When we first started to create the taste of something in another form, we always went about making the original and then changed its form. The results were good. Unfortunately, the process began to not make any sense. For instance, if we wanted to make toast soup to serve with eggs and bacon, we would first make bread, then toast that bread, then dry the toast further and use that to make a toast soup, perhaps enriched with some butter and maybe a toast stock made from toast steeped in water. The results were good. After we followed this process and applied it to multiple dishes, we began to wonder about a better way. We know what toast tastes like. Why not use the knowledge to just make something that tastes just like toast? It can contain toasted elements and butter elements, and pieces which complete the flavor profile without making the original. This process allows us to focus and fine-tune flavors so that we can create more than just a representation of the original, rather something greater than the inspiration.
We have made gingerbread soup. We used it to glaze squab and contemplated pairing it with lobster. The soup was good. Unfortunately, it was heavy, a bit rich, and lacked a clarity that we are constantly searching to achieve. We have revisited this preparation and focused on a gingerbread concentrate which uses toasted milk solids as its backbone. The results are amazing and bracing. The sauce is more of a concentrate which can be used as a stepping stone or a pillar for a dish.
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