Molecular gastronomy

Quote:

Originally Posted by southpoleman69 

Im in my last term at school, and it all revolves around sim kitchen (line simulation) analytical, foh, and externship. Ive been in kitchens since i was 16, so almost 6 years, and recently became interested in molecular gastronomy. I had my first crack at it with balsamic pearls with agar agar. It came out ok, but not great. Which brings me to this. Im interested in a real way to do pearls and foams. My chefs dont touch on it at all. And the pearls i made were done using balsamic, boiled with agar agar added, then dropped in frozen oil and transfered to water. Is this right? And how can i do foams? What do i need to get started? Please help.

To be honest with you man, Youtube has some great videos on using hydrocolloids and various other chemicals to get the desired results.

As far as foams and espumas, iSi has a cookbook I think highlighting the use of their chargers.

Its all about ratios and and having a good base.

One blog I frequent and reference quite often is the Khymos blog:

http://blog.khymos.org/

He also has compiled a book of recipes and things he has personally done thats free to download:

http://cdn.khymos.org/wp-content/2009/02/hydrocolloid-recipe-collection-v2.3-screen-res.pdf

Good luck with your endeavors and shoot me a pm if you have any questions.

Quote:

Originally Posted by southpoleman69 

Yeah ive checked out some vids, i guess the easiest way is to get the equipment and practice it. Kinda wish school would have touched it, rather than some of thr useless things. It is what it is though.

School is there to give you the generals.

Once you have those things down, you are 2 steps ahead of the game my friend.

Youd be surprised how many cooks working in professional kitchens dont know what a mirepoix is, and even worse, that there is a standard ratio involved in the amount of carrots, onions and celery you are supposed to use.

As long as you have the basics down, the sky is the limit.

If there is something that you want to learn in life, take the steps necessary to put yourself in the position to learn them. I.E. - find a kitchen that does that sort of thing and go talk to the the Exe, Chef about doing your externship there, or order the supplies and play around on your own,

I posted a Thread a lot like this a little wile ago (so look on my page if you want to see what people said to me). one of my favorite resources to learn anything is books! it has been difficult to find many, but my culinary instructor has one that she is going to lend me (I will find out what the name is and post it when I know). Something that I did was I got on some MC online stores and looked up what every chemical did and how it worked, that helped me a lot.

Here are some sites that I ran across.

http://redspooncompany.com/

http://www.molecule-r.com/home.html (I think this is in Spanish, but it is still a great resource)

http://www.amazon.com/Molecular-Gastronomy-Exploring-Traditions-Perspectives/dp/0231133138/ref=pd_sim_gro_2 (A book)

http://www.amazon.com/Experimental-Texturas-Limited-Offer-Supplies/dp/B001TJOL24/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=grocery&qid=1305604551&sr=1-3 (I have wanted to get this for a wile)

http://www.amazon.com/Cooking-Geeks-Science-Great-Hacks/dp/0596805888/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1305604583&sr=1-1-catcorr (This book is fun)

That is what I could come up with Right off the bat, if I think of any more I will be sure to write you.

-Ethan Dutcher

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