Molecular cuisine creativity showcased at Gulfood
Emirates Snack Foods (ESF) has brought a taste of El Bulli-style molecular gastronomy to the Middle East, in the shape of Spanish brand Sosa.
The innovative and unusual creative chef aids were introduced at the firm’s famed Café Culinaire at Gulfood, with chefs demonstrating their application at the stand.
ESF corporate chef and area sales manager Soufiane Raji explained: “Sosa is a bit technical; it’s basically a line of texturing products, will really help chefs bring innovation into their everyday cooking — they’re the sort of elements you use to create molecular cuisine, as is seen at El Bulli.
“So we have a product which can help people make liquids into powder; and it can create a ‘bubble’ of a liquid, with an outer skin holding the centre in, sort of with the texture of an egg yolk. In a similar way, you can create small ‘pearls’ of a purée, like caviar — but you can produce chocolate caviar, or coffee caviar, which makes a fantastic decorative element for sweets; and I could even make passion fruit spaghetti, or strawberry ribbons,” he explained.
“There is also an incredible range of flavourings that you can incorporate into cuisine, covering everything from caramel and pineapple to smoke and moss,” Raji added.
Commenting on the return of the popular Café Culinaire format, the company’s managing director Ron Daniel Pilnik said: “The area is the same as last year, but we’ve split it into two — the usual seating area and the professional area, where we have dishes displayed and demonstrations going on.
“The menu size has also doubled from last year, which is because the number of brands we represent and who are participating has gone up dramatically,” Pilnik added.
ESF sales manager – food service Anusha Prabhakar added that the stand was “more trade-oriented” this year.
“Café Culinaire is of course here to service our clients and business partners, and this year we particularly wanted to target our clients from the UAE and the Middle East market,” she explained.