You can do magic in your kitchen
Make the famous Liquid Olives “Ferran and Albert Adrià”
Good morning, my friends, we are already having a busy week, and I’m sure you are too! It’s hard to believe that it’s the middle of May already, and that soon we will see graduations, summer vacations, and much warmer temperatures. I hope life slows down a little for you this summer, so you can take the time to enjoy the things that really matter the most in life, and spend it with the people you love.
Of course, one of the best ways to show love is through food, and the time you spent to make it. Not every dish has to be elaborate or take forever to be a dish made with love, but sometimes it’s very satisfying to try something you’ve never tried before, succeed, and impress your family and friends!
Today’s dish will do just that! This recipe comes from my amazing friends Ferran and Albert Adrià, the brothers who ran the very famous restaurant elBulli, the restaurant that started it all for me, We feature it at The Bazaar, as well as Jaleo—of course I am talking about the liquid olive! But more importantly, I am talking about the revolutionary process it takes to create it: spherification. In 2003, Albert discovered a new technique to make spheres of liquid, and he and Ferran pioneered the technique at elBulli. The technique, “spherification,” revolutionized the cooking world, and every chef wanted to know how to do it. In this week’s episode of “Yes, Chef!” we talk about spherification…each contestant had to blindly choose a preparation technique that they would serve to me and Martha. It doesn’t go too well for everyone (you’ll have to watch to know who!), but I am impressed by all these chefs and what they’re able to do with the time we give them…!
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But you do not have to be on tv or to have worked at elBulli to make a sphere in your own kitchen. It does take a little patience and time, but you can make liquid olives at home. The ingredients are easy to find online, so with a little focus, you will have those beautiful, round, silky, briny, salty little olives on spoons, and your guests will think you have done magic!
You’ll notice there are a couple ingredients that you probably won’t have just laying around your pantry—specifically, sodium alginate, xanthan gum powder, and calcium lactate gluconate powder. Sodium alginate comes from seaweed, and can help thicken, emulsify, and stabilize foods (like salad dressings or ice cream). Xanthan gum also helps thicken and emulsify foods, like gravies and sauces, and calcium lactate gluconate is used as a firming agent. Together, these help create the conditions you need to “spherify” something liquid, like these olives! You can find the sodium alginate and calcium lactate here, as well as xanthan gum.
One tip to ensure your olives are perfectly spherified: make sure to flip the sphere, once it’s in the alginate bath, with an offset spatula or spoon, so that the part resting on the bottom of the container has a chance to come in contact with the bath.
Oh—and if this feels like too much work, you can actually get a liquid olive (on me!) at some of The Bazaars for the next week…so if you’re in DC, or New York, or in Vegas, come in for dinner and my team will make sure you get to try one!
And if you DO make the olives…let me know how you did!
Liquid Olives “Ferran and Albert Adrià”