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Molecular Gastronomy
Monday, April 9, 2007

Foam isn't just for Spain anymore. It's come to Georgia. The AJC on bringing science into the kitchen:

The immersion circulator is one of the many new tools transforming restaurant kitchens. Like never before, today's chefs turn to technology, both equipment and chemical, to distinguish their cooking. Some chefs are self-conscious practitioners of "molecular gastronomy" —- the high-end branch of cuisine that uses food science to confound the diner's expectations and engage their intellectual involvement. Others are simply looking for ways to make their lamb chops more tender, their carrots sweeter and their desserts silkier on the tongue.

Take Joe Truex's banana bread pudding. Truex, the chef at Repast in Midtown, serves this showstopping dessert by the slice. It is crisp and crunchy with pecans on the outside, and so sheer and puffed on the inside the effect is nearly surreal. His recipe?

"The guts of the pudding are very traditional," says Truex, listing cream, eggs, bananas and stale bread.

But Truex's Rational brand adjustable steam oven takes it to the next step. He sets the oven to 180 degrees with 100 percent steam and inserts the oven's corded probe into the heart of the pudding. When the internal temperature reads a precise 173 degrees, the pudding is at maxi puff.

Truex uses a more time-tested method to crisp the pecans. "I just pop the slices in the deep fryer," he says with a little native Louisiana drawl in his voice. "We're in the South, right?"

Labels: Food

Posted by B Feiler at 7:02 PM
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