Burch & Purchese Dishes - 11 Apple, Celery, Beetroot & Walnut

This is a first version of a new dessert we are currently working on. The flavours seem to complement each other very well. We wanted to create a dessert that used unusual flavours coupled with modern techniques and differing textures. We made a vibrant beetroot sorbet using freeze dried beetroot powder. The finished sorbet was a stunning colour and not too sweet, we were happy with this result. This dish has a lot of components and has a savoury feel to it. We paired the sorbet with walnut jam and candied walnuts, lemon curd, candied celery and an unusual apple balsamic jelly. We pickled some apple pieces in white balsamic vinegar and made an espuma of yoghurt. Also on the plate we added apple 'pringles' which were a fun element as was the apple 'bubbles'. The bubbles were an adaptation of a technique passed on to us by Chef Andoni Luiz Aduriz from Mugaritz restaurant where they developed a recipe for chocolate bubbles. We find that the bubbles are a fairly easy application to replicate with most flavours and we were happy with the vibrant, almost effervescent effect given from the malic acid in the apples. The dish works well and has been popular when put on the menu. It seems to attract the sort of customer who says 'I don't normally have dessert', and for that we are thankful. As always we will rework and refine this dish and post back the results.

Dinner At El Cellar de Can Roca

Anticipation of entering this legendary restaurant.

Darren with Joan (left) and Jordi (right)

Our 'Feast Menu' - click to enlarge
The A la Carte Dessert menu.
'Green Chromatism'

'Caramelized Apricot part 1'

'Caramelized Apricot part 2'
'Milk Dessert' - Milk Caramel, sheeps milk ice-cream, sheep's curd cheese foam

Petits FourAt dinner at this superb restaurant, I (Darren) was treated to the exceptional talent and artistry of acclaimed pastry chef Jordi Roca. The meal as a whole was outstanding with Chef Joan and sommelier Josep pairing exquisite course after exquisite course, with touches of flair from Jordi more than evident throughout. The 'feast' menu was delivered and enjoyed thoroughly by myself and my wife and we were delighted with the service and execution. The desserts though were a standout, the dessert menu is included above for your interest and most of them were tried on the night in addition to the 'feast' menu as Jordi sent out three extra desserts for us to try. The picture above of the apricot was a superbly lifelike blown sugar ball which resembled the freshest apricot you have seen, inside was smooth sorbet of apricot and it tasted delicious. A truly memorable night was capped off with Sommelier Josep guiding us into the superbly renovated kitchen to meet the chefs who were extremely hospitable despite a language barrier. In the coming weeks we at Burch & Purchese will look more closely into these dishes and explain the thought and technique behind them, but for now we will leave you to drool over the pictures.
http://www.cellercanroca.com/PORTADA/intro.htm

Interesting Omelette Dishes

During our dinners at El Cellar de Can Roca and El Bulli in Spain last month we noticed two similar dishes on both of the menus. The top photo shows the 'Omelette Surprise' at El Bulli and the next two photos show El Cellar's 'Herring Smoked Caviar Omelette', both of these dishes were very interesting. On first inspection these both looked like a classic omelette, but bot were not as they seemed. An outer membrane held a liquid substance which burst upon piercing. Both dishes were amazing in presentation, technique and were most importantly delicious in flavour. We are always interested in techniques and new applications on classic dishes and wanted to share these with you.

A Day At Sosa Products - Castelltercol, Catalonia

In a small village around one hour from Barcelona Darren and his wife Cath, visited the factory of Sosa Products. Sosa is a company servicing the savoury and patisserie sides of the kitchen and their products are being used worldwide. A former biscuit manufacturer, Sosa has extended their product range in recent years and focused their attention on flavour compounds, chemicals, equipment and freeze dried products. Led by Francesc (Quico) Sosa, an enthusiastic and talented professional, a character seemingly styled from an Patrick Suskind novel, Sosa delivers cutting edge technologies to the industry.

