Foam

[Alpaca]

Flavoured foams, cep, celeriac, cucumber etc., have started to appear frequently on fine dining menus. I've eaten one but I'm still puzzled as to how they're made. Anyone know how it's done?

[Poppy]

I'm not sure exactlyhow he does it but I know who started it/made it popular so maybe you could google him.  Heston Blumenthal the chef/proprietor of The Fat Duck in Bray, Berkshire.  He writes a column for the Guardian at the weekend and uses science to create strange dishes (ie. the foam you refer to).  I saw him on tv using pressurised cannisters full of  gas but not sure of the exact proccess.  His new style of cooking is called molecular gastronomy!  Hope that helps.

[rooftrouser]

Thanks for the reminder about HB, Poppy. I would love to eat there. It looks as though the gas he uses is nitrous oxide. In the process of Googling him though, I found another claimant for originator of foams: Michelin starred Catalan chef, Ferran Adri�.There is a Slate magazine article on him here: http://slate.msn.com/id/2094567/. It seems that, like HB, he is an enthusiast of molecular gastronomy and that he uses a whipped cream dispenser to make the foams.