Agar, xuantam gum, colloids… If you think you’re reading the ingredients of your xanax, think again. This is the kind of stuff that’s been leading a revolution in fine dining for the past twenty-something years. Called molecular gastronomy and most famously practiced at El Bulli, the Spanish restaurant that tops lists of world’s best restaurants year after year, this cuisine is now steaming in a storm of controversy. El Bulli’s Chef Ferran Adria is under fire from rival Chef Santi Santamaria for “using chemicals that threaten local, organic products … and diners.” But according to Amanda Gale, chef of Bangkok’s Cy’an (L/F, The Metropolitan, 27 South Sathorn Rd., 02-625-3388. Open daily 6-10:30am, noon-2pm, 6:30-10:30pm), using modern methods is a necessity for great cooks, “If you want to remain on top of your game, you have to experiment with new cooking techniques that come into the market.” Here, BK looks at molecular, Pacojet and sous-vide—techno tricks that are changing how we eat.
Molecular
Not only is molecular cuisine (see Who’s Who, below, for some background) charged for being some kind of antithesis to Slow Cooking (a traditional approach to food), but there’s a debate as to exactly what modern or molecular cuisine includes. Without getting into details, it’s a scientific approach to food. This has led to getting creative about ingredients like natural gums and colloids that used to be reserved for the field of industrial food processing. In Bangkok, molecular has yet to take a foothold but D-Sens (946 Dusit Thani, Rama 4 Rd., 02-200-9000. Open Tue-Fri 11:30am-2pm, 6:30-10pm, Sat 6:30-10pm) uses some molecular techniques, like emulsification and El Bulli’s spherification (see Geeky Gastronomy below).
Sous-Vide
Invented in the 70s in France by George Pralus and perfected by Bruno Gousaault, sous-vide, meaning “under vacuum,” keeps food in airtight plastic bags to allow cooking for longer (up to 36 hours!) and at lower—but precisely controlled—temperatures. The point is to keep flavors intact without letting oxygen and germs get in. While vacuum packing isn’t new, cooking products that are packed this way is. It’s also a way to keep food for longer. For example, restaurants get their fish only twice a week. With sous-vide, they can vacuum-pack it, freeze it, and then cook it two days later and it will still taste fresher than ever. Cy’an and Gianni Ristorante (34/1 Soi Tonson, Phloen Chit Rd., 02-252-1619, 02-652-2922. Open daily noon-2:30pm, 6pm-10:30pm) and Cy’an both use sous-vide. “Vacuum packaging prevents evaporative losses of flavors and moisture during cooking. The natural moisture is retained preserving its flavor, aroma and nutrients, therefore the natural flavors are so enhanced that far less seasoning is required,” says Gianni.
Pacojet
Another machine that is taking over Bangkok’s kitchens is a high speed blender, the Pacojet. This gadget can turn just about anything into a delicate mousse. Feed the machine frozen ingredients and, without having to thaw them out, it will emulisify them into texturally light and airy concoctions. Cy’an uses this technology, as does Tim Butler of Butler’s (L/F, Gaysorn, 999 Phloen Chit Rd., 02-656-1108. Open daily 10am-8pm). Butler is passionate about “pacotizing” his ice creams: “The Pacojet keep ice creams from ever getting icy. The machine has no direct effect on flavor, but its real effect is textural.” The price of perfection? The Swiss-made machine costs around B275,000 and each processing canister is around B3,000.
According to Butler, there are only a few diners willing to take in the new sensory experience of “techno-emotional” cuisine: “There are some pockets of customers here and there that have an appreciation for this style of food, but I don’t feel the majority of diners will accept the trend at this point in time.”But Cy’an’s Gale sees inevitability in this progress: “Modern cuisine will continue to exist whenever the traditional boundaries are pushed to reveal a new way.”
Who’s Who?
Shine at your next dinner by reciting this pantheon of molecular heavyweights
Hervé This
French chemist at the forefront of molecular gastronomy.
Nicholas Kurti
Hungarian physicist who coined the term “molecular gastronomy” with This. During his time, he was also a leader in the science behind food.
Ferran Adria
Known as the giant of “techno-emotional cuisine,” the chef and co-owner of three-Michelin star restaurant El Bulli (Cala Montjoi, Ap. 30 17480, Roses, Girona, Spain. www.elbulli.com) is still at the cutting edge of molecular gastronomy. Good luck getting a table.
Heston Blumenthal
A colleague of This, he is also the owner of a British restaurant seen as one of the top kitchens of molecular gastronomy (even though the guy disagrees with the term), The Fat Duck (High Street, Bray Berkshire, SL6 2AQ, England.
www.fatduck.co.uk).
Thomas Keller
American restaurateur whose restaurants The French Laundry (6640 Washington St., Yontville, California. www.frenchlaundry.com) and Per Se (4/F, The Time Warner Center, Ten Columbus Circle, Manhattan, New York. www.perseny.com) are also seen as leading the molecular revolution.
Geeky Gastronomy
Emulsification
Changing the texture of ingredients into something airy and light either by using a blender or the chemical lecithin.
Spherification
Made famous by Adria’s line of modern cuisine gadgets, Texturas. Basic spherication is a gelification technique. This is done by plunging flavored liquid with the chemical algin into a bath of calcic (another chemical). In time, transforming it into spherical raviolos or caviars.
Nitro-poaching
Plunging a preparation into liquid nitrogen. The sub-zero liquid, which comes in pressurized bottles, is cold enough to instantly freeze anything it comes into contact with.
Anti-griddle
A cooktop that quickly freezes whatever you put on it. Go figure.
