Ceci n'est pas une martini.

Photobucket


A French friend once told me a martini could only be called so if it consists of vodka or gin, and vermouth. Anything more than that, she said, is not a martini. As Margritte pointed out in the late 1920's, we would be lying if we called something that may not be, fact. This is a collection of my very own original creations.
Call them what you like.

Deconstructed Mac n Cheese Martini

Vodka

Macaroni and cheese (mix and pasta)

Sodium Alginate

Calcium Chloride

Start by boiling about 1/3 of the pasta in about 3 cups of water. When the pasta becomes soft (about 10 minutes) remove from heat and reserve 1 cup of the pasta water. Refrigerate. Put on your lab coat.

Don’t be scared. It’s not that complicated. $20 buys your everything you need from Trufflina.com. Start by measuring 50ml of warm water to about half of the cheese mixture. Add 1 gram of the Sodium Alginate and set aside. Bubbles will form, allow 10 minutes for it to degauss. 

The next step is to mix 150 ml of warm water with 1 gram of the Calcium Chloride. Make sure you use a container that is large enough for the “cheese caviar” to move around and become completely coated with the Calcium Chloride. Use the syringe to drop small dropletsof the cheese mixture into the Calcium Chloride solution. Stir gently. Strain and lightly rinse under cold running water to stop the chemical reaction. Carefully place these at the bottom of a chilled martini glass.

Mix about 2 tbsp of the pasta water with vodka in the shaker with ice. Shake and pour gently over the orange orbs. Finish with a fine grind of black pepper. The caviar are soft and burst in your mouth as soon as you take a sip, mixing the pasta liquid and cheese.

Macaroni and cheese made its first appearance in Liber de Coquina, a Medievel cookbook. Cheese and pasta were mixed within its pages in the 14th century. Enjoy this deconstructed mac n cheese martini fit for the 21st century.