Spherification>>>>Countless explosions with sheer excitement

When I first stumbled upon this word, I rather pretty much assumed that I knew what, I was dealing with, and eventually I was pretty far from the dreaded fact that it isn’t the answer.

It is a technique which was introduced by el Bulli in 2003. It consists of a controlled jellification of a liquid which forms spheres when submerged in a bath. The spheres can be made of different sizes and have been given names like caviar eggs, gnocchi and ravioli. The resulting spheres have a thin membrane and are filled with the original liquid. A slight pressure of the mouth on the sphere makes them burst and release an amazing explosion of flavor. The spheres are flexible and can be carefully manipulated. It is possible to introduce solid elements in the sphere which will remain in suspension in the liquid giving the possibility of introducing multiple flavors and textures in one preparation

In 2003, Ferran Adria and el Bulli team were visiting a company called Griffith España to see their installations when they came across a Mexican sauce that contained little balls in suspension which added acidity and spice when eaten. This reminded him of a drink he knew that contained little spheres made by immersing a liquid with sodium alginate in a bath of calcium. In both cases, the spheres were solid and did not have a liquid filling.
They got a sample of the alginate and when they returned to el Bulli Taller, the experimentation began. Their first spherification experiment was with water as the main ingredient and a syringe to form little drops of the alginate solution. Because they used water in a water bath they couldn’t see any spheres but when they strained the liquid they discovered that they had been able to create small balls with liquid inside (now called caviar). Right after that they tried with a spoon instead of a syringe to create a larger sphere and now the first “spherical ravioli” was created.

There are only two that are essential and absolutely required to start the spherification process: sodium alginate and some calcium element.
Sodium Alginate: a natural product extracted from brown seaweed that grows in cold water regions. It is soluble in cold and hot water with strong agitation and can thicken and bind. In presence of calcium it forms a gel without the need of heat. Sodium Alginate is used in the food industry to increase viscosity and as an emulsifier. It is also used in indigestion tablets. It has no discernable flavor.
Calcium Chloride: used to make the calcium bath for Basic Spherification. This is probably the cheapest of all ingredients and it is used mostly with Basic Spherification because its saltiness does not affect the main ingredient taste as it is only used for the bath. Calcium chloride is a calcium salt traditionally used in the food industry to make cheese and it is also used in many other applications as pickling agent, firming agent, flavor enhancer, stabilizer, etc. It is very soluble in water and it must be kept in tightly sealed containers.

Perfectly formed caviar requires, Knowledge of the ingredient, Patience and above all a key component that an every Eureka Chef requires. PASSION