Activa RM (Transglutaminase): A naturally occurring enzyme that has the ability to cross-link food proteins to form stable bonds, also known by the slang term meat glue.
Aerogel: To make this, polymers are combined with a solvent to form a gel. All of the liquid in the gel is then replaced by air, creating a porous, durable, extremely light material. This gel is primarily made with silica and has very effective insulating properties.
Agar: A vegetarian gelling agent derived from marine algae.
Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C): A vitamin with antioxidant properties found in citrus fruits and green vegetables.
Barrel Aged Tea: Teas that are dry aged in oak barrels for 6 to 18 months.
Beurre Monté: An emulsion of butter and water used for infusing meats and fish with the richness of butter, or as the base for sauces.
Biodegradable Packing Peanuts: Packing peanuts made of edible and biodegradable starches. They dissolve in water.
Black Cardamom Pods: A member of the ginger family, black cardamom has a slight menthol flavor underlined with earth and smoke. The pods are dried over an open fire and are not to be confused with or substituted for green cardamom.
Black Lava Salt: Coarse sea salt that is combined with activated charcoal to give it a black color.
Black Truffles: Tuber melanosporum, also known as the black diamond, a highly prized, very aromatic, and seasonal ingredient.
Butane Torch: A tool that uses butane gas to create a very hot flame for targeted application.
Buttermilk Powder: Dehydrated buttermilk in powder form.
Calcium Lactate Gluconate: Calcium derived from glucose, with a slightly sweet flavor.
Capon: A castrated rooster bred for food and prized for its tender texture and large breast.
Carbon Dioxide (CO2): A colorless, odorless gas made up of single carbon atoms covalently bonded to two oxygen atoms. Used to create bubbles in drinks.
Carrageenan: A thickener derived from seaweed that is used to create thermo-reversible gels. There are three types of carrageenan: kappa, lambda, and iota. Kappa forms firm, brittle gels; iota forms soft, elastic gels; and lambda adds viscosity to liquids. The recipes in this book exclusively use iota carrageenan.
Centrifuge: A machine with a rapidly rotating chamber that applies centrifugal force to liquid contents, separating them based on the weight of the components.
Chamber Vacuum Sealer (Cryovac Machine): A machine that expels all of the oxygen from a bag of food before sealing it closed.
Class IV CO2 Laser: Class IV is the highest and most dangerous class of laser; eye protection is a must. This laser can burn the skin and cause permanent eye damage. Omar had his friend Bart build one for him.
Coco-Mats: Mats made with coconut fibers that are woven together and bound with latex, formed into shapes or rolls, and used in planting containers.
Coconut Milk Powder: Dehydrated, powdered coconut milk.
Converted Rice: Also known as parboiled rice, and commonly found under the Uncle Ben’s brand; rice that has been soaked, steamed under pressure, dried, and then milled.
Cotton Candy Machine: A machine that heats and spins flossing sugar or hard candies into cotton candy.
Crosnes: Also known as Chinese artichokes, these are small, crisp tubers with a knobby appearance.
Edible Plastic Film: Sold as Perfect Film Discs, these round, clear wrappers easily enclose low-moisture, oil-based fillings and dissolve on contact with water.
Edible Printing: Using a printer fitted with edible ink to print images from your computer onto frosting sheets or wafer or rice paper. For safety purposes it is recommended that you use only a new printer with edible inks. Canon is a trusted source for printers and compatible edible ink cartridges. At Moto, Omar came up with edible printing as a way to reduce the amount of waste produced by printing a new menu every day. Although edible printing was around before Omar discovered it, it was mostly used to transfer pictures onto cakes and desserts. His innovation was to season the paper with different flavors to correspond to the menu or dish.
Egg Topper: Tool used to cut the top off of boiled eggs.
Enoki Mushrooms: Long, thin mushrooms with tiny caps often seen in Asian cooking.
Envision Flavor and Texture Enhancer: A sugar-free filler and fondant replacer made to replicate the functional properties of sucrose without added sweetness.
Fondant: A soft, flexible icing used to decorate pastries. Poured fondant tends to have the texture of a paste, which is better for creating shapes like clay. Rolled fondant has the texture of a flexible dough that can be rolled very thinly, draped over cakes and pastries, and then formed around them.
Freeze-Dried Fruits and Vegetables: Fruits and vegetables that have been freeze-dried have the advantage of concentrated flavor and are easily powdered or reconstituted with water.
Freeze-Dryer: Ingredients are quickly frozen at extremely low temperatures, and a vacuum is formed around the food. As it warms, the ice transforms directly into a vapor and evaporates, a process known as sublimation.
