THE FUTURE OF FOOD Molecular Gastronomy for the Masses

Soaked Cucumber With Gazpacho Water, Frozen Goat's Cheese Droplets and Requienii Mint Leaves

Andoni Luis Aduritz. Mugaritz, Rentera.

Preparation

For the gazpacho: Peel the onions, garlic and cucumbers. Remove the stalk of the pepper and tomato. Cut all the vegetables into medium slices and put them together with the water and the salt in a container. Leave the mix to soak for 4-5 hours.

Blend everything in a mixer or using a hand-blender. Filter this liquid pure through very fine paper or cloth. Leave
the liquid to strain by its own weight without adding any kind of pressure.

For the cucumber: Cut the cucumber into 4cm-long cylinders. Peel the cucumber slices by turning them by hand with the knife held vertically so that no kind of edge is formed.

Place the cucumber in a container and sprinkle it with salt. Leave the cucumber to sweat for 10 minutes, pass it under the tap and then dry it.

Put the cucumber pieces in the Gastrovac together with the translucent gazpacho. With no additional heat, at room temperature, begin soaking, opening and closing the air valve to the pot. As the cucumber pieces are submerged in the gazpacho soup, each time pressure needs to be reapplied they will absorb the liquid around them.

For the cheese: Put the cheese in a forcing bag and leave it to fall in droplets into a container with liquid
nitrogen so that they form teardrop shapes. Drain and keep in the freezer at -20 C.

For the mint: Cut the tiny mint leaves with the utmost care and wash them in cold water with food cleaner.

To serve: Have frozen non-crack plates in the freezer for the gazpacho consum. Stand each cucumber piece on end on the plate and add the cheese teardrops. Sprinkle some of the mint leaves over the cucumber and cheese and finish with a little of the cold gazpacho consum, until it nearly covers the cucumber.

Ingredients (Serves 8)

For the gazpacho

700g tomato

500g cucumber

100g onion

80g green pepper

10g garlic

15g salt

1.5l mineral water

For the cucumber

1kg cucumber

20g salt

For the cheese

200g whipped creamed

Fermented goat's cheese

For the mint

40 leaves of menta requieni