This is the second in a 983-part series which explores the cooking of Ferran Adria, head chef of the best restaurant in the world, as voted by Restaurant Magazine for the last three years in a row.
Anytime I can duplicate the man's efforts, I am inclined to think I am really smart for having done so. Of course, I would be even smarter if I were smart enough to come up with this stuff on my own.
How smart is Ferran Adria? Let's say he was experimenting with foams and spherical ravioli and stuff, like, 10 years ago. I mean, the British were just getting around to putting grated Parmesan on top of pasta when this guy was making pasta noodles out of Parmesan cheese itself. So, naturally, I get to being pretty proud of myself when I pull something off.
Enough about me. This dish is called "Evolution of the Hot 'Tortilla de Patatas Marc Singla' Foam". For anyone who has been to Spain or is a fan of Spanish food, I hope you have tried the simple Spanish 'tortilla'. In Spain, it's not a thing into which you put taco fillings. It is a baked egg dish, somehwat like a frittata (but not quite a quiche) that consists primarily of eggs, potatoes, caramelized onions and olive oil. It is delicious and I have personally polished off a few during my travels to Spain.
The amazing thing about this dish is that, though he has completely altered the way the Spanish tortilla is prepared and eaten, the dish still stays true to the original, and evokes all of the memories of eating an authentically prepared tortilla. That's the crazy, play-with-your-mind stuff I can appreciate about avant garde cooking.
Anyhow, if you want to try this at home, you'll need a foam canister (ISI makes a great one - you'll want the 1/2 liter size) and some N2O cartridges for it. Everything else is totally do-able. This was really fun to eat.
For the hot potato foam
250 g mashing potatoes (Idaho or other russet)
100 g water used to cook the potatoes
125 g single cream (35% fat)
35 g virgin olive oil
1 ½-l ISI foaming canister
2 N2O cartridges
salt
For the pan-fried onion
250 g onion
50 g 0.4º olive oil
100 g water
salt
For the egg sabayon
40 g egg yolks
30 g water
salt
For the yolk sauce
40 g pasteurised egg yolk
To finish
extra-virgin olive oil (Spanish, if available)
HOT POTATO FOAM
1. Peel, cut and then put the potatoes in salted cold water and bring to the boil. Cook for approximately 20 minutes.
2. Once the potatoes are cooked, drain and keep the water to one side.
3. Put the cooked potatoes and 100 g of the cooking water in the Thermomix at 60 ºC. Blend and gradually add the cream. Repeat the process with the oil until you have a smooth, liquid emulsion. Season with salt.
4. Strain and fill the canister using a funnel.
5. Foam and keep in a bain marie at approximately 70 ºC.
PAN-FRIED ONION
1. Peel the onion, quarter and cut into a thin sticks ("julienne").
2. Stirring continuously, gently fry the onion in the olive oil until it is golden brown.
3. Drain off any excess oil and deglaze with a little water. Continue cooking until the water has evaporated. Repeat the operation until the onions have the texture and colour of a caramelised conserve.
4. Season with salt and keep on one side.
EGG SABAYON
1. Put the egg yolks in a bowl, whisk using a hand whisk and drizzle in the boiling water. Beat quickly next to a heat source until it emulsifies.
2. Season with salt.
YOLK SAUCE
1. Sieve the egg yolks and keep in a baster.
FINISH
1. Fill a cocktail glass in the following order:
- a dessertspoon of pan-fried onion, which should be very hot.
- a teaspoon of yolk sauce
- two teaspoons of sabayon.
2. Make sure that the canister with the potato foam is hot. Shake and fill the top to just 1 cm below the rim. Drizzle a ring of virgin olive oil around it.
No comments:
Post a Comment