We received a shipment of old and new spices from Terra Spice, as well as an assortment of freeze-dried fruits. When eating freeze-dried fruits, the first thought that comes to mind is the freeze-dried ice cream of yore. I actually never ate the stuff, but I remember the packaging and hearing about the lovers and haters of the product.
Once we opened the parcels, we began tasting the ingredients: pineapple, coconut, strawberry, banana, apricot, blueberry, and corn. As we were eating, tastes and textures mingled, and we began to see the incredible possibilities of these products. I put together a playful bite in a spoon—coconut powder, pineapple, and strawberry. It was a crunchy strawberry daiquiri. The flavors of these freeze-dried fruits are intense and poignant, ideal for directing and coaxing the flavors in dishes.
This morning, we assembled a dish inspired by the Hawaiian poke. We used tuna cubes. The dish consisted of tuna cubes, melon cubes, celery relish, chives, tequila vinegar, and sake-cured roe. To the side of this mixture, we made a dry crumble of freeze-dried pineapple and coconut accented with smoked peppercorns. The dry seasonings are the crunchy seasonings added by the diner, bite by bite.
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