Hmmm, gelatin. I've viewed that as a copout but I'm willing to change my mind.
Agar-agar is a vegetable based gelatin. The stuff used in petri dishes. It comes in various form from powder and flakes to the original seaweed, that when rehydrated form transparent gelatin noodles that is an interesting addition to salads.
I bought some as experiment. It's a tough mess. Like cooked spaghetti that dried to a solid mass, it's nearly impossible to separate, difficult to tear apart, so it's cut and soaked then the strands slip apart. I also cut some, kept it dry and processed it to powder in an electric coffee bean grinder. As powder it works like regular gelatin.
A memory provided a scene when I wrote "gelatin."
My brother and I stopped into a cafeteria type place named something like Heritage House or something similar to that. They have a good spread. A family passed by our table one-at-a time with their plates piled up to their eyeballs. Total pig out. Embarrassing. As if they don't get it now then somebody else will and then it'll be gone. Finally a little boy lagging behind caught up to his family, he was holding a smaller plate in front of his chest with four little cubes of Jello wiggling as he walked by. That's all the boy wanted. Jello. Is that hilarious, or what?
You can have anything in world that you want, prime rib roast, lobster, fried chicken, salmon, potatoes in their glory, steamed vegetables, sauces, interesting salads, imaginative sides. "Thank you. I'll have Jello."
It's a way to assure the mango cake with whipped cream has structure, and not be so leaden with cream cheese.
I don't like to see chefs place things precisely with chopsticks. That's too delicate, too precious. I'd rather see them dump it and pile it like an avalanche happened. Toss things so they land haphazardly.
It's more Zen.
4 comments:
You can have anything in world that you want, prime rib roast, lobster, fried chicken, salmon, potatoes in their glory, steamed vegetables, sauces, interesting salads, imaginative sides. "Thank you. I'll have Jello.
We weren't allowed to have Jello. And it was the one thing I wanted when I went to the department store lunch counter with my mom when we were out shopping. Colored Jello in parfait glasses sitting in the refrigerated case on shelves behind the service counter. Red, Yellow and Orange stacked up, beautiful translucent color waiting to be ingested.
That's all the boy wanted. Jello. Is that hilarious, or what?
Nope. I'm not laughing. On one hand I love the fact that he got what he wanted, was able to chose what appealed to him. On the other, the family appears to have food issues, and the little boy was on his own, without guidance, direction or boundaries, caring for himself while the rest attempted to over-care for themselves and were lost in their own food reveries.
The pig out thing doesn't work for me either. Load-up in the presence of plenty is usually indicative of an underlying problem with food, boundaries or scarcity.
Was at the market today and heard a girl, about ten years, ask musingly, 'I wonder why they call it Jello?'
Oh the surprises yet in store when the musing expands to What is it? and Where does it come from?
None of which would have deterred me from my desire for that forbidden fruit flavored treat.
Post a Comment