Edible charcoal?

Eien_Kisu_26805

Any ideas?

I googled and found out that Next did an edible woodfire with sweet potatoes. HOW?

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Brandon_Byrd_40557

Most of the "edible charcoal" recipes I've seen call for coating potatoes with food grade carbon. I don't know how you'd do it so that they were actually on fire (and still have them be edible).

Matt_67991

Modernist cuisine had coals made with prunes marinated in brandy. Other fillings are possible, but the main idea is pulling a vacuum on the bubbly black candy. Other fillings are possible, but the main idea is pulling a vacuum on the bubbly black candy. The vacuum expands the bubbles, which then harden to look like coal.

prince_of_porcelain

From an interview with Chef Beran (not a full recipe, but may give you a place to start):

Tell me about some of the dishes.

Beran: Well, the campfire is really iconic. For a while

I wanted to set something on fire in the dining room. My mom makes

sweet potato pie every Thanksgiving. It's like a casserole with sweet

potatoes and marshmallows on top. I was thinking about how that felt

like fall to me and then started playing with this idea of making things

look like charcoal. I threw sweet potatoes into the stock and they came

out looking like charcoal. Then I asked, "What if we can set this on

fire?" Sitting around a campfire feels familial and like fall. Everyone

has that experience. I figured out how to powder alcohol with

aroma and put it on the logs and set it on fire in the center of the

table so you have a campfire on the table. As it burns, the

rest of the course comes out: apricot puree, streusel, bourbon ice

cream, side of english toffee caramel sauce to pour with it. When the

fire goes out, the powder tastes like the outside of a burnt marshmallow

that's coated with sweet potatoes and you put it on top of this course.

I wanted to avoid serving a s'more because everyone thought we had to

serve a s'more. This is the final dessert.

prince_of_porcelain

Also in the Harvard Lecture Series (2011), Chef Achatz discusses this Next dish: Sweet Potatoes cooked in a syrup of vanilla, cinnamon and blue corn to look like charcoal. Tincture of Vanilla, Cinnamon and Grain Alcohol(?) powdered with Tapioca Maltodextrin (n-Zorbit?) and mixed with powdered sugar for the fuel to the fire. Plated with apricot puree, streusel, bourbon ice cream, english toffee caramel sauce.

Now I want to give this a try.

prince_of_porcelain

Getting ready to give this a go for Saturday night. 190 proof Everclear in the house....getting ready for an isi infusion. Not much luck finding blue corn, or even blue corn meal so far...

Brendan_Lee_56950

you could grind up some blue corn tortillas if you can find those

prince_of_porcelain

I considered that. All I could find was chips. I wasn't ready to go there quite yet before I hit a few more markets. If I strike out there it's between blue corn tortilla chips, blue food coloring, or just nothing. I may try to experiment with each.

prince_of_porcelain

Ok, first part of the test (Highly Flammable "Marshmallow" Powder) worked. Now I can concentrate on the rest of the dish.

Brandon_Byrd_40557

Awesome!

Pepijn_31744

Cool!

robert.c.brown15

Be sure to drink some of that everclear.

prince_of_porcelain

Ok, Here's my take on the Edible Campfire:

Apricot Puree, Sea Foam Powder, Butter Rum Ice Cream, Pressure Cooked Banana "Coals", Combustible Marshmallow Powder

I'll post details tomorrow, or hopefully throw it into a recipe format with my take on the Combustible Marshmallow Powder. The flavors were really great - incorporated some ChefSteps recipes with the bananas and sea foam. Plating could've used some work. I think quartering the banana's lengthwise would've allowed a more impressive fire to build. All in all, a fun little project for the last couple of days.

prince_of_porcelain

You probably noticed I bagged the sweet potatoes. Unfortunately, I just didn't have time. The last 24 hours had basketball practice, soccer match, basketball game, swimming lessons and a piano recital for the kids and with all that I didn't get going early enough on the yams to be ready for tonight's dinner. I thought the pressure cooked bananas would be a reasonable "coal" substitute though and pair well flavor wise. Plus, they were another recipe I'd been wanting to try.

Brendan_Lee_56950

Awesome work Brian. I look forward to the details

t.stanoulis

That's brilliant — seems like a lot of fun. I'm pretty curious about the combustible marshmallow powder!

prince_of_porcelain

Ok, Added the recipe for the Combustible Marshmallow Powder. Check it out and let me know what you think. I'll add the rest of the dish later.

Pepijn_31744

@Brian, thanks for adding the recipe! Looks great, definitely something I'd like to experiment with. The video doesn't seem to work though, or is that just me?

prince_of_porcelain

Thanks @Pepijn. Video should be fixed now. I hope.

Pepijn_31744

Seems to be working now! Thanks

Brendan_Lee_56950

Excellent work. I foresee this getting worked into a cocktail application!

Samuel_68313

Aww man, I spent ages trying to make a dish for christmas with chestnuts roasting on an open fire. It was just...well...it didn't work. How the hell did you do that?

tshewman

@Brian sorry for being so light headed, but where is the recipe posted? This is very nice. Was considering something like this using a cherry bourbon powder (if I can make it :-)..)

Pepijn_31744

@Todd, here it is. You can also find it under Chefsteps.com > Recipes > Community Recipes

tshewman

Hi @Pepijn, thanks and got it from the FB post. :-) Not sure why my previous search didn't work but glad I got it.

prince_of_porcelain

@Todd, I'm not sure if bourbon will work as the alcohol content will be much lower - or said another way, the water content will be much higher. I assumed this would be an issue with trying to powder lower proof alcohols, but didn't actually try it. Unless maybe you have access to a rotovap? If so, awesome! Otherwise, you'd probably need to try to use aromatics, essential oils, or similar to replicate the flavor profile of cherry bourbon. Maybe bourbon barrel staves, corn, malted barley, toasted rye, dried cherries in a quick isi infusion?

tshewman

@Brian Douglas - Thanks for the tips!!!! I was thinking of first trying to add ever clear to gauge how much dilution there would be to the cherry bourbon. Failing that, using an infusion similar to what you listed above (which will require a bit more homework :-).....alcohol, matches...nothin could go wrong there ;-)). No rotovap :-( man there's so much great technology! :-)

prince_of_porcelain

@Todd - No rotovap for me either.

prince_of_porcelain

Preview for the final recipe...may reshoot this if I have time. I think the cold plate may inhibit the fire (lower vapor pressure?), as it didn't give as robust a result. Feel free to abuse me over my plating skills, or lack thereof. On the bright side, my quenelle actually resembles a quenelle. Not a great one mind you, but progress. Also, I redid the video for the marshmallow powder so it's oriented correctly in the recipe.

http://youtu.be/gcN4cCrxE5U

Jack_Mayer_85396

Damn, that is soooo cool! Great job @Brian!

ipreferale

@Brian, Very nice indeed...