Fried Chicken Mushrooms: Lyophyllum decastes, a wild mushroom named for its rich and meaty flavor.
Garden Biosphere: A clear glass dome enclosing a miniature garden.
Gastrique: A classic French sauce made when caramelized sugar is deglazed with vinegar.
Gelatin (Silver): Sheets of gelatin film that are soaked in water before using. They form a clearer gel than powdered gelatin. If you cannot find sheet gelatin you may substitute as follows: 1 (0.25-ounce) envelope granulated gelatin = 1 tablespoon powdered gelatin = 3 sheets leaf gelatin.
Glucose: An invert sugar resistant to crystallization, available in liquid or powdered form. It is less sweet than cane sugar.
Gougères: Savory choux pastry puffs made with cheese.
Green Cardamom: An aromatic spice, green cardamom pods have delicate notes of resin and eucalyptus, with a hint of sweetness and citrus.
Handheld Steamer: Also known as a handheld garment steamer, these small, handheld devices produce ample steam, which can be directed at a specific target.
Immersion Blender (Stick Blender): Stick blenders can be immersed directly into pots or bowls for easy blending, mixing, or whipping.
Isomalt: A sweetener derived from beet sugar with fewer calories than cane sugar. Once cooked it has a higher resistance to humidity, resists recrystallization, and is more flexible than regular sugar.
Jicama: Also known as the Mexican yam, a root vegetable known for its sweet flavor and crunchy texture.
Julienne: A matchstick-sized cut for fruits and vegetables.
Li Hing Powder: A sweet, sour, and salty flavoring made with salted dried plums, licorice, and sweeteners.
Liquid Nitrogen: Pure nitrogen in its liquid state, this extremely cold (–346°F) liquid allows chefs to freeze things incredibly quickly.
Locust Bean Gum: Derived from locust beans or carob beans, this gum is a gentle thickener commonly combined with agar, kappa carrageenan, or xanthan gum to help form smoother, more elastic gels.
Malic Acid: A natural acid commonly found in apples and other fruits and vegetables.
Masa Harina: A traditional Mexican flour made from hominy, a dried corn that has been cooked and soaked in lime water.
Masticating Juicer: A machine that slowly grinds and crushes fruits and vegetables in order to extract their juices.
Meringue: A foam made with whipped egg whites and sugar.
Methylcellulose: A complex fiber derived from cellulose pulp, which forms a gel at higher temperatures and reverts to a liquid as it cools.
Microgreens: Immature shoots of edible vegetables and herbs, harvested when they are about 2 inches tall. Microgreens used in this book include: micro basil, micro parsley, lucky sorrel, plum sorrel, micro chives, micro kohlrabi, micro cabbage, micro mizuna, micro kale, micro mint, micro cucumber, micro tat soi, and micro shiso. Few of these are readily available commercially, and growing your own at home may often be your best option. Seeds can be purchased online at Chef’s Garden (see Sources, page 000, for more information).
Mirepoix: The trio of carrots, celery, and onions used as the base for many dishes and sauces in France.
Mono-Diglycerides: Emulsifying agents derived from fatty acids.
Mozzarella Curds: During the cheese-making process, lipase, citric acid, and rennet are added to milk, it is warmed, and then the mixture is left to rest to allow casein proteins to coagulate and become curds. These curds are often sold as a shortcut for home cooks wanting to make homemade cheese, since the curds only need to be heated and stretched to become fresh mozzarella.
Neutral Pop Rocks: Also known as carbonated crystals, these effervescent particles crackle and pop when they come into contact with water.
Nigari (liquid): Liquid magnesium chloride used as a coagulant in tofu making.
Nitrous Oxide (NO2): Nitrogen mixed with oxygen in a gaseous state.
Pacojet: A machine that allows chefs to micro-puree frozen foods to create creamy ice creams and mousses.
Petite Crystal Lettuce: A small plant with green and gold leaves and a crunchy, delicate flavor.
Pink Himalayan Salt: Hand-harvested, natural sea salt with a high mineral content.
Plastic Pipettes: Disposable tools used to transfer small amounts of liquid.
Poly Tubing: Also known as spaghetti tubing, food grade PVC tubing used to form traditional spaghetti noodles.
Quenelle: A light, mousse-like mixture formed into a football shape using a spoon.
Sawagani Crabs: Tiny, freshwater crustaceans from Japan’s Inland Sea, generally eaten whole. Sawagani crabs are difficult to find, but can occasionally be found in season (early spring to midsummer) at high-end sushi restaurants.
