I set out early this morning to start collecting ingredients for what I had planned would be my signature beverage. I was looking for pistachio, rhubarb, and fresh ginger. Not huge plans, but some place to start. The drive to Your Dekalb Farmers Market is a longer stretch from the new house, so I can only make it every once in a while.. Not to mention gas prices went up a dollar yesterday with all this Ike jazz.
YDFM is a mecca of fresh produce and hard to find spices. Unfortunately, it's a madhouse on Saturdays. I went it armed with a scarf (it's freezing in there) and a basket and made my way through the crowds. This place attracts everyone, so the lanes get crowded as restaurant chefs pack their buggies with their weekend's menu and I scramble between the children who get lost underneath the fruit tables.
Amidst the cacophony I find my way to the kale. Rhubarb looks like kale, so I figured it'd be over in that general vicinity. Hmmm... wrong. I wander through the cabbages and then to the fresh herbs and the pre packs of baby spinach. Nada. When Aly and I were discussing the possibilities of rhubarb, she brought up memories of Iowa and rhubarb pies.. how everything had rhubarb in it since even a small crop would yield enough of the stuff to feed an army. She remembered it being fall, and yet the farmers market is out.
I consult a text that greatly helped me in composing my signature beverage last spring : Culinary Artistry by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page.
I happened upon it my accident in the book store, but its use has proved its validity. It breaks up foods into seasons, gives you great flavor pairings for a variety of foods and spices, and even goes into the process of developing a menu. And the book says rhubarb is a spring veggie. Thankfully, flipping to the "fall" page puts me back on track and I wondered why I hadn't just bought the book already. So I did. $30 well spent. The book is really meant for those starting up a restaurant or developing a menu, but isn't that what we are doing in competition? Thoughtfully searching for ingredients (great coffees to serve as espresso), how to highlight their features (as in searching for the best complimentary milk for a capp), and finding great flavors to pair with it (sig drink!). This book is excellent, and too great a gem to keep to myself.
9 comments:
Let me just say it: ick. Kudos to you if you can figure out a way to make rhubarb work with espresso. Ashlind wanted to use it at the usbc. It is sour, sour, sour and requires massive amounts of sugar to be tolerated in a pie. It is the one thing that my grandmother cooked (both stewed rhubarb and as pie) that I can't stand.
What is there to say about rhubarb? To say the least I am not a fan...
Although if you are looking for a Pistachio flavor try to find Honey made from the flowers of pistachio trees. It is a little hard to come by, but it has the unmistakable taste of pistachio without the annoying alcohol tang that most extracts have...Look for a good Greek variety as it tends to be more heavily pistachio'e (is that even a word?). Hey, and any leftover can be used to make a mindblowing ice cream.
As far as the Market...When I was a wee lad I was often one of the lost children, but in most cases I was exploring not crying. I really miss exploring there to this day....time for a field trip, eh...fel9
okay! so veto on the rhubarb. whew. good thing I couldn't even find it. Anyway, the text is helping me find something more seasonally appropriate.... but nothing cliche. Pumpkin is out of the question, but I still feel drawn to using some type of produce? *think think think*
I've been playing mad scientist around the shop for the last few weeks. We were brulee-ing watermelon while working on the watermelon-lime agua fresca; a thin slice on top of a sweet shot of blackcat was pretty amazing. We used fresh ginger to make our own ginger syrup, and the thin slices of now-candied ginger were coated in vanilla sugar, torched, and gobbled like candy. It would also have made a nice addition to a shot. We're also working on star anise syrup... and when I was at the produce stand I was eyeing the pumpkins and wondering about broiling them with maple syrup and then using them in the syrup base...
STAY AWAY FROM THE RHUBARB!!! IT'S EVIL!!!
You should also take a look at Page & Dornenburg's Flavor Bible. It just came out, and I'm finding it even more resourceful than Culinary Artistry. How about fig?
Anthony- you're going syrup crazy. But I guess our options are slightly limited seeing how this whole coffee thing needs to be a "drink." Playing with textures is going to be fun.. how to transform your syrups on stage will be interesting..
And as for Flavor Bible - oh man. I just wish I could find a copy in town I could just reference? I forgot how expensive competition is.
Remember, a signature beverage needs to be "drinkable", it can still have texture. You just can't use a spoon.
But really, I think there's a big difference between creating interesting and exciting coffee drinks and performing specifically to win a competition. Create something unique and captivating and people will remember.
Afterall, who really remembers last years' regional champion?
I say continue on your exploration of rhubarb. I think there are some exciting possibilities there. Back in the spring, we were playing with different combinations for rhubarb - mainly for pies and such but I think there's good possibilities for coffee.
In fact, I've still got a quart of the rhubarb puree in the freezer. Maybe it's time to revisit.
Is pumpkin really out of the question? I think there are so many possibilities - or is it out of the question because it seems too obvious for fall? I think there could be some exciting possibilities with roasted pumpkin out there.
Watermelon brulee on top of espresso? Crazy.
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