Mother's Day gift: Fish Menu with Hibiscus Flowers

Mother's Day comes once on a year! Celebrate your mother with something different, something special!
Today we suggest you a very special fish menu added with an extra element: hibiscus flowers in syrup. Follow this menu, or just take inspiration from it, and show your love to your mother with these amazing eatable flowers!

Menu

Aperitif
Wild Champagne - champagne with hibiscus flower in syrup

Appetizer
Crisp slices of common whitefish with red fruit and hibiscus flowers salad; Brut Champagne

First course
Risotto with champagne, shrimps, and hibiscus flower's syrup; pink Champagne

Main course
Slices of swordfish cooked on a griddle with hibiscus vinegar
Blue cheese with an hibiscus flower; Tradition Brut Champagne

Dessert
Aspic and its aromas
Fruit frozen powder: banana, pear, grapefruit, plum, praline-coated nut powder
Chocolate balls
Demi-Sec Tradition Champagne

How to make Corzetti

Today here I give you something different: not a cocktail recipe or a new bartending gadget, but a traditional Italian recipe: Corzetti.

Ingredients for the Corzetti recipe:

• 500 g - 1 lb flour
• 3 egg yolks
• salt
• butter
• water

How to make Corzetti:

in order to make Corzetti you have to prepare the same thin fresh pasta you make for lasagne, thickness 0.1 in. Roll out the fresh pasta, then use a Corzetti stamp to cut the fresh pasta sheet in many round pieces: the Corzetti stamp will leave an embossed decoration on them.

Cook the Corzetti into salted boiling water for 20 minutes, then strain, put on a plate, add pesto (or tomato sauce, or gravy, if you like), and serve.

Corzetti, or sometimes “pressed” or “stamped” corzetti, are typically dressed with a veal and Parmigiano cheese (Parmesan) sauce.

You can re-use the fresh pasta leftovers in many ways: try cooking them into a stock. You can also knead them into a new dough by adding a little warm water and then make another fresh pasta sheet to prepare more Corzetti.

Pine nut sauce

The pine nut sauce, besides being an Italian specialty, is also delicious with Corzetti.

Ingredients:

• 100 g - 0.2 lbs pine nuts
• a little marjoram
• half clove of garlic
• soft part of dried brea
• milk
• Parmigiano cheese (Parmesan)
• oil
• nutmeg
• salt
• pepper

How to make the pine nut sauce:

imbue the soft part of the bread with milk; put it and all the other ingredients into a mortar and crush them using a pestle till a homogeneous sauce is obtained.

If the sauce is too dense add some milk or oil.

All-In Drawer Tray: a new way of carrying bottles

How many times, in your bartending and barback experience, you had to carry tons of bottles and glasses from and to the warehouse using your bare hands, serving trays, or a simple case? Well, be honest, everytime.

Until now.

Cos the All-in drawer tray is the new compartment tray for carrying bottles, glasses, cans. The All-In drawer tray is ideal for bars, clubs, pubs, buffets.

All-In is a brand new drawer tray featuring a sliding bottom that makes it easier to set and carry bottles, glasses, and cans. Even if sliding, the bottom is very firm and strong. Thanks to its partition wall, this drawer tray keeps evertyng in order. The All-in drawer tray is a compartmented container, rectangular in shape; it's closed on three sides, and partially open on the front side where the bottom is free to slide when needed.

All-In drawer tray advantages:

• it's easier and faster to carry and store glasses, bottles, and cans on counters, bars, or work surfaces;
• everything is tidy and in order, and your customers will appreciate it;
• it's more hygienic, since your bartender do not have to touch every single item to move it.

The All-In drawer tray is made of phenolic plywood, a material treated with a s apecial glue. Widely used in constructions and in making pleasure crafts, this phenolic plywood is rain and wind-resistant, perfect for duties requiring to be shockproof and damp-resistant.

The All-In drawer tray is the perfect tool for barmen and bartenders who have to deal with large amount of bottles, glasses, and cans.

OP - Bottle Opener Bracelet

The OP, Opener Bracelets, are a brand new solution for all those bartenders who look for a fast and easy bottle opener that leaves their hands free.

Made of real natural vegetable-tanned leather, the OP features an opener and bucles in polished stainless steel. Available in one size, its special buckles allows you to adjust the bracelet's size in advance, so it will be easier and quicker to fasten. Being fasten around your wrist, you'll be lever using your whole arm in order to open bottles, not only your hand. Result: much more force applied with much less effort!

The OP bottle opener bracelet is designed to improve the quality and of your bartending job. Fast it around your wrist and start opening bottles and cans! YES peole, even cans!!

The OP bottle opener bracelet is available in 5 different models:

• OP Black Leather: a bottle opener with a perfect simmetry, it helps you opening bottles in any direction, extremely easy to use.
• OP Vintage: made of crusted leather, this bracelet bottle opener features a polished, stainless opener, buckles and minutia in nickel finishes (underparts are nickel-free).
• OP Black&Gold: black with a crocodile-like pattern, made of real natural vegetable-tanned leather; this bottle opener features technical parts made of PVD gold-plated stainless steel, and gold-plated insets and minutia.
• OP White&Gold: white with a crocodile-like pattern, made of real natural vegtable-tanned leather; this bottle opener features technical parts made of PVD gold-plated stainless steel, and gold-plated insets and minutia.
• OP Advanced: it works both as a bottle opener and a can opener; the bottle opener with a perfect simmetry, which helps you opening bottles in any direction in an extremely easy way; thanks to its special 'hook' you can hook up the ring pull without using your fingers.