We were met by Quico himself, who warmly welcomed us into his world of flavours. Quico explained to us the process of freeze drying and showed us his new products and the machine they are dried in. Off then on a tour of the factory, first through the biscuit and wafer production centre started by his father before him. Sosa still produce these products for the food service industry but have evolved with Quico's visionary ethos. Next we were taken to the new wing of the factory and Quico's world of flavours. We were first shown Sosa's chemical mixes available for retail, Quico made demonstrations to us on these and explained their uses and told us of some of his prestigious clients. Agar and gelatine mixes, algae gelification products and egg powders were all explained with enthusiasm. Quico then showed us his flavour alphabet, a new range of flavour profiles of virtually every ingredient you could think of. He demonstrated uses for these and we were impressed by the possibilities, Quico stresses though that these products should only be used to enhance a natural ingredient and not replace them. Cool mini demonstrations followed including and egg free alioli, and a chocolate free Macadamia ganache. In all Quico was very generous with his time and knowledge and we left the factory with an enthusiasm for his products and the new techniques now available to the chef. Certainly exciting times and a great help to the time strapped chef, look out for Sosa products which are going to be huge in Australia as soon as more top end chefs come to know about them. Thank you to Quico for his hospitality and Sosa products are now available in Australia through Imports Of France. http://www.sosa.cat/index.php

Visit To I.C.C. - International Cooking Concepts Spain

During my time in Barcelona, a trip was planned to the head offices of International Cooking Concepts (I.C.C.). A nondescript building on Gran Via Corts Catalanes houses this specialist cookware supplier/developer and I.C.C. is the world leader in cutting edge kitchen technology. Owner Marc Calabuig was kind enough to spend some of his valuable time showing me all of the new technologies up close. Rotoval, Clarimax, Pac-O-Jet and Roner were on display alongside smaller pieces of equipment such as Superbag, atomizers, ThermoXPresswhips and Ezi-Dri. Marc explained in detail the ethos of the company and his elite customer base which includes most of the worlds leading chefs. It seemed like every imaginable device was on show and the sight of all of these machines and their capabilities were mind blowing. What Escoffier or Careme would have thought, we don't know but I am sure that they like the guys at I.C.C. would see the value in all of these machines, which don't provide shortcuts but allow the chef to concentrate on creativity and productivity. We will be working closely with Rely Services and I.C.C. in the future as ambassadors of MyCook which we mentioned earlier this month and of which we will keep you updated. Thanks to Marc for his time and to Linda & Robert Erskine from Rely Services Australia (official supplier of I.C.C. Australia) for the hook up. http://www.cookingconcepts.com/ENG/index.html

ElBulli Menu 2009 - Click On Menu To Enlarge

Just back from an amazing food tour of Spain. Lots to write about in the coming days and weeks but here is a sneak peak of this seasons menu at ElBulli - amazing experience. We will post more on this and other interesting subjects later.

Burch & Purchese Dishes 10 - Carrot, Coriander & Curry

This dish has massive flavour impact and combines new methods and techniques. Here at Burch & Purchese we are always trying to push the boundaries in presentation and flavour and we have been working on variations of this dish for a while now. A carrot puree made with organic carrot trim cooked under vacuum is prepared and is the first to dress the plate. Next toasted coriander and dextrose are combined to dust and sprinkled inside the edge of the dish. Next for the 'carrot vichy which is present in three components, all designed to play with the traditional carrot vichy dish. First carrot is cut 1/2 cm thick and cut out with a cutter to form small rounds. The trim is reserved for the puree and the rounds are placed into a sous vide bag along with sucrose and orange juice. The bag is sealed and cooked at 82 C for around three hours or until soft. Once chilled the carrots are reserved ready for use. Next we make carrot jelly using agar, gelatine and 85% freshly squeezed carrot juice and 15% stock syrup. Once set the same sized round cutter is used to cut rounds which resemble the previously cooked carrot rounds. Lastly a carrot croquant mix is spread onto a sil-pat using a fluted chablon and baked til dry in an oven pre heated to 70 C as a nod to traditional carrot vichy shape. So we have three types of 'vichy' and we use two carrot rounds, two jelly rounds and three carrot crisps to garnish the plate. Tubes of carrot cake are warmed and arranged onto the plate with crumbs of dehydrated carrot cake. A curry flavoured ice-cream is served and this flavour really compliments the other components. Baby coriander shoots complete with coriander seed finish the dish to stunning effect.