Wunderkind. Wiz kid. Mastermind. Outside of the cartoons, I never thought I would come across anyone whom I thought these adjectives would apply. I’ve met Harvard professors and Wall Street Masters of the Universe but never anyone quite like Nathan Myhrvold. He defines the words. The former Chief Technology Officer for Microsoft and now the CEO of Intellectual Ventures, Inc., Nathan, along with Chris Young and Maxime Bilet, is also the author of the most important book on cooking since Escoffier.
Modernist Cuisine (MC) is a five volume exploration into cooking. A four and a half year (only three of really hard work per Nathan) study produced a 2,438 page multi-book work encompassing 7.5 miles of text. That includes 3,216 photos culled from 147,000 images, weighing in at 40 pounds which includes a whopping 4 pounds of ink!
Nathan invited a dozen of us to dinner at his lab in Bellevue, Washington, spitting distance from Microsoft. Maxime Bilet was the chef de cuisine (and Nathan was also cooking). I expected to arrive at a space age building but funnily enough the lab was in an office park sharing space with an upholstery cleaning company. Don’t get underwhelmed. As you walked through the unassuming doors in the back of the building a wide expanse of lab smacked you in the face. That was only one of his labs. As I walked through the roughly twenty thousand square feet I saw heavier and intriguing equipment. I was told there were other labs dotted around the office park. What I saw was enough, it frapped my brain.
We first sat in a conference room with a large TV screen to get an overview of the book. Nathan started the show and tell. He first explained that they decided not to put the book online or make it fit on an iPad. There was a simple rationale. The visuals were very important. Charts and text are quite off-putting and a picture’s worth a thousand words. Mr. ex-Microsoft CTO didn’t think online pics would do it justice.
The photography was more than outstanding. The reproductions in the book are better produced than art in the fanciest coffee table tomes. The process Myhrvold invested in was stochastic screening printing in chromocentric inks. Many of the photographs were molecular in content or captured at high speed. The photos mesmerize you. Nathan is a natural born teacher and his instinct was to capture the drama of his subject through thrilling visuals and electric colors.
His presentations are relevatory. He cut cooking equipment in half, to expose the cooking process. He then glued heavy plexiglass as the window to observe the science of heat on cooking. Everything from a simple pot, a wok, a microwave to a $5,000 combi-oven got the Myhrvold chain saw treatment. He also shot eggs through with high speed rifles and caught those images with high speed video. A splendid example was a water balloon being pricked and the water sitting suspended in midair for a nano second before succumbing to gravity. A kernel of popcorn billowing and sweating fighting the final explosion morphed from a caramel orb to a fluffy crenelated white cloud.
Nathan Myhrvold
Nathan’s presentation was so clear and easy to understand one started to wonder what all the hubbub was about this scientific cuisine. He first stated how he defines Modernism, 1) a style of cooking where the participant is an enthusiast who enjoys breaking with the past and 2) a revolution in technique that can lead to the avant garde (the next step in evolution). No one can doubt that Mr. Myrhvold is the archetype of a modernist.
Surprisingly, there is much in the book that Escoffier himself could have written if he had thought about it. The first volume of Modernist Cuisine is devoted to the history of cooking, the second on technique and equipment, the third an in depth look at animals and plants, the fourth ingredients and preparations, and the fifth and final volume is your standard recipe cookbook but with the not so run of the mill methodology. Oh, they did not have room to cover pastry and bread…yet.
Contents? Two pages devoted to washing your hands. Most of the discussion on microbiology was for safety, but applications to understanding cooking were critical too, just think of understanding the fermentation of bread. As a true scientist nothing was taken for granted. They found some FDA rules too strict (chicken temps) and others not enough. Weird stuff like Agar? Well, history plays a role. It’s been used in Chinese cooking for over a thousand years. MC findings agree that trans fats are terrible for you, with saturated fats they weren’t convinced. Grandfathered ingredients like sucrose get away with murder…it rots your teeth and leads to morbid obesity.
One mantra in Myhrvold world is “Any dish is worthy of great effort and refinement.” Behold the roast chicken: you may have your favorite method for perfection but he challenges you to beat this. Raw chicken meat should be brined first. Sticking the chicken in a pot of salt water brines not only the meat but the skin as well. Brining the skin rubberizes it. Soaking the chicken is a no go for the Modernist Cuisiniere. Nathan and crew take the whole chicken, separate the skin from the meat and inject only the breasts with brine. Legs don’t need it and shouldn’t be brined. They then hang the injected bird upside down by its feet letting the salted water permeate the breast. They don’t believe in trussing the legs as they take longer to cook. After hanging for a period a time, high convection heat flash cooks the chicken and a perfectly textured bird with crisp yummy skin becomes an exquisite dish.
