Dave Arnold published a recent break through in quickly adding aroma to liquids using an iSi canister. Be sure to read the comments on Dave's post for a comprehensive exploration of this technique with various liquids. His discovery reminded us of our past explorations into pressure chambers and the use of the iSi as a chamber for quickly brining ingredients.
Then it dawned on us that aroma is free floating. So using this technique we can infuse it into more than just liquids. We put some mozzarella into our canister with a generous sprig of basil. We charged the canister twice and then let it rest for perhaps a minute. After my patience ran out, we released the gas and removed the mozzarella and basil. We took the mozzarella into a new room, sans basil aroma, and tasted it. It was rich with the essence of basil in both scent and flavor. It was as if we were eating mozzarella while sitting in a basil patch. This leads naturally to our next step of aromatic tomatoes and other chilled aromatic dishes.
It took a timely reminder of a long neglected technique to get to this wonderful approach to adding aroma to ingredients. Next up, raw fish and then taking aromatized ingredients and cooking them.
