Cooking Issues

The International Culinary Center's Tech 'N Stuff Blog

Cooking Issues – October Blitz

Posted on by nastassiar8se

by Nastassia Lopez

This October the Cooking Issues team has been zipping about doing demos and such instead of posting like we ought to. We thought we’d share some of the highlights through photos. Normal posting will resume shortly.

We kicked off October with a demo for the New York Culinary Experience. We did some of our favorites –live Alaskan king crab, huge lobster, rotovapping, etc, etc.

Live Alaskan king crab. So delicious.

Dave flew to Germany for the Bar Convent Berlin where he did a lecture with Eben Klemm on the Science of Shaking and Stirring:

Eben Klemm: our friend and fellow cocktail expert with a plate of echt Deutsch Schweinshaxe.

We made a (better) version of McGriddles for the Cooking Channel. We make maple syrup balls using the reverse alginate technique and fold them into buttermilk pancake batter. They pop in your mouth. Normally, Dave isn’t a fan of little popping balls, but he thought them justified in this case.

The crew testing reverse alginate syrup balls for the pancakes.

Dave doing a demo at The Harlem Children’s Zone supporting the upcoming food and science exhibit at the Liberty Science Center.

Dave at The Harlem Children's Zone

He fed the audience gymnemic acid, which temporarily obliterated their sense of sweet. He was opening for a discussion panel with Dr. Oz, Rachel Ray, and Alonzo Mourning; but just like in his college band days, he didn’t get to hang with the headliners.

Kentucky: land of bourbon whiskey and country ham –two of our favorite things. Nils and Dave weren’t only drinking and eating –they were learning (we might get a few posts out of that trip).

Hams hanging at Finchville Farms, a traditional American country ham producer. They normally age them for only 9 months, so if you want them older (and you do) call ahead and they'll put one aside.
Brown Foreman's Cooperage. You wouldn't believe the factory. If you are offered a tour, bring earplugs.
Fermenting mash at Maker's Mark.Yes, they let you taste it.
A mini-still they use for testing at Buffalo Trace.

Dave and Nastassia flew to London for a rotovap demo. While there, they made a special trip to Brogdale Farm – the world’s largest culinary fruit collection (and one of Dave’s top places to see in the world). He’s working on a longer post of our fruity adventure, but here’s a teaser:

Brogdale Farm: heaven on earth. A few of their thousands of apple varieties. Beyond that, hundreds of pears. Beyond that, hundreds of plums, many many nuts and hundreds of cherry varieties (not to mention their stellar currant and gooseberry collections). In the distance, pheasants and rabbit. We could have stayed there for days.
Reaching our fruit intake limit. Dave making the Dave Face.

Just yesterday we just finished the Harold McGee class, and October ain’t even over yet.

Harold McGee, spreading the gospel of delicious.

-The Cooking Issues Team

4 thoughts on “Cooking Issues – October Blitz”

  1. what did the mash taste like?

    Im wanting to make a black olive powder (thinking of puree then seperate the oil off) is maltodextrin the best way to go?

  2. I live near Makers Mark (Louisville) and have to say, we’re incredibly blessed to be so close to the distilleries. We’ve got cheap product, wonderful tourism, and beautiful land.

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