Food

NEW TASTES AS LIGHT AS CLOUDS

Courtesy of Le Laboratoire. Le Whaf in use

As we delight in clouds all this week, we’ve been dreaming about tasting them. So, we’ve rounded up some beautiful clouds to eat, drink, and even to breathe in.

The ultimate food cloud is one that bestows zero calories to weigh you down. Take a whiff of Le Whaf. This French gadget turns liquid ingredients into a gastronomique mist, which you inhale for a new kind of “eating” pleasure.

A similar concept, called Le Whif, turns chocolate into a calorie-free aerosol induced dark cloud. Both devices were invented by French scientist and Harvard professor David Edwards. And they’ve started a hot new diet trend in Europe. Dieters claim that inhaling these “food clouds” curbs their appetites.

Photo: Courtesy of Le Laboratoire

Restaurant chefs are starting to experiment with the food cloud concept. Chef Norman Aitken, of Juniper Kitchen and Wine Bar Ottawa, for example, makes a beef and mushroom consommé cloud. It’s a new kind of amuse bouche, compliments of the house.

Le Whaf uses ultrasound to agitate the liquid with such speed and force that it creates a misty cloud. It is essentially a vehicle for flavor, inhaled through a straw, delivering a mere taste sensation in your mouth.

Video: Courtesy of Labstore Paris

Next, we dip into a French classic cloudlike dish with some new twists. Although it’s name means “floating island,” île flottante is more like a floating cloud. Like a sweet cumulus in a puddle of custard, the eggwhite foam is so light, the dessert fools you into thinking it won’t make you the least bit heavier if you indulge.

We found some new spins on the classic île flottante.

Photo: Courtesy of Roz Ka Khana

While the traditional île flottante is an after-dinner treat, we love this new idea as a starter. Begin your meal with a cloud, perfumed with savory cumin, thyme and oregano, studded with fresh petit pois and fava beans. We’ve adapted this recipe from Saveur Passion to include fresh chives, bay scallops, and white truffle oil.

ÎLE FLOTTANTE PRIMAVERA

(Serves 4)

Ingredients:

4 eggs

330 ml milk

1 tablespoon cumin

4 pinches of ras el hanout

3 tablespoons of chopped chives

400 grams of fresh fava beans (in the pod), keep one person presentation

200 grams of peas (in the pod as well)

500 grams of fresh bay scallops or rock shrimp, lightly poached and drained

1 shallot

Fresh thyme and oregano sprigs

White truffle oil

Instructions:

Plunge the fava beans in boiling salted water flavored with oregano and thyme from the boiling continued for 5 minutes. Drain. Remove the skins from the beans and set aside.
Shell the peas and cook in salted water with 1 sprig of thyme and 1 shallot cut into four, 10-minute rolling boil. When the peas are cooked but still firm, crisp, and green, plunge them into ice cold water. Drain. Set aside.
Separate the egg whites from the yolks. Boil the milk, add the cumin. Beat the egg yolks with a pinch of salt and half the hot milk. Reduce heat to low. Stir in the remainder of milk and stir as it thickens to form a custard. Add the peas and beans, two tablespoons chives, salt and pepper. Add scallops or shrimp, and let cool. Divide among four plates.
Beat the egg whites with two pinches of salt. Form dumpling/clouds with two soup spoons and dip them, 1 minute on each side, in salted boiling water. Gently place on paper towels and set aside.
Dust the custard mixture with cumin and remainder of chives. Place one eggwhite cloud atop the cream on each plate, sprinkle with ras el hanout, and drizzle with truffle oil. Decorate each plate with two half beans and a chive blossom.

Photo: Matthew Hine. "île FLOTTANTE." Lemongrass, Meiwa Kumquat, Black Sesame & Ginger "Anglaise"

If you’d rather have your île flottante the old-fashioned sweet way, but don’t want to make a big fuss, try making it this new way, as conjured by Top Chef Ghislaine Arabian. It’s super-easy and fast -- made in a microwave.

Photo: Courtesy of Découvrir & Déguster

ÎLE FLOTTANTE A LA MICRO-MINUTE

(Serves 4)

Ingredients:

4 eggs

1 vanilla pod

75 grams of sugar

1/2 liter of milk

4 tablespoons of chopped candied lemon peel

Caramel:

100 grams sugar

1 cl water

Make the custard:

In a bowl, mix the egg yolks and add sugar and milk. Scrape vanilla pod and add the scrapings to the egg yolk mixture. Mix well.
Cook in microwave for about 4 minutes on medium power. Set aside.

Make the clouds:

Beat the egg whites until stiff then add the remaining sugar. Continue beating until the whites are firm.
Divide eggwhite mounds among four teacups. Place teacups in a large bowl or casserole dish. Pour water into bowl, around the teacups, filling half way up the outside of the cups, taking care not to get water in the eggwhites. Place in microwave and cook for four minutes at medium power. Set aside.

Make the caramel:

Mix sugar and water in a container
Microwave at full power while the two minutes until caramel forms.

Assemble:

Remove eggwhite mounds from teacups and place one on each of four shallow bowls. Pour the custard around each mound.
Drizzle caramel over each mound. Sprinkle with candied lemon peel.

Photo: Courtesy of The Baker Chick. Lemon Cream Pavlova

Another light-as-a-cloud sweet treat, the Pavlova, is named after the light-on-her-toes ballerina, Anna Pavlova. It looks like sunshine napping on a puffy cloud pillow, when done up in lemon, as the Baker Chick does it. Pirouettes of crisp meringue, topped with soft dollops of whipped cream and fresh lemon curd, are heaven on a plate.

LEMON CREAM PAVLOVAS

(Serves 6)

Ingredients:

For the Lemon Curd:

4 egg yolks
1/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (from about 3 lemons)
Zest of 2 lemons
1/2 cup sugar
pinch of salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into chunks

For the Pavlova:

4 egg whites
1 cup superfine sugar
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract.

For the Cream:

1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon powdered sugar

Instructions

To Make the Lemon Curd:

In a small saucepan combine the yolks, lemon juice and zest, salt and sugar. Whisk together and then cook over medium heat, stirring constantly for 5-7 minutes, until mixture thickens and can coat the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and stir in the butter, one piece at a time.
Pour curd into a fine mesh sieve, straining out any chunks or large zest bits. Cover with a piece of plastic wrap placed directly on the surface and refrigerate until chilled completely.

To Make the Pavlova Clouds:

Preheat oven to 275F. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper. Trace out 6 3-inch circles, spaced evenly on the sheet, then flip the parchment over so the writing is facing down.
Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whisk on medium high speed until soft peaks form. Let the machine continue to run as you gradually add the sugar, one tablespoon at a time. Continue to beat, raising the speed to high if needed, until stiff glossy peaks are formed.
Sprinkle the corn starch, vinegar and vanilla over the meringue and gently fold them in to combine.
Now gently spread the meringue in the circles on the parchment to make circular bases. Make sure the edges of the meringue are slightly higher then the center so you have a very small well in the middle.
Bake for about 40-55 minutes, or until the meringue rounds are a light tan color. Turn the oven off and leave the door slightly ajar to let the meringues cool completely. As the meringue cools, it will crack slightly.

To Make the Cream: