Hydrocolloid-o-rama

Le Sanctuaire in San Francisco hosted Aki Kamozawa and H. Alexander Talbot (pictured at right) of Ideas in Food over the weekend for a series of classes on hydrocolloids — Methocel (derived from cellulose ethers), pectin, Activa (a transglutaminase) and carrageenan.

A hydrocolloid is a collection of particles suspended in water that can form a gel. They can come from natural sources — say, agar from seaweed, or even cornstarch could be considered a hydrocolloid. Much of what's referred to as the "new" hydrocolloids traditionally have been used as industrial stabilizers, but more and more chefs are becoming enamored of their myriad uses — not for extending shelf life but for refining texture (and not just for foams and "spheres").

Chefs and pastry chefs, including a handful from L.A., watched demonstrations of how to make re-heatable brown butter hollandaise sauce with Methocel, Hoisin sauce "lentils" with pectin, mozzarella "noodles" with Activa Y-G and crab meat tater tots with Activa RM.

"Maybe I'll 'glue' two burgers together to make it a double," Sang Yoon of Father's Office said of the Activa, which works by cross-linking food proteins.

"One thing I try to keep in mind when using these things is to ask, 'Do I really need this?' " says Craft chef de cuisine Matt Accarrino. "I never use these modifiers to extend shelf life, compensate for poor product or technique or generally change something which can be made just fine without adding something new."

For example, "xanthan gum is a great thickener. It works well with higher acid. I made an acidic ramp aioli with sherry vinegar, and a lot of ramp puree in it. I added a pinch of xanthan gum.... It provided the right thickness with the right flavor. We were making it every day just before service so it was really fresh. You just have to be careful or everything you make will look like snot." Words to live by.

-- Betty Hallock

Photo by Betty Hallock