I can go on and on with what I learned. I can’t write forever! So, I will list the dishes we ate. Go buy the book or visit The ICC library and page through it. It is now a must do in the world of professional cuisine.
Modernist Cuisine Menu
Asian Pear, Watermelon and Spicy Pickle Chips
starch compression
Description: Deep Fried Asian Pear, Watermelon and Spicy Pickle,
Ingredients: Crisp Coat Starch, Equipment: Vacuum machine
Roasted Corn Elote
freeze drier, N-Zorbit powder
Description: Based on a Mexican street food, Freeze Dried Yellow Corn Kernels with Brown Butter Powder, Spicy Mayonnaises, Cilantro Blossoms, Lime and Ash Powder,
Ingredients: Freeze dried corn, N-Zorbit, Equipment: Freeze drier
Taco de Asador
Fluid gel, microwave jerky
Description: Dehydrated corn juice tortilla with achote flavored crispy beef jerky pico de gallo juice fluid gel, smoked queso fresco, flask pickled onions and avocado puree,
Ingredients: corn juice, agar, Equipment: dehydrator, microwave
Chicken Skin Thali
Sous vide skin gelatinizing, fluid gel foam
Description: Sous vide cooked and puffed chicken skin, served with chaat masala, tikka yoghurt, coconut chutney mousse, star fruit chutney and watercress, black mustard seed salad
Equipment: sous vide
Process: We cook the chicken sous vide at 85C/ 185F for 12 hours to make the skin very tender and prevent it from recoiling when it is fried.
Veal Nog
Warm constructed cream
Description: Warm emulsified soup of veal fat and veal juice garnished with an infused aromatic milk foam and an intense demi-glace spiked with sherry. It is the essence of Blanquette de Veau.
Ingredients: veal fat, xanthan gum, PGA emulsifier,
Equipment: Rotor stator homogenizer, pressure cooker, centrifuge
Process: The veal fat is rendered by being pressure cooked with baking soda. The final cream is a combination of equal parts veal fat and veal cooking juices and centrifuged vegetable juices emulsified with the rotor stator homogenizer.
Raspberry and Horseradish Snow Ball
Vacuum aerated sorbet, frozen fluid gel powder
Description: Aerated raspberry juice sorbet, Frozen Fresh horseradish powder
Ingredients: glucose, gelatin, agar, Equipment: vacuum chamber, mason jars, deep freeze, Pacojet
Process: The juice is slightly thickened with glucose, albumin and gelatin and transferred to a whipping siphon. It is foamed into a mason jar inside a vacuum chamber to hold the vacuum. The jars are deep frozen. The sorbet is then removed cutand dusted with bright frozen horseradish powder. We make an agar fluid gel with horseradish and deep freeze it in Pacojet beakers. It is ground to a fine frozen powder for service.
Chickpea Tajine
Sous vide green chickpeas, pressure cooked pine nuts
Description: Sous vide green chickpeas, pressure cooked pinenuts braised and sesame seeds in a tajine spice infused oil. The chickpea mixture sits on top of a green chickpea and sesame puree. It is garnished with a salad of pickled dry apricots, green olives, celery root, argan oil, orange blossom gelee and mint and finished with a yoghurt granita.
Equipment: sous vide, pressure cooker
Process: the pinenuts and sesame seeds are pressure cooked to give them a roe like texture.
Ankimo, Citrus, Chamomile
Sous vide torchon, centrifuged juice
Description: Ankimo torchon, centrifuged honey tangerine and oro blanco grapefruit juice seasoned with honey vinegar, pomelo and finger lime juice droplets, chamomile and flash candied young ginger.
Ingredients: monkfish liver, Equipment: Sous vide
Process: This recipe is a great example of the benefits of sous vide cooking. The ankimo is so delicate it is almost like custard. We brine it in sake and then cook it at 63C/145F for 35 minutes. The centrifuge helps us get a beautifully clear and pure citrus juice.
Spaghetti Vongole
Centrifuged broth
Description: Geduck noodles dressed with garlic confit oil, bagna cauda broth, sea beans, geoduck belly, maitake and walnut marmalade, dried miso powder
Ingredients: Taylor Shellfish Farmed Geoduck, Equipment: centrifuge, sous vide
Process: The geoduck siphons are split, sliced into sheets and pounded in sous vide bags to allow us to cut them into noodles. The broth is a combination of the geoduck juice, caramelized garlic and anchovy.
Squid in Ink
Sous vide cure, vacuum reduced broth
Description: Squid cured in lemon, squid ink, caramelized squid broth and pistachio butter veloute, braised leeks, tomato spice
Ingredients: sous vide, Equipment: sous vide, freeze drier
Process: The squid is cured to firm the meat while seasoning it. It is cooked at 65C/149F for 4 min until just cooked through and still very tender.
