Molecular Mixology: A Kelp Cocktail Down by the Bay
Ingredients
- 1½ ounces gin (I used Amalga Distillery’s Cognac Cask Finished Gin)
- ½ ounce Noilly Prat Extra Dry Vermouth
- 2 ounces Barnacle Foods Dill Kelp Pickles brine
- ½ teaspoon calcium lactate (available online and where supplements are sold)
- ½ teaspoon sodium alginate (available online)
- 2 cups water
Instructions
- Mix gin, vermouth, and pickle brine with the calcium lactate. When dissolved, place the liquid in sphere molds or ice cube trays and freeze. If you’re using ice cube trays, fill each only half full before freezing. When molds are fully frozen, mix 2 cups of water with the sodium alginate in a bowl. Mix with a hand blender for 1 minute then let the solution sit for 15 minutes. Add the frozen spheres to the water mixture, 2 at a time. Do not let the spheres touch each other in the bowl. A membrane will form before your eyes around the sphere. This is the calcium ions reacting to the alginate molecules, allowing them to bind and form a thin gel membrane around the solution, aka your cocktail. After 3 minutes take each sphere out of the alginate solution and give it a quick rinse in running water to stop the membrane from forming. They are now ready to plate and eat. I set each of mine on a shrimp chip for extra flavor. Garnish with dill from the kelp brine or a kelp pickle, and enjoy the burst of flavor with every bite. Cheers!
