Daniel Patterson was kind enough to pass on his kit of favorite essential oils for us to work with. I had the opportunity to experience Daniel's deft hand with these oils at this year's ICC. I followed up his workshop by attending Ken Oringer's session on cooking and marinating sous vide. Ken used the vacuum machine to infuse ceviche flavors into raw geoduck. Watching these two talents back to back provided enough of a catalyst for a great leap of faith.
We took the essential oils and put a drop of a few different kinds inside a vacuum bag. Then we massaged the bag to disperse the oils inside. Finally we added some planks of honeydew melon to the bag and drew a full vacuum on them. Once the melon was evenly bruised, we cut the bag open and were blown away by the results. The harmonious aroma of the essental oils blended with the melon and whacked us upside the head with the result. Upon eating the fruit we were even more pleased with the results. Our first blend was ginger, green lemon and black pepper. Now we are exploring combinations of oils and ingredients and using them at different temperatures; particularly because either cold marination or the low temperature of sous vide cooking will preserve the aromatic impact of Mandy's incredible, edible essential oils.
