Add "dirt" to Fresh Produce
The title of The Best Restaurant in the World goes to Copenhagen's Noma, according to the prestigious Restaurant magazine.
Famed for dazzling diners with unusual ingredients such as fresh-picked flowers and wild game, under the leadership of Chef Rene Redzepi, the latest most intriguing item on the menu is "dirt."
In salads and entrees, edible dirt is not actual dirt but rather dried or charred ingredients used to give the dish an extra-earthy look, aroma, and flavor. Its consistency varies, so some edible dirt looks like ash and others look like sand or soil, but they serve the same function: to anchor the dish's vegetables and proteins.
Redzepi makes his dirt from dried malt and beer and presents it in terra cotta pots, "planted" with a whole raw radish to accompany a seven course tasting menu.
Redzepi isn't an eccentric attention hog, because many other chefs have their versions of edible dirt.
At Tel Aviv's Shakuf, Eldad Shem-Tov serves dirt crafted from chickpeas and topped with smoked quail eggs. At San Francisco's Marlowe, Jennifer Puccio's dried-olive soil comes with pickled radishes and whipped chevre. Both mushroom "soil" and charred-onion "ash" can be found at Gilt in Manhattan; the former is part of a summer salad, the latter dusted onto a Niman Ranch strip loin. And a dish of 30 seasonal vegetables served with dirt made from potato, parsnip and roasted chicory is on the menu at Manresa in Los Gatos, California.
In the field of molecular gastronomy, foam, gels, and mists used to define the last batch of chefs who specialize in this field of culinary science, but Redzepi's aim is to celebrate the land by putting "dirt" directly on the plate; to remind people where their food comes from.
So how's the reception of this "dirt?" According to Gilt's Justin Bogel, "People are really wowed to see dirt on their plates. ...They're unsure at first, but then they realize it really tastes good." Now, he's experimenting with "pebbles" made from frozen foie gras. Below is a picture of his spring salad with his version of edible dirt.
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