Saturday, April 20, 2013
Friday, April 12, 2013
Sphereification
I figured that it was about time that I talked about this little gem, so I figure, lets dive into it.
The Standard Bar at Darna Restaurant is beginning to get it together. These days, every restaurant has a craft cocktail menu. Many are doing infusion and making syrups. Some are making their own tonics and sodas, pushing the mark even further. The most innovative are bottling their own cocktails. The longer I do this, the more I discover that the most taste lies in the ability to create the largest percentage of the product that goes into your cocktail. Rather than using bottled grenadine or bitters, create your own. It is my suspicion that the next generation of bars will be using their own distilled alcohol to make a creation that is entirely independent to that venue. At least that's my dream. However, I moved into doing something that many have not. After all, nobody is impressed by fresh lime or lemon juice anymore.
Sphereification is a process that was invented by the famous Ferran Andria of El Bulli restaurant, who is, by all accounts, a badass molecular gastronomist extraordinare. He discovered that if sodium alginate is added to a substance, when it is introduced into a calcium bath, it "sphereifies," or turns into a sphere containing the original substance. Please don't let the last sentences fool you, balancing the PH and sugar content of any alcohol to get it the perfect consistency is no easy task. I don't know who the first bartender to put this in booze was (it certainly wasn't me...) but as soon as the dark side of the culinary world, aka bartenders, figured out about it, it was off to the races. When this process is successful, what you have is a little orb or boozy goodness that when placed in your mouth, you experience a popping sensation as the alcoholic sphere explodes. It's unlike anything you've experienced before.
Sphereification forces me to ask myself the question Bear, a close friend and mentor of mine, asked me long ago: "Have we gone too far?" He told me a story about going to an over-rated DC cocktail bar and he ordered his favorite drink: The Pain Killer. After agonizing minutes of painstakingly assembling this Tiki classic, the recalled the best he had ever tasted by a half drunk Jamaican that was thrown together in moments.
Frankly, I'm not sure if sphereification descends too far into bar gimmicks (This is what I mean...) It takes away from the joy and simple dominance of a well made Manhattan, but damn is it fun. Rather than just trying to concentrate on the act of sphereifying (is that a word?), I try to focus on bringing this as a new element to a cocktail. For example, at Standard Bar in Darna, we offer a Kir Royale Molecular: Taking a glass of champagne or sparkling wine and adding Chambord caviar.
Don't understand? Neither did I at first. Come in and decide for yourself.
Stay thirsty,
Eric
The Standard Bar at Darna Restaurant is beginning to get it together. These days, every restaurant has a craft cocktail menu. Many are doing infusion and making syrups. Some are making their own tonics and sodas, pushing the mark even further. The most innovative are bottling their own cocktails. The longer I do this, the more I discover that the most taste lies in the ability to create the largest percentage of the product that goes into your cocktail. Rather than using bottled grenadine or bitters, create your own. It is my suspicion that the next generation of bars will be using their own distilled alcohol to make a creation that is entirely independent to that venue. At least that's my dream. However, I moved into doing something that many have not. After all, nobody is impressed by fresh lime or lemon juice anymore.
Sphereification is a process that was invented by the famous Ferran Andria of El Bulli restaurant, who is, by all accounts, a badass molecular gastronomist extraordinare. He discovered that if sodium alginate is added to a substance, when it is introduced into a calcium bath, it "sphereifies," or turns into a sphere containing the original substance. Please don't let the last sentences fool you, balancing the PH and sugar content of any alcohol to get it the perfect consistency is no easy task. I don't know who the first bartender to put this in booze was (it certainly wasn't me...) but as soon as the dark side of the culinary world, aka bartenders, figured out about it, it was off to the races. When this process is successful, what you have is a little orb or boozy goodness that when placed in your mouth, you experience a popping sensation as the alcoholic sphere explodes. It's unlike anything you've experienced before.
Sphereification forces me to ask myself the question Bear, a close friend and mentor of mine, asked me long ago: "Have we gone too far?" He told me a story about going to an over-rated DC cocktail bar and he ordered his favorite drink: The Pain Killer. After agonizing minutes of painstakingly assembling this Tiki classic, the recalled the best he had ever tasted by a half drunk Jamaican that was thrown together in moments.
Frankly, I'm not sure if sphereification descends too far into bar gimmicks (This is what I mean...) It takes away from the joy and simple dominance of a well made Manhattan, but damn is it fun. Rather than just trying to concentrate on the act of sphereifying (is that a word?), I try to focus on bringing this as a new element to a cocktail. For example, at Standard Bar in Darna, we offer a Kir Royale Molecular: Taking a glass of champagne or sparkling wine and adding Chambord caviar.
Don't understand? Neither did I at first. Come in and decide for yourself.
Stay thirsty,
Eric
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