Beef Stew
Low temperature extraction, cured/sous vide marrow
Description: Rare beef broth, sosu vide cooked small root vegetables, cured marrow, pressure cooked barley, chard leaves
Ingredients: aged prime beef, Paint Hills, Equipment: sous vide, centrifuge
Process: Beef cubes are cooked sous vide at 53C/ 127F for 4 hours. They are pressed with a wine press and the resulting juice is then centrifuged.
Snail Custard
Sous vide snails, low temperature foie gras custard
Description: Foie gras custard garnished with ramp leaf jus, glazed ramps, sous vide snails, green almonds and lime.
Ingredients: basil fed helix snails, first of the season green almonds and wild ramps.
Equipment: combi oven, Process: The custard is delicately set at 77C/ 170F.
Cream of Mushroom
Sous vide infusion, siphon foam
Description: Intense mushroom broth with Warm Bacon Chantilly
Ingredients: dark miso, gellan, Equipment: whipping siphon
Raw Quail Egg
A touch of protein to invigorate the appetite
Description: Raw quail egg of passion fruit yolk, lemongrass white and a few drops of chili oil
Ingredients: calcium lactate, xanthan gum, sodium alginate, locust bean gum
Process: reverse spherification,setting bath has alginate and the set liquid has calcium to provide a finer membrane. The white is given it’s typical texture with a combination of xanthan gum and locust bean gum.
Polenta with Marinara
Pressure cooker and mason jars
Description: Grits cooked in corn juice with a quince/ Bartlett pear marinara, toasted corn husk consomme, ricotta salata and basil
Ingredients: corn juice, quince from Mair Taki Farm, Equipment: pressure cooker, centrifuge
Process: The grits are combined with water and corn juice and vacuum sealed. They are pressure cooked for 9 minutes. The consomme is made by infusing deeply toasted corn husks sous vide.
Cocoa with Sea Urchin
Gluten enforced fresh pasta, constructed bottarga
Description: Cocoa pasta dressed in cocoa butter, sea urchin tongues, sea urchin butter, salted candied grapefruit, tarragon and a shaving of sea urchin bottarga.
Ingredients: vital gluten, local sea urchin (San Juan Island), Equipment: hi-tech pasta machine
Process: The bottarga is made by cooking pureed sea urchin gonads sous vide in the shape of roe sacs and then curing them in salt for 12 hours. They are hung to dry and mature for 2-3 months.
Fried Egg
Constructed egg stripes, combi oven steam
Description: Striped morel and black trumpet mushroom egg white with 64C/147 egg yolk morel mushroom marmalade lightened with sous vide hollandaise.
Ingredients: albumin and egg yolk powder, Equipment: combi oven, pastry comb
Process: The egg white base is composed of egg whites and cream. The stripes are made by reconstituting egg yolk and egg white powder into our mushroom puree to have the same texture as whole egg. We use a pastry comb to make stripes on a silicone baking sheet, pour the egg white base over and steam it at 80C/176F for about 7 min. The hollandaise is cooked sous vide and then transferred to a whipping siphon for service. It is folded into the glazed morels that have been seasoned with an intense chicken jus.
Black Mouth Chinook Salmon, Lemon, Wild Onions
Low salt brine, pressure cooked stock, cold smoked butter
Description: Sous Vide Salmon with a Spiced Butter composed of coriander seed, sesame seed, roasted hazelnut, white poppy, ginger and chamomile. It is served with wild onions dressed in smoked butter, roasted lemon jus and a condiment of roasted lemons and fermented garlic.
Ingredients: Black Mouth Chinook Salmon. This is a type of king salmon that never leaves Puget sound. It can only be commercially fished by the native tribes of the Olympic Peninsula. It is very tender and the flavor is very delicate.
Equipment: sous vide, rotor stator homogenizer
Process: We brine the salmon in a 3.5% salt! 3% sugar solution for 7 hours. The fish is cooked at 45C/113F. The beurre blanc is made ultra stable with our rotor stator homogenizer and an emulsifier.
Roast Chicken, Jus Gras
Combi oven roast program, heat stable jus gras, pressure cooker garlic confit
Description: Roasted Chicken with a rich emulsified gravy of dark chicken jus and pressure rendered chicken fat. It is accompanied by vegetables that are pressure cooked in mason jars with the same chicken fat. These are garnished with an herb salad dressed with quince vinegar vinaigrette.
Ingredients: Mad Hatcher Farms chickens, Oxbow Farm pink garlic, PGA emulsifier
Equipment: combi oven, rotor stator homogenizer, pressure cooker
Process: the chicken is injected with brine and hung for three days refrigerated to desiccate the skin. We cook it at 60C/140F dry heat until it reaches temperature, about 4 hours. The chicken is removed and rested for at least 30 min to cool. We then brush it with oil and roast it at 300C/575F for 6-7 min until it is deeply roasted and very crisp, almost glassy.
