One of the big breakthroughs of molecular gastronomy is texture. That is what they try to play around with the most, and it is what creates the most striking result. There are several ways to alter texture, my all time favorite being spherification. You can basically take any edible liquid, plunge it into a bath that will form a very thin layer of gel around a ball of liquid. Think of it as caviar, but made with apple juice for example(Adria did this a few years back, serving it in caviar tins because it looked like golden caviar). Or you could make an olive shaped ball with an olive juice, that liquefies in your mouth as soon as you close your mouth(another Adria favorite). 

However, it’s aboslutely impossible(or very painstakingly long) to recreate at home. And that is the very point of my frustration with the movement. Sure, I can find the chemicals needed to produce said spheres, but it’s only a texture alteration. It’s still only fruit juice or whatever. You’re making something so simple, that if your base is not aboslute perfection, it simply falls flat. You truly need the palate and patience and determination of a chef to accomplish this kind of food.

Strangely, it’s like the more complicated the food gets, the easier it is to pick up. I’m not saying I nailed every recipe I did from Thomas Keller’s books. Of course not, because they are really hard, and use some high flying cooking techniques. But over time, they’re all possible to figure out or pick up. 

Whereas with simpler food, you need that flawless produce, those restaurant grade producers. That is because you’re not actually doing anything to the food, you’re only changing it’s form to shock your public into seeing it differently. And that is extremely difficult to truly understand for the untrained mind, or so I learned at my expense. My cherry caviar looked awesome, but tasted quite bland, not better than a cherry anyway. Because that is what these chefs are aiming for, instead of taking a dish and trying to perfect it, they take a fruit and try to make it better. That’s why it becomes such a philosophical subject, and that’s why this trend is such a turn off for many. Should food simply be tasty ? Or be perfect ? Sure there’s other factors, but I think chefs should strive for perfection, while making tasty food. More on this later…

Maxime Doucet-Benoit

The true reason why I’m writting about mixology is that I’m fascinated by that kind of movement. Bartenders accross the world(read : in New-York pretty much) are revolutionizing their craft. Just like Thomas Keller (frenchlaundry.com) dared to reinvent the Caesar Salad, or the classic coffee and doughnuts, and make them so much more than a salad or a fast food pastry, these guys are reinventing cocktails that have been set in stone for decades.

A Cuba Libre(rum, coke, lime) is a delicious cocktail, but when its in gellified form, set on a crispy, dehydrated slice of lime, it truly takes a life of its own. This is the kind of thing Eben Freeman is doing at Tailor in New-York(tailornyc.com). He notices that there is an egg white in a gin fizz in order to make it nice and frothy. His answer is to think ” Hey, since theres egg whites in that, I can make it into a marshmallow “. And so he did. 

We’re not talking about messing with the ingredients in cocktails. Those very often have reasons to be. It’s about rethinking the whole thing. About seeing it in a new light, about waking us, the consumers, up. In an era where we’re drowned in prefab cosmo mixes, it’s just nice to see someone infusing bourbon with raisin bread. Yes, Freeman really did that.

Maxime Doucet-Benoit