Alinea's Reverse Spherification

Parker Hallberg

Course Technique

Peel the ginger, then using a mandoline, slice ginger as thinly as possible and set off to the side. In a small saucepan, bring 300 g water, 75 g sugar, and 7g calcium lactate to a boil.
Turn off the heat, and add in the ginger. Cover and let this steep for 15 minutes. Strain through a chinois, discarding the ginger slices.
Fill a squeeze bottle with the ginger infusion, then fill 1 inch hemispheric molds. These will be very fragile, so it is wise to make a couple extra, but we want to save enough ginger infusion to store the spheres later.
Place the mold into the freezer for 2 hours or until frozen solid.
To make the sodium alginate bath, add 1400 g water, 65 g sugar, and 6 g sodium alginate to a medium pot and cook until the sugar and sodium alginate have dissolved.
Into a shallow container, place the spheres evenly in the warm sodium alginate bath. Make sure they do not touch one another or then can stick together.
As the spheres thaw, they form a thin membrane on the outside holding the liquid in the center, which should take five minutes.
Fill two bowls with hot water, then dip the spheres to remove any excess alginate and store in the reserved ginger infusion.
Store these in the fridge, they will keep for around 3 days.

In a medium saucepan, bring 10 g rum,100 g brown sugar, 355g water, 8 g calcium lactate, and 10 g molasses to a boil over medium heat.
Strain through a linen-like or coffee filter into the container then refrigerate until well chilled.
Measure 500 g of liquid and set aside. Use remaining liquid to fill 1 inch hemisphere molds.
Place in the freezer for 2 hours or until completely frozen.
To make the sodium alginate bath, add 1400 g water, 65 g sugar, and 6 g sodium alginate to a medium pot and cook until the sugar and sodium alginate have dissolved.
Strain through chinois into a rectangular container placing the spheres evenly in the warm sodium alginate bath. Make sure they do not touch one another or then can stick together.
As the spheres thaw, they form a thin membrane on the outside holding the liquid in the center, which should take five minutes.
Fill two bowls with hot water, then dip the spheres to remove any excess alginate and store in the reserved base liquid. Store these in the fridge, they will keep for around 3 days.

In a medium saucepan, bring 50 g water to a simmer over medium heat.
Add calcium lactate and stir to dissolve, then whisk in 350g cold cubed butter a little bit at a time, to form emulsion.
Remove from heat and add to a squeeze bottle then fill hemispherically 1 inch molds with butter mixture, then refrigerate for an hour, or until set.
Combine 2000 g water with the 10 g sodium alginate, then blend on high speed for 2 minutes.
Pour into a large, shallow pan and place the butter spheres into the alginate bath. Flip spheres over after 15 minutes, and let soak for another 15 minutes.
Remove from the alginate bath, and dip into a bowl of cold water to remove any excess alginate.
Store these into a water bath at 1940F (90°C) to serve or store them in cold water in the fridge for a day or two.

Keyword Alinea, Michelin Star Recipe, Reverse Spherification, Spherification