opinionated alchemist

Everything Japanese is a trend - not only 2018 but already a couple of decades. First of all it was just sushi (sashimi etc). Then tempura. Then yakitori. Then Wagyu (and Kobe - for the rich). Then Japanese Whiskies. It seems that the trends from this country never stop to hit mainstream.  Part of this “trending” are also Japanese ingredients. Again - wasabi was first - over togarashi (and a lot of other stuff) - lately to yuzukosho.  And I have seen lately quite a lot of cocktails, which use yuzu.  What is yuzu you might ask: In short: this is a citrus fruit (hybrid), which growth and is used predominantly in Japan. Now - if you know me, you already anticipate, that I am a sucker for unique fruits - and yuzu is not an exception. Food which uses yuzu is quite unique. But here is the issue: there is no point, to buy yuzu fresh (at least not here in the Middle-East). You simply can’t (well - not for a reasonable price - if y...

Today - I just further explored the “green extraction” in infusions: This time I have heated up water and gin up to 65ºC. To the gin I have added basil - to the water tarragon. After an hour or so, the gin (slowly) turned green. Not the green I expected (like before) - and I had to shake it... Hence I guess, the best way is to start with a room temperature liquid (but a hot, preheated sous vide bath). The water didn’t really become green at all (very pale yellow). I still have to try this with room temperature water - but I guess, the extraction doesn’t work with water as medium. The interesting point was, that both infusions gained coloration, when they chilled down in a water bath! I will experiment further with those changes: Starting with room temperature (or maybe even slightly chilled) liquid. Bringing it up to 65ºC and holding it for 2 hours. Chill down again under room temperature (and holding it at this temperature for an extended time). Probably it also wou...

Usually I am more into education and more into R&D when it comes to my blog. However every now and then, a product lands in my hands, which is remarkable (or the opposite) - and there it certainly calls for a review. Today it is a waiter’s knife. First off all let’s determine what it is: a waiter’s knife, waiter’s key, waiter’s friend - you can call it also just bottle opener (used in professional environments - usually the home bottle openers are designed differently). I have owned and bought in my career dozens if not 100’s of openers. Just like pens (in hospitality), you need them, but also quickly “loose” them. Colleagues (and at times guests) are “borrowing them” and don’t return them. You are forgetting them in your laundry and they get lost there, or they drop just out of your pocket on a very busy and tiresome day. Hence if you are not a sommelier in a high profile fine dining environment - where you can consistently take 100% care of your stuff - or if you are jus...

tarragon heat infused vodka Creativity in beverage development is sometimes a strange thing: at times you are researching for something specific and it just doesn’t want to “come your way”. Other times a new “thing" just falls into your lap - by accident. I could tell you, that I have researched a lot the temperature chlorophyl is transferring into a liquid... but this would be just a lie... I have been doctoring with a hot infusion of gin. I used different infusions in different bottles (and combined them afterwards). As mint is quite dominant in the Middle East, I have also made a lemon mint (vodka) infusion. Usually I would infuse herbs at a lower temperature, but as my Anova immersion circulator resided on work, and as I have been sous vide'ing already a juniper infusion at a higher temperature, I decided just to go along and add all infusions at one temperature (about 65ºC). After a couple of hours, I had a look and thought, that somebody played a prank o...