Making food essences with gelatin filtration
Harold McGee writes in the NY Times about gelatin filtration:
Link (Thanks, Carl!)-- a way to make sparklingly clear liquids that are intensely flavored with ... well, whatever you like: meats, fruits, vegetables, cheeses, breads, any and all combinations of ingredients.
Why would anyone want to make such a thing? Think of such liquids as essences. They have no fibers, no pulp, no fat, no substance at all. They’re just flavor in fluid form, perhaps with a tinge of color, like a classic beef consommé. In fact chefs are calling these essences consommés, and they often use them the same way, as a soup or a sauce. And they can be delightfully surprising, because their appearance often gives no hint of the pleasure they’re about to deliver.
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This also seems to be the method that the lead character Grenouille used in Perfume to capture the
"essence" of his victims.
The actual movie I speak of is called
Perfume: The story of a murder
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0396171/
Definately quite a good watch, and gives you an insight into the perfumers craft.
The movie Perfume was the first thing that came to my mind also. Creepy.
Hey anyone know where I can find some recipes? Or is this something I couldn't make in my kitchen?
Sounds perfectly plausible to do in your own kitchen. I'd suggest just experimenting. I haven't done this yet, but I'm sure going to try it. The method would be something like:
* Put whatever you want the flavour of into hot (but probably not boiling in most cases) water, and keep it warm for a few hours. Experimentation required to find the ideal temperature, but shouldn't be too hard. If what you want to purify is naturally juicy, squeeze out the juice instead.
* Add a small amount of gelatin. I've seen 0.5% by volume recommended, but some experimentation may be necessary again.
* Freeze.
* Defrost over a filter and collect the liquid that runs out.
The article mentions that the technique was used by Heston Blumenthal (owner of the Fat Duck in the UK) as early as 2005. Blumenthal published a book on his cooking techniques in 2006, so this may or may not be included in it (I don't have a copy yet). See amazon page here.
This message board thread might also be helpful.
Nearly forgot. Also worth examining is Curious Cook, the blog of Harold McGee, who wrote the NYT article.
Gelatin is essentially ground up cow hooves.
Yummy!
Great linkage, Jules. I'm a fan of Harold McGee since hearing about his book On Food and Cooking on NPR.
Gelatin is a clean, highly process, soluble component of cow hooves. It's found in lots of other things as well.
It is pretty easy to do in the kitchen, though does require some patience as the whole process takes about three days.
I tried using it to make a , but I think it works best for making essences of foodstuffs that are clear and easy to work with - like the stuff the guys at Ideas in Food (link in McGee's article) are doing. In the past I've used a centrifuge to clear out the solid from a donut flavoured liquid but this seems like a much cheaper way to do it.
There aren't many clear recipes out there but I'd suggest starting out at 0.5% by weight, and no higher than 1%. Make sure the gelatin has had proper time to set before you freeze it or it won't work properly.