KITCHEN

Molecular Mojito.

1. Mint caviar solution. The challenge of making mint caviar is to get a mint-tasting liquid. I tried infusing the rum, but wasn’t very satisfied.

I decided to make a mint simple syrup. Simple syrup is a cocktail preparation where about a cup (or more) of sugar is added to a cup of water, and the mixture is boiled, then cooled. I added a whole bunch of chopped mint to the boiling water and strained it out after the syrup had cooled, leaving a sweet mint syrup that works in the spherification recipe.

2. Lime caviar solution. Limes are tricky because they’re acidic. The trick is to add sodium citrate to the juice and alginate solution, which acts as an acid buffer.

After a number of attempts, I decided on 5g (or 1.6%) of sodium citrate to 250g of lime juice and 3g of sodium alginate. I started with about half that much citrate and alginate, and tested it. Initially, the spheres disintegrated when they hit the setting bath. I added more citrate and alginate, 0.5g at a time, and kept testing. I stopped when the spheres held together when dropped into the setting bath. I juiced 6 Persian limes.

152 Make: Volume 14

3. Rum caviar solutions. I know that a mojito is traditionally made with light rum, but I felt compelled to use dark rum too. The 2 together give the drink more interesting color.

Whatever rum you decide to use, the problem is the same: sodium alginate doesn’t like to dissolve in alcohol. I’ve seen one solution to this, called “reverse spherification,” where the alginate is dissolved in the setting bath and another calcium salt (calcium gluconolactate) is dissolved in the liquor, which is probably thickened with xanthan. I’m curious to try that, but I went for a simpler procedure.

I dissolved 2g of sodium alginate in 125g of water, and then blended in 125g of rum with an immersion blender. That way, the alginate is dissolved before the alcohol is introduced. Since the rum in a mojito is heavily diluted, this is a reasonable compromise.

4. Make caviars with your Spherification Array.

Making all this caviar would be tedious with just

1 syringe, but it goes quickly with the array. Place a pan full of setting bath beneath the syringes. I used a 9" pie plate, but a 9"× 13" baking pan would be perfect. Fill each row of syringes with dark rum, light rum, lime, and mint/sugar solutions, respectively. Fill each syringe to the same level; I chose 20cc.

Place the sheet of acrylic on top of the plungers of the syringes. With both hands, slowly press down all the syringes using the sheet of acrylic, making sure that the solutions are dripping (not streaming) into the setting bath. Wait 60 seconds and skim out the caviar with a strainer. In one dramatic gesture, you will have made a round of drinks for the whole party.

5. Make the cocktails. Combine the mint/sugar, lime, light rum, and dark rum caviars in a glass with club soda and ice. (I made some water caviar, which I froze the night before, so the ice would match the rest of the drink.) Garnish with a sprig of fresh mint, and serve: Mojito Moléculaire.

Michael Ferriell Zbyszynski ( mikezed@mac.com) is a composer, sound artist, performer, and teacher in the field of contemporary electroacoustic music. Currently, he is assistant director of music composition and pedagogy at UC Berkeley’s Center for New Music and Audio Technologies.

Photograph by Henry Zbyszynski

To see the video of the Tokyo tapas bar that makes carrot caviar, go to youtube.com/ watch?v=MskRv3mLxvg.