“Secrets of molecular gastronomy” experiment

Ноw to make sweet caviar

Do you think that chem­istry and food are in­com­pat­i­ble? This amaz­ing ex­per­i­ment will show you how to make an orig­i­nal dessert of molec­u­lar gas­tron­o­my!

Reagents and equip­ment:

  • cal­ci­um lac­tate (5g in 1 liter of wa­ter);
  • sodi­um al­gi­nate (1 g in 300 ml of wa­ter);
  • wa­ter;
  • ap­ple juice (200 ml);
  • blender;
  • glass­es;
  • sal­ad bowl;
  • la­dle;
  • skim­mer;
  • sy­ringe;
  • sauce boat with spout;
  • food col­or­ing.

Step-by-step in­struc­tions

Pour 200 ml of juice into the sal­ad bowl, then add 300 ml of the sodi­um al­gi­nate so­lu­tion. Mix well (you can use a blender).

Pour the so­lu­tion into the glass­es and add dif­fer­ent food col­or­ings, to make the “caviar” bright­ly col­ored.

While the col­ored so­lu­tions stand, pre­pare the sec­ond com­po­nent of our recipe. Sprin­kle 5 g of cal­ci­um lac­tate into the sal­ad bowl and dis­solve it with a blender in 1 liter of luke­warm wa­ter.

Then add the col­ored so­lu­tions of ap­ple juice with sodi­um al­gi­nate to the cal­ci­um lac­tate so­lu­tion us­ing the sy­ringe. Lit­tle balls are formed that re­sem­ble caviar!

The “caviar” must be rinsed in pure wa­ter — the most con­ve­nient way is with a skim­ming spoon. It’s im­por­tant that as lit­tle wa­ter as pos­si­ble stay on the balls - oth­er­wise they will wash away the col­or­ing, and the “caviar” will lose its col­or.

Pro­cess­es de­scrip­tion

Cal­ci­um lac­tate and sodi­um al­gi­nate are safe food ad­di­tives that are used in molec­u­lar gas­tron­o­my. The ex­per­i­ment in­volves dis­solv­ing sodi­um al­gi­nate in a puree or in liq­uid prod­ucts. When cal­ci­um lac­tate and sodi­um al­gi­nate re­act, a gelati­nous film of sodi­um al­gi­nate forms, while the in­side of the ball re­mains liq­uid.

Safe­ty pre­cau­tions

Don’t overindulge in molec­u­lar gas­tron­o­my - have a bal­anced diet :)

Try it