Molecular Gastronomy – Part 2

  Posted on May 27, 2010  by Leslie Blythe  2 comments

I’m not sure where to begin.  Last night we were invited to a dinner at a private club.  It was a thank you dinner for being on committee.  Great, nice “free” dinner, this is good.  The person in charge wanted to make it “extra” (picture me using air quotes) special for the 30 guests. 

Spanish Dinner

Escabeche de Caballa I Patats Bavas

Grilled and Pickled (yeesh!) Spanish Mackerel

Pearl Onions (unidentifiable), Carrots (also unidentifiable), Ramp Bulbs, Fried Potatoes in Spicy Tomato Sauce (promising, but there were only 3 potato “shavings”)

Pulpo Gallega

Galician Style Octopus, Smoked Paprika, La Ratte (rat?) Potato Foam (what is that idiot Marcel from Top Chef doing in the kitchen?)

Deconstructed Paella

“Flavors of Valencia” Puffed Rice (yes, puffed), Snail (just the one?), Rabbit (on the rib bones), Chicken Oysters (? My husband said they were chicken cheeks – the size of scallops!  Chickens don’t have cheeks!), Clams, Sofrito Jus (Yes, the Jus was foamed)

Nitrogen Cookies

Each guest was give a nitrogen cookie to watch the “smoke” billow out of your mouth and nose.

Turron

Espresso and Turron Parfait Torte, Almond Praline Tuile  – This was delicious!

What I have learned.  Always carry Pepsid and a snack. 

Apparently, Chicken Oysters are two small, round pieces of dark meat on the back of poultry near the thigh.  I’m just not going to go there.

Turron (Spanish), torró (Catalan), or torrone (Italian) is a nougat confection, typically made of honey, sugar, and egg white, with toasted almonds.

I forgot to mention the 2 passed hors d’ouevres – chicken livers with a mound of what looked like horseradish on a Chinese wonton spoon and an unidentifiable fishy thing on another spoon.

I watched the women at the table stare in horror at each plate.  I really don’t like to complain – especially over a free dinner, but this was all one big wank feast (sorry for being a bit off color) for the chefs in the kitchen with complete disregard for the diners.

Needless to say, we ended up at the taco truck scarfing down carnitas afterwards.

My husband was up all night and he is still in bed moaning……