Controlling Water
In Controlling Water, Dana writes:
…Alex Stupak, […] dropped this bombshell in my ear with the casual effect of a little bird chirping their daily song.
With no prompt, he said simply, “You know, it’s really just about controlling water,” and walked away.
This simple phrase had the power of a plot changing hollywood one liner, too few words with more effect than realistically possible, delivered at a turning point at which you can see the characters shift indelibly. These words have shifted me.
These “magic white powders” that are given to modern technique, xanthan gum, gellan gum, agar agar, and various modified starches, are simply put, controlling water. And by controlling water, we are controlling texture.
While this fact was a revelation to me, what was even more thought provoking, was how much of my pastry work up to this point was based off controlling water. And it’s not just me folks, it’s you too.
Making desert. It’s all about controlling water. Cool.
Did you mean “Making *dessert*”? Or were you engaging in some wordplay? 🙂
Heh. I did mean to say dessert, but now that I’ve said desert…well, emergent chaos. What can I say? 🙂