Any Molecular Gastrnonomists Out There?

Question

Today I saw one of my chefs mixing what I believe to be Calcium chloride, which was dissolved in a flavored water, and sodium alginate, which I think was dissolved in another unflavored water. He then mixed the two, to make a sort of artificial caviar. Can anyone explain? Gracias.

Sorry, I meant Calcium Carbonate, not Calcium Chloride

Well, Patricia, Though that may be your opinion, this "hack" as you called him, happens to be a Chef at A Thomas Keller Restaurant. And this artificial caviar was extremely flavorful.

I was simply asking for an explanation pertaining to the chemical reaction.

Answer 1

One of the chemicals (Calcium Carbonate) act as a "coagulant" which causes the other to clump together in spheres. The sodium alginate reacts with the calcium and forms a thin skin. In the physical world, sphere represents the least amount of surface area for a given volume.

Just found a website below that gives a general description of the reaction.

Answer 2

Yes, the chef is one of these new wave idiots more concerned with gimmicks and tricks than in fine food which tastes wonderful. They become charmed by the possiblilities of far out garnishes and forget about the reason we eat to begin with.

I don't have a problem with artificial cavoar per se, as long as it adds some flavor to a dish and not just "oh, wow, shiny balls, gee how did he do it?" to a dish. When I eat fine cuisine, I expect real food, not a chemistry set. This nonsense is no more fine dining than a Twinkie is, and made of ingredients as unappealling as a Twinkie as well.

Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. "Molecular gastronomy" is more about little boys and girls playing with chemostry sets than food artistry, where appearance matters but taste should always be supreme.

If you are asking about the chemical reaction, it's just one of the ways to make a gel, in this case in the form of small globules. Big hairy deal. You could stir melted butter rapidly into ice water and get little balls, or spray a liquid into supercooled air or nitrogen and get little sphere, like those ice cream "dots" but in each case, it's all about effect, not flavor.

A great chef's food should stand on its own, without pointless shiny spheres or already trite foams. A hack has to overdue everything. It's like a designer sewing bows or rosettes all over a dress to cover up the basic weakness of the design.