[ChristianSeel]

Much of the food we serve at Alinea comes from unconventional ingredients that are often not regarded as food at all. To name a few, aloe, menthol, hay, bark and branches of juniper, cedar, maple, eucalyptus, as well as lilac, tobacco, corn husks, tomato vines. We also use food products not commonly seen in restaurants like, bubblegum, candy canes, grape soda, popcorn. Currently we use pine needles as flavoring in our matsutake dish. An older dish used burnt corn husks to flavor a sorbet. Burning oak branches deliver pheasant battered in tempura and deep fried. A stick of rosemary in a hot brick. We make a flavored liquid with maple saplings that becomes the maple sphere on a chocolate dish. Aloe vera leaves are served with sea urchin. Bubblegum is cooked with sugar and water and used to flavor tapioca pearls. We steep the tobacco leaf wrapper of cigars to make tobacco cream. Chef Beran is developing a meat jus flavored with applewood and bacon. Chef Achatz is currently working on a dish which combines coconut with menthol.


Hay, burnt sugar, coffee, huckleberry

When we find something that is important to an experience such as the smell of the first lilacs of spring, tomato vines in summer, burning leaves in autumn, or spruce and juniper in the winter, we start to look at the potential culinary uses and how to heighten the experience. Recently we introduced a dessert based on hay. Hay itself is not edible and not regarded as food, but its extremely aromatic and indicative of the fall season. The smell of a hay ride or a pumpkin patch in the cool air is very memorable.



Here we see the hay as it steeps to flavor cream. So how do you create a dish based around hay, or approach another ingredient that is not commonly eaten? In context hay might remind some of unpleasant smells of farms and animals, however, on its own it has very grassy, nutty qualities. Chef Achatz was reminded of hazelnut when he smelled the toasting hay. To create a dessert based around hazelnut is more straightforward. A hazelnut creme brulee with huckelberries, dark caramel and coffee is pretty conventional, although when we replace it with hazelnut with hay, the dish takes on a whole new character. Chef Achatz describes this process of conceptual likening as flavor association.



Any successful dish must be balanced, and to do this requires a variety of textures, flavors and tastes. Each component is there because it serves some function in the dish. The custard contains fat and provides richness and creamy, smooth texture. The coffee cake adds a complex aroma because it has been roasted, but mostly adds bitterness, which helps to balance the custard. The huckelberries contribute a bright acidity which also adds contrast to the custard as well as complementing some brightness from the hay. We make cotton candy using a traditional machine and roll it flat to create the sugar you see in the picture, which is the sweet element in the dish.

[josephbayot]

Excellent. Love these posts. Is there any item that you have tried working with but completely struck out?

[beng]

I had the fortunate opportunity to have this dish the first night it was put out and was wondering how this dish came together both conceptually and logistically, so thanks for the excellent post! Also, when it was presented as "hay brulee" I couldn't help but chuckle at the rhyming.

[Grant Achatz]

In the kitchen at alinea would you say there are certain ingredients that are considered "off limits"? I know some chefs have certain dislikes of particular ingredients and they are banned from use in their kitchens. It may not be an ingredient but maybe a preparation or serving piece that just rubs them the wrong way. I have a particular dislike for food served in a martini glass for some reason, it may be delicious but it still rubs me the wrong way. Have you encountered anything like this in the alinea kitchen and if so please elaborate.

In general we are extremely open to new ingredients. We certainly do not exclude foodstuffs from other countries; in fact we seek them out. After a recent trip to Japan I became obsessed with all things Japanese. This led to the sourcing of Kinome, fish sauce made solely from Ayu fish, myoga, and others. Similarly a drive down Devon Ave. in Chicago reminds me of all the awesome Middle Eastern ingredients that can be inspirational. Green peanuts, different spices, and teas.


I guess the few of the black listed items would be artificial colors or dyes. I have never felt good about that. We don’t use MSG, even thought one of our sommeliers carries a small bag of the white power with him and occasionally sprinkles it on his staff meal…

As far as service ware…obviously we are lucky to have Crucial Detail making service ware for us. This helps us not only fill our desire for custom pieces that serve the food best, but also help us retain a consistent aesthetic. For Martin and I this is very important, and becomes a built in filter.

Chefs and pretty sensitive to these things in particular. Most of the time egos would not allow chefs to use the branded service ware of other chefs, or even try a service method that another chef is known for. For example: the plastic wrap over a bowl technique that Joan Roca uses to release aromas and smoke as you consume the food sitting on top of the plastic covered bowl. Or the fish baked in the box polymer at Moto. Both great ideas by the way….