The science of food...

The crazy-awesomeness continued in Contemporary Cuisine today. Between the dishes, specifically the Wasabi Caviar, I've got a lot to cover here...

Seafood Sausage was a highlight of Catering and Buffet. I actually found it to be the tastiest sausage we made in that class. It should come as no surprise then that the Seafood Sausage we made today scored high on the delicious scale for me again.

A half of a pound of scallops is added to a half pound of lean fish, ground together and seasoned with salt and such. You then add heavy cream, bread crumbs and egg whites to pull it all together ("forcemeat"). On the side you small dice some salmon and slice up some parsley and chives ("garnishes"). You mix the forcemeat and garnishes in a bowl, then put it in a pastry bag.

Now the interesting part. You pipe the meat mixture onto a flat piece of Saran wrap. We then laid halved pieces of shrimp about an eighth of an inch apart on top of the piped mixture. You roll up the Saran wrap into a sausage shape, tie it off, then it's off to the "hot tub" with it. The protein sets, you remove the wrap...and eat, eat, eat. It's sooo good.

What makes the Seafood Sausage a Persillade is the combo of herbs, seasonings and bread crumbs sprinkled on top when it was finished. Maybe you've have pork in the style of Persillade...that's popular.

I thought the Creamed Leek and Fennel was tasty (most people aren't huge fans of either...I'm an emerging fan of both). The Israeli Cous Cous tasted like pasta salad...but how it was presented with the Carrot Ribbon wrapped around it is pretty cool...to me at least. Fried Leek is Fried Leek. More for show than anything.

The Miso-Mushroom Brodo is a very earthy broth and great liquid for the Glass Noodles to swim around in. You pretty much simmer a wide variety of Asian ingredients in water for 15-20 minutes to allow the broth to take flavor. Season it up with some Soy Sauce and Miso Paste and you're golden.

Sous Vide Salmon is, of course, perfectly cooked. When you've eaten all of these products cooked in traditional fashions (poached, grilled, sauteed, etc), it's kind of mind-blowing to eat it in what is considered to be its "perfect texture." No matter to me though-- I love salmon in any form.

So let's talk Wasabi Caviar...

First two separate liquids are prepared. One is simply a small amount of Calcium Chloride (yep, road salt) dissolved in water. The other is your flavored liquid-- in this case Wasabi. We mixed Wasabi Powder in water, then added Alginate to it. You pulse this mixture with an immersion blender and then cook it to a simmer on the stove. Allow that to cool and it's action time.

The chef has this crazy device called a Vaccu-Pette. You place your flavored liquid in the pan, then place the "lid" of pipettes into the pan. Pull up the plunger to absorb up some liquid, then take it over to your Calcium Chloride/water mixture. Push the plunger back out and little drops of your flavored liquid fall out.

When the Calcium Chloride reacts with the Alginate...a "skin" is created, pretty much instantly, encapsulating the flavored liquid of your choice in a cool little sphere. What you're left with it little spheres that kind of feel like cooked pasta in your hands...but when you bite into them-- BOOM! Wasabi!

IT. IS. AWESOME!

I talked with Chef aside a bit later in the kitchen about the process. He brought up that he thinks this could be huge for Mixology in the future if people really play with the science here. The example he cited to me was of how he and another Chef spent a weekend making Coke spheres and then trying to suspend them in rum.

Picture that-- a rum and Coke that is essentially Coke spheres floating in the alcohol that will burst and provide the desired flavor. How crazy is that?

The Science nerd inside me is pretty pumped about this stuff, in case you can't tell. If you find this as interesting as I do, Chef pointed me in the direction of this Web site. Check it out!

OK, done with this post-- check back soon for the PITT Zoo post...