Cookaholics Bulletin Board

I have been seeing and reading alot about this lately. Chefs using Liquid Nitrogen and certain chemicals etc. to create more modern food. Any thoughts on this? For me, there is so much traditional food that I have yet to experience, that I don't know if I would put this at the top of my list of things I would like to try.

I think there are some things I am happy to leave with the restaurants. I would gladly sample it but don't feel compelled to try it. I do love my blow torch though so I can't imagine how much fun a canister of liquid nitrogen would be.

Mary

I think it is misrepresented often. Sure there are your funky foams and powders, etc. But lots of it is 'invisible'; for example, a beurre blanc that is pretty much unbreakable. Or, recently, I made a mac'n'cheese using chemicals (as it were) that allowed one to bypass the bechamel, etc. and use almost 'pure' cheese and still not break, run or be grainy. It made a mac'n'cheese that was very very intensely cheesy (I used cheddar and gouda). Sous-vide is heavily use in 'modernist' methods, but almost always to make a traditional dish more foolproof, more 'perfect' or both. There are techniques to modify the starch in potatoes to make them so you can beat them a lot and still not get gluey, allowing for super fluffy potatoes.

So an awful lot of it is trying to actually be 'invisible', and make traditional-style food, just one better. In a way, it is exactly what CI says they want to do, but of course they refuse to embrace anything esoteric.

Paul, I'm curious as to what ingredient or technique you use for the mac'n'cheese.

We had ice cream in Chicago that was made "while-you-wait" with liquid nitrogen. It was lots of fun, but a little grainy.

Actually ....

I used to use liquid nitrogen in cooking back in the early 90's. Friend of mine was working for a biotech startup, so they had lots around. We used LN2 as well as dry ice in all kinds of things.

Mostly we used it to chill beer and champagne. 50 seconds, it's cold. 90 seconds, it explodes and freezes at the same time. We used to do frozen margarita shots.