Pastrami and Sauerkraut
72h sous vide, precise curing and brining, fermentation, dehydrated bread
Description: Short Rib Pastrami, Housemade sauerkraut with sweet onions, Brussels sprout leaves with fish sauce butter, cognac mustard with pickled mustard seeds, black bread crisps
Ingredients: Painted Hills Farm Short Rib
Equipment: sous vide, high tech hot smoker
Process: Bone in short ribs are brined, smoked, dry rubbed and cooked sous vide at 60C/140F for 72 hours.
BBQ
High-tech smoking, sous vide, centrifuged sauce
Description: Hot Smoked Spareribs, Cold Smoked Flat Iron,Kansas City, South Carolina and MC Barbecue Sauces served with Ultrasonic Fries
Ingredients: Painted Hills Farm Flat Iron, Carlton Farms Spareribs
Equipment: high tech hot smoker, Enviropak cold smoker, sous vide, ultrasonic bath, centrifuge, liquid nitrogen
Process: The ribs are cooked at 60C/140F for 48 hours and the flat iron at 55CI 131F for 36 hours. The ribs are smoked after cooking while the flat iron is smoked before. The ribs are dry rubbed, smoked and vacuum sealed. For service we warm them in a bath and then cryo fry them. They are dipped in liquid nitrogen and then deep fried to create an intense crust without actually cooking the meat any further. The ultrasonic fries are made by cooking large fries (2.5 cm thick) sous vide until tender. They are cavitated in an ultrasonic bath while warm to create lots of invisible fissures. The final product can be described as furry fries as the surface is very jagged and crisp.
Ricotta Cheese
Ricotta gnocchi, centrifuged pea puree layers, essential oil
Description: Flourless ricotta gnocchi with pea juice emulsion, fresh peas, cinnamon, walnut and pea butter toast
Ingredients: albumin
Equipment: centrifuge
Process: The centrifuged pea puree yields two extremely unique products: green pea juice and pea “fat” which has the intense flavor of peas and the texture of butter
Hazelnut Gelato Affogatto
Frozen constructed cream, cold brewed coffee syrup, colloid mill
Description: Dairylessl Eggless Hazelnut Gelato with Coffee Syrup and Candied Mandarin Tuile
Ingredients: hazelnut butter, Equipment: colloid mill, Pacojet, lambda carrageenan
Process: The cream is made with hazelnut butter, hazelnut oil, water, sugar and an emulsifier. We churn it in a Pacojet.
Pots de Crème
Combi oven steam, cold infusion, vacuum reduction, acid coagulation
Description: Three pots de creme. The first is a cold infused coffee egg custard finished with a smoked egg yolk curd. The second is a vacuum reduced whisky sabayon on top of centrifuged banana juice fluid gel. The third is a cold infused earl grey posset garnished with sous vide lemon curd.
Equipment: centrifuge for banana juice, roto-vap to vacuum reduce bourbon, combi oven to steam creme brulees
Process: The coffee pot de creme is cooked in a steam oven at 81CI 178F. The whisky anglaise is cooked at 78CI 172F sous vide and then transferred to a whipping siphon. The posset is set with 0.7% citric acid for at least 2 hours.
Caramel Mou
sweet, savory caramel, edible film
Description: Gruyere cheese caramel, cheese water film
Ingredients: Gruyere Blue Label Reserve, LM Pectin, Equipment: centrifuge for making cheese water
Process: To a typical caramel base is added grated cheese and cheese water. The cheese film is set with agar and gelatin.
Gummy Worms
oil gel, fish lure molds
Description: Olive oil, vanilla, and thyme gummy worms.
Ingredients: 200 bloom gelatin, gum arabic, Equipment: fish lure molds
I love visiting cooking schools in foreign cities. Senac is the most popular cooking school in Brazil. They school thousands of students in Rio alone. Senac has visited The International Culinary Center in New York many times and I was eager to see their operation. We went to two of their schools serving two very different neighborhoods. One was an upscale area but the other captured my heart.
Well, this school serviced 7,000 students in Culinary, Beauty and other arts. Rio will host both the World Cup and the Olympics in the next few years and they need all the hands they can get. The government is investing heavily to vocationally educate the citizens. It was joyous and delicious to walk in their classrooms. The students had been waiting for us and had prepared some Brazilian delicacies for us to taste. We loved them! and the food was delicious. I think Rio will be gastronomically ready when the crowds arrive. So if you are lucky enough to get to the World Cup or the Olympics, don’t pass up the local food!
