-8-inch loaf pan lined with plastic wrap. Place the pan in the refrigerator and chill until the gelatin has set, about an hour. Repeat with the Baileys, and then the Grand Marnier, pouring the newly prepared liqueur on top of the set liqueur in the nold. After all three layers are in the nold, refrigerate until completely set, preferably overnight. To serve, remove the layered gelee from the mold. Cut into slices or squares to serve. The jelly shots will keep for 2 days, refrigerated.
B52
IN G R E D IE N T 6 oz. KahlĂşa 6 oz. Baileys 6 oz. Grand Marnier 13 1/2 gelatin sheets
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r stronomy
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The Father of
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This (pronounced “Tees”) came up with the formula for this confection in 1995 to prove that a scientific approach to cuisine can lead to all kinds of tasty new dishes. Most people think of whipped cream — chantilly in French — as a simple combination of heavy cream and sugar. This sees it as a specific ratio of fat, water, and gas. Measure out some chocolate into a container, stir in the other two ingredients according to a particular formula, and you’ve got mousse. And, yes, it’s delicious. This started his culinary career in 1980, soon after he finished his Grandes Écoles diploma in physical chemistry. One night, he invited friends to dinner and made a cheese soufflé from a recipe that said to add the egg yolks two at a time. “Because I was a rational man,” he says, “I decided to put in all of the yolks together. It was a failure.”
Intrigued, This began to collect what he calls “cooking precisions” — rules he gleaned from disparate sources like 19thcentury cookbooks, old wives’ tales, and the tricks of modern chefs. He then started testing these precisions to see which ones held up (the skin on a suckling pig really does crackle more if you chop off its head right after roasting) and which didn’t (a menstruating cook won’t ruin mayonnaise). For the next couple of years, This and a colleague, the late Oxford physicist Nicholas Kurti, conducted the experiments in their spare time. In 1988, the pair coined a term to describe their nascent field: molecular gastronomy. The name has since been applied to the kitchen wizardry of chefs like el Bulli’s Ferran Adria and Alinea’s Grant Achatz. But This is interested in basic culinary knowledge — not flashy preparations — and has continued to accumulate his
precisions, which now number some 25,000. He also has received a PhD in the field he created, served as an adviser to the French minister of education, published several books, lectured internationally, and even been invited to join the lab of one of his fans, Nobel Prize winning molecular chemist Jean-Marie Lehn. In 2001, This came up with a formal system of classification for what happens when foods are mixed, baked, whipped, fried, sautéed in lime juice, and so forth. It shows, for example, how the 451 classical French sauces break down into 23 distinct types. More important, the system allows the creation and pairing of billions of novel, potentially tasty dishes. To demonstrate how, This randomly generated a formula describing the physical microstructure of a previously nonexistent dish, then asked chef Pierre
Gagnaire to plug real ingredients into it. The result — a bitter orange, scallop, and smoked-tea concoction — delighted Gagnaire’s customers. As This guides me through the comfortably cluttered halls around his AgroParis Tech lab, he reviews his to-do list. His team is using nuclear magnetic resonance to analyze carrot-based soup stocks and studying why green beans change color when cooked. But he says that the next big idea he wants to tackle is the role that love — of the cook for the diners, the diners for the cook, and of everyone for each other — plays in determining tastes. “Cooking for someone is a way of telling them, ‘I love you.’ This has to be understood, of course,” This says before pausing for a second. “But first, I do my job with the carrots.”
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Dish of the Month
Spherical Tzatziki COOKING TIME INGREDIENTS
ADDITIVES
DIRECTIONS
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30 minutes
1 cup water 1/4 cup milk salt and pepper 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 teaspoon rice vinegar 1 tablespoon fresh chopped dill 1 crushed or minces garlic clove 1/2 cup plain 2% yogurt
Calcium salts 1/2 teaspoon calcium lactate Sodium alginate 1 sachet (2 g)
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In another bowl, dissolve th calcium lactate in the milk, stirring with a spoon.
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Using a measuring spoon, delicately deposit small quantities of tzatziki into the sodium alginate bath. Set aside for 3 minutes.
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Pick up the ravioles with a slotted spoon and rinse in a water bowl. Serve with CUCUMBER slices.
Using a hand blender or an eggbeater, DISSOLVE the sodium alginate in 2 cups of water. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
Add the oil, vinegar, yogurt, garlic, season with salt, pepper and dill and stir until smooth. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
Home Experiments
Starter Kit USEFUL TOOLS
Measuring Spoons Food Grade Syringe This is used to create the pearls.
One Slotted Spoon Used to pick up ravoiles and pearls.
POWDERS
Agar-agar
Calcium lactate
Sodium alginate
Natural gelling agent extracted from red algae often used to create solid pearls, gel spaghettis and jellies.
Calcium salt used with sodium alginate in the process of spherification.
Natural gelling agent extracted from brown algae often combined with a calcium salt in the process of spherification.
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