Alex is headed out to San Francisco at the end of the month and will be teaching a series of classes at Le Sanctuaire. They will be held on Sunday, August 29, and Monday, August 30. Each class is $125. Each class is two and a half hours long with an hour break between sessions. Please contact Le Sanctuaire to make reservations.
**Pasta**
Sunday, August 29, 2010
10:00 am – 12:30 pm
It’s about taste and texture. Discussing the difference between dried and fresh pastas and the best ways to highlight both. Exploring the world of flavors and how to incorporate them into your pasta. Vacuum sealing the dough. Hydrating dried pastas. Discovering new flavors and textures by varying the ingredients used. Some of the pastas we will be working on are:
– Buckwheat Pasta
– Pumpernickel Pasta
– Lime Pickle Pasta
– Chorizo Infused Noodles
– Onion Soup Noodles
**Ice Cream and Sorbet**
Sunday, August 29, 2010
1:30 pm – 4:00 pm
The best ice creams maximize flavor and minimize ice crystals. We will be considering different ways to control ice crystal formation without sacrificing taste. In addition to traditional buffers like eggs and sugar, we will employ our secret weapon: gellan. We will also be looking at pectin as an alternative for creamy sorbets. Discussing the composition of ice cream and sorbets. Ice creams we will be making include:
– White Coffee Ice Cream
– Chartreuse Ice Cream
– Apple Pie Ice Cream
– Yellow Tomato Sorbet
– Sweet Corn Sorbet
**Eggs**
Monday, August 30, 2010
10:00 am – 12:30 pm
Explore the egg and why it cooks the way it does. A closer look at its structure, properties, coagulation temperatures, and the way to utilize it to your best advantage. We will take a fresh look at traditional egg preparations from an onsen egg to scrambled eggs and bring new insight to the results and the process. Some of the egg recipes we will be covering are:
– Hot Spring Egg
– Peel-able Soft Boiled Egg
– Chawan Mushi
– Scrambled Egg Mousse
– Consistent Hard Boiled Egg
– Egg Yolk Confit
– Smoked Eggs in their Shells
**Aroma**
Monday, August 30, 2010
1:30 pm – 4:00 pm
Examine aroma as a base for adding flavors in cooking. Liquid nitrogen and CO2 are instrumental in allowing us to capture and release aromas at specific times so that food can be more flavorful. We will discuss thoughtful evaluation of taste and smell, how to layer them with aromas, and why. We will look at different techniques to capture and deliver aroma using fats, water-based liquids, and alcohol. Some of the techniques we will be covering are:
– Powdered aromatics
– Using the vacuum sealer to capture aroma
– Powdered fats with aromatics
– Carbonating aromatic cocktails
– Quick infusions
– Toasting aromatics
What can we add aroma to?
– Adding Aroma to Cold Foods
– Aromatic “Marinades”
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