A few ideas for modernizing holiday meals.
THE HOLIDAYS ARE HERE—time to set to work in the kitchen. Should we be satisfied with cooking a turkey with medieval methods now that we are living in the twenty-first century? No, let’s invent new dishes. But how? The cook who looks to chemistry and physics for inspiration will not find it difficult.
Let’s begin by considering a new mode of cooking based on a remark by François Pérégo, a restorer of paintings in Bécherel and a keen student of chemistry who uses egg in treating canvases. He pointed out the effect of ethyl alcohol on egg whites, which you can see by means of a simple experiment: Put an egg white in a bowl and then add a shot of grain alcohol (190 proof). You will discover that the white quickly coagulates.
How can we explain this phenomenon? Albumen is made up of about 90% water and about 10% proteins. These molecules consist of amino acids (twenty types of which are found in foods) that are distinguished by their lateral chains, which may be either hydrophobic or hydrophilic. In water the hydrophilic parts fold up over the hydrophobic parts, minimizing the contact of these latter parts with the water.
The addition of a very strong alcohol alters the environment of the proteins, causing them to unfold. A reaction between two thiol (–SH) groups of neighboring proteins creates a disulfide bridge—a bond between two sulfur atoms—that binds the proteins. Thus a gel is formed, in effect cooking the egg white. Naturally this chemical process cannot be used for culinary purposes without modification: The egg white is tasteless, and alcohol in a nearly pure state holds little appeal from the point of view of flavor. But what if we were to replace the alcohol with a yellow plum brandy, for example, to make a blanc d’œuf à la mirabelle? That would be an unusual cocktail to put your guests in the holiday spirit!
Reasoned Braisings
In thinking about a novel main course for our meal it will help to keep in mind some basic scientific facts about the transformations undergone by heated meat. At 40°c (104°F) proteins unfold, becoming denatured, and the meat loses its transparency; at 50°c (122°F) collagen fibers, the chief structural component of muscle cells, contract; at 55°c (131°F) myosin, one of the principal proteins of muscle cells, coagulates and the collagen begins to dissolve; at 66°c (151°F) the sarcoplasmic proteins that make up collagen coagulate; and at 79°c (174°F) actin, another important muscle protein, coagulates.
What use can we make of this information? Instead of cooking your turkey in the usual way, remove the white meat, slice it, and cook some pieces at 50–55°c (122–131°F), others at 55–66°c (131–151°F), and so on (either in the oven, if the temperature control is very precise, or in a pan with stock, using a thermometer). Your guests will be able to enjoy different textures in a single meat because different compounds in the meat will have reacted with one another.
Foamy Foie Gras and Cheese
Now for the cheese course. Earlier we saw how to make Chantilly chocolate, a mousse made of (rather than with) chocolate. Why not repeat this experiment with foie gras? Pour a glass of duck stock into a pan, add some foie gras, and stir over low heat. The melting foie gras forms fatty droplets that are dispersed in the water. Whisk this mixture in a bowl over ice cubes and you will achieve the consistency of whipped cream.
The same thing can be done with cheese. Pour a glass of water or vinegar in a pan, add a sheet of gelatin and a good chunk of cheese (Roquefort, for example), and stir over low heat. The melting cheese forms fatty droplets that are dispersed in the water and covered by the tensioactive molecules of the gelatin. The result is a “cheese béarnaise” that is a cousin not only of many other culinary emulsions, such as mayonnaise, béarnaise sauce, and cheese fondue, but also of cream. Just as chilling and whisking crème fraîche at the same time yields Chantilly cream, beating a cheese béarnaise over a bed of ice cubes will give you Chantilly cheese.
Imaginative cooks are sure to take advantage of this innovation. Didier Clément, chef at the Lion d’Or in Romorantin, has already proposed a goat cheese Chantilly made with Chavignol, accompanied by caramelized shallots. Rather than caramelize the shallots in the usual way with sucrose (ordinary sugar) and a bit of water, Clément was inspired by chemistry to substitute fructose, which produces an original flavor that puts one in mind of candied grapes.
Chantilly Rescued
Let’s finish with true Chantilly cream, which will be a perfect accompaniment for your dessert. It is simple to make because one has only to whip very cold cream. Whisking introduces air bubbles into the emulsion, and the fatty droplets crystallize on the outside of the bubbles, stabilizing them. Alas, whisking by hand often is replaced by the electric mixer, which brings with it a greater risk of turning the cream into butter (the result of the fatty droplets fusing and air being lost in the process).
Yet even in the event of mishap all the ingredients of a good Chantilly cream are still present. It is merely a matter of reconstituting them. Simply heat a tablespoon of water in a pan and add the butter. Then put the pan on ice and whisk it once more; the cream comes back. Happy holidays!