Sea Beans: A sea vegetable resembling a bumpy version of rosemary with a salty, vegetal flavor.
Sea Cress: An edible sea vegetable.
Silicone Mat (Silpat): Food-safe, nonstick, flexible mats that can be used in temperatures ranging from −40°F to 480°F, and that can be bought at most kitchen supply stores.
Smoker: A barbecue smoker is a machine designed to cook food at specific temperatures in a controlled environment filled with smoke. Cold smoking is done without the application of heat. Hot smoking occurs at temperatures ranging from 165°F to 300°F.
Smoking Gun: A handheld food smoker, made by PolyScience, that can direct the smoke in a targeted manner.
Smoking Tube (A-Maze-N Pellet Tube Smoker): Perforated metal tubes that get filled with wood shavings and produce smoke in hot or cold environments for 2 to 4 hours, depending on the size of the tube.
Sodium Alginate: A thickener derived from brown algae, which forms gels when combined with acids or with calcium.
Solera Sherry Vinegar: Spanish vinegar fermented from solera sherry. The solera process is a method of fractional blending where new juice is added to barrels of already fermenting juice in incremental amounts as it is moved from barrel to barrel so that each finished barrel of sherry contains a blend of juices of varying ages rather than from one specific harvest.
Sous Vide Circulator: A machine for cooking foods at precise temperatures by heating a water bath. It maintains a specific temperature and circulates the water so that the temperature remains constant throughout.
Soy Sauce Powder: Dehydrated, powdered soy sauce.
Spider Strainer: A round strainer with a long handle, whose mesh strands are patterned like a spider’s web.
Striped Marlin (Nairagi): A marlin fish usually caught around the Hawaiian Islands, with a light pink flesh, firm texture, and mild flavor.
Sunflower Seed Sprouts: Small shoots grown from hulled sunflower seeds.
Super Aladin Smoker: Handheld food smoker, made by Koerner, that can direct smoke in a targeted manner.
Szechuan Peppercorns: Also known as Chinese coriander, this spice is intensely aromatic, with citrus-like tones. It also produces a unique numbing sensation that can feel like tingling of the mouth and tongue.
Tapioca Maltodextrin: Modified tapioca starch used to thicken fats and turn them into a powder.
Thermal Carafe: A vacuum-insulated carafe used to keep liquids warm.
Tofu Mold: Rectangular-shaped wooden or plastic mold with drainage holes in the sides used to press tofu curds.
Togarashi: Japanese chili pepper condiment.
Tomato Powder: Dehydrated, powdered tomatoes.
Toro Tuna: Also known as fatty tuna, toro is the extremely marbled meat from the belly of the bluefin tuna.
Tosaka Seaweed: An edible Japanese seaweed, available in three colors: red, green, and white. It is generally sold salt-packed and frozen. It requires soaking before it can be used.
Ultratex 8: Flavorless modified tapioca starch used to thicken cold liquids and add a creamy mouth-feel.
Versawhip: Modified soy protein used to create foams.
Verjus: Acidic pressed juice from unripened grapes.
Vietnamese Coriander: An herb native to Southeast Asia. Look for it in Asian markets.
Vinegar Powder: Dehydrated, powdered vinegar.
Wafer/Rice Paper: Edible paper made from potato starch that is slightly translucent. It can be used in printers with edible ink.
Water Jacket: A large stainless-steel container that fits around a mixing bowl, allowing you to set it in an ice bath as you mix to chill ingredients. You can likely buy one to fit your stand mixer from your mixer’s manufacturer.
Wheat Starch: A thickening agent and stabilizer created by removing the proteins from wheat flour.
Whipped Cream Canister: A steel canister, fitted with a nozzle, which has the ability to charge liquids with nitrous oxide (NO2) so that they come out as a mousse. It can also be used with CO2 charges to infuse bubbles into liquids. Whipped cream canisters can be bought at most home goods or kitchen supply stores.
Wondra Flour: A finely ground, pre-gelatinized flour that dissolves easily in liquids.
Xanthan Gum: A polysaccharide created through a fermentation of Xanthomonas campestris bacterium with glucose or sucrose. It is primarily used as a thickener or a binder in liquid recipes or to add stickiness and elasticity in gluten-free baked goods.
Y3 Yogurt Enzyme: An enzyme used to ferment a light, creamy yogurt.
Yogotherm: A yogurt maker.
Yuzu: An East Asian citrus fruit, mostly associated with Japan, believed to be a hybrid of Ichang papeda and Satsuma mandarin.
Zen Garden Box: A small-scale recreation of Japanese dry landscaping using sand and rock.