Bubbles, liquid ravioli, spherification are all words to describe this amazing technique that I have just got comfortable with but it still blows my mind.
It simply is a reaction that happens between two liquids, algin and calcium chloride creating a jelly with a soft center.
Modern cooking, forward thinking styles that are going on right now. It could be one of the most interesting things I have studied, it is like learning to cook all over again, you can also make it very simple.
One I did here is of pea, now it looks like a pea and tastes like a pea but it's a liquid, whats the point? You have that chance to make people say how did they do that and you could add flavours like mint or bacon.
I also read in a magazine the other day that you can inject the spherification with oil while it is still in the calcium chloride bath so it reseals it, creating a dressing of sorts.
Here are some recipes I am working with right now.
Broad bean liquid ravioli
500ml broad bean water
2.4g algin
Tomato bubble
400ml tomato consomme
1.5g citras
1.8g algin
Calcium chloride bath
1lt bottled water
6.2g calcium chloride
The supplier I use is 'Infusions for chefs' - they are very helpful and have a starter pack enjoy!
Below inspired by the oyster with pearl we had at 'Tickets' in Barcelona. A little tip of the cap.
You can also make what they call caviar. Bet you can't wait for the reverse spherification section.
Photographs by Carla Grassy
The important thing about the solution for bonding alginate into gels is that it's calcium, not that it's chloride. The calcium is divalent so Ca ++ and the cross-linking works to form the gel because the Ca ions can bond to two different molecules, thus holding them together. It's also completely reversible; if you put the gelled items into a salt water bath, they will break up because sodium is monovalent Na+ and can't "grab" two different molecules. (Apologies, I'm a geeky scientist type and I've been fascinated at how the foodie world has adopted our gel materials for this purpose! I also had some of these creations when at Due South last week!)
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