Tired of using classic bottle openers while bartending? Then the OP Bottle Opener Bracelet is the perfect gear for you!

Hibiscus flowers: what's new in 2010?

Those of you who already know what hibiscus flowers are may know them especially as ingredient for a special herbal tea called 'karkadé'.

Well, starting from 2010, hibiscus flowers can boast a new, original and delicious use: eatable decors for cocktails and, most of all, for champagne! Yes people, eatable! And believe me, in champagne they're something special!
Hibiscus flowers are conserved in a syrup whose only ingredients are water and Australian cane sugar. The hibiscus flower is used for many matches in cocktails and dishes, from appetizers to desserts. Hibiscus' taste reminds of raspberry and rhubarb. Just take one of them, put it into a goblet, add some champagne, and enjoy it! Thanks to bubbles th hibiscus flower will open, and you will see passion in your glass. Have a special Valentine's Day toast with the hibiscus flower!

The hibiscus syrup takes its colour to the hibiscus itself, it doesn't contain additives nor preservatives, so the hibiscus syrup is completely natural!
You can find it on this e-commerce: http://www.rgmania.com/shop/decoration-tools/hibiscus-flowers/

Ferran Adria is gonna stop for some time

That's true, a genius still remains a human being, then even a genius must rest sometimes. This is the case of Ferran Adria, the Spanish molecular gastronomy genius who invented the spherification method and the spherification kit.

Praised by many and put down by many others, he lately decided he will need a couple of years for his culinary research, more precisely from 2012 to 2014. During this period his restaurant El Bulli will stay closed, while he be working at El Taller laboratory.

Now, who else in the world, as a chef, can afford to stop for 2 years?? I guess no one else then Ferran Adria.
In the last few years his work has been sometimes strongly criticized, especially because of some doubts about hygiene and toxicity. Doubts that eventually came out to be groundless.

Besides any opinion, it's still amazing to see a man who lives his passions in such a strong way that he even parts with money, a lot of money. That's why I respect him.

It's Valentine's Day! Any ideas?

Every year it's the same story: Valentine's Day is coming and I still have no idea what to buy my partner as a gift. A jewel? A watch? Flowers? Woah, it all sounds so boring... How could I tell him/her "Happy Valentine's Day" without being repetitive?

Well, let me give you an nice idea for Valentine's Day: make some love chocolate and cakes with your own two hands! Don't buy them, just make them by your own! Your partner, wheter a boy or a girl, will surely appreciate it, 'cause it'll come from your heart, not from your wallet.
In order to make everything simplier here are some heart-shaped moulds and cake tins to create your 'sweet' moment of love for Valentine's Day.
Want to make the atmosphere even more romantic? Put this Valentine's Day candle on the table and make your candlelight dinner special!

Ice Bag - No more ice buckets

You and your woman go out to a good restaurant for a romantic dinner. You order a bottle of Champagne. The waiter brings the bottle into a big, heavy, grey ice bucket... Hey wait a moment! Big, heavy, and grey??? Where's the romance in all that?!?!? For sure, there MUST be something better than these things!

Well, yes, actually there IS something better. Way much better: the Ice Bag.

Ice Bag is a brand new product that works as a common ice bucket, but that's better than it: lighter, smaller, much cheaper (around 20€-30$ an ice bucket, no more than 3.60€ the Ice Bag, according to the model), and foldable and space-saver, which means that when you don't need it you can store about 10 of it in the same place of only one ice bucket. You don't believe it? Then check the Ice Bag video.

The Ice Bag is also much more pleasant to see, since it can be added with some special features, like decors or bright glow ice cubes.
Believe me, I've seen girls and ladies who went shopping with the Ice Bag and bottles of water in it!

Spherification: first step

If you're not a professional of the spherification technique, nevertheless you want to try it and make your own experiments, maybe this Spherification mini kit can help: it contains special tools and 5 packs of different Texturas.
Furthermore, the Spherification mini kit ain't that expensive!

Spherification: let's talk about it

Spherification in a brand new technique coming from the molecular gastronomy, made popular by Ferran Adrià. It is a very impressive cuisine.

The goal is creating "ravioli" (big spheres obtained by a particular spoon) or "caviar" (little spheres similar to salmon eggs) having a stiff texture outside and a liquid one inside. Once you crush the caviar against the palate, the inside humor will come out.

Spherification is made by tre dry elements: alginate, calcium and citras.

Alginate is to be mixed with the main product to be spherificated at the avarage of 2 grams per 250 grams of product. Calcium is to be mixed in water at the avarage of 2.5 g per 1/2 liter, in order to create a calcic bath. Immerse the raviolis with a spoon or drop the alginate product with a big syringe into the calcic bath. After being immersed into this solution, ravioli and caviar will have to be "rinsed" in another bath of neutral water using a siever.

Spheres will become hard and solid after 8-12 hours after their preparation.

The kit includes all the tools required for the spherification process.

There are two different spherification types:

• Basic
  If the food is basic, it has to be helped with some acid (citras). This way you will obtain spheres with a very thin membrane.
• Reverse
  Very well served, it allows to create spheres using almost any kind of ingredients.

Recipe example:

Salmon with melon

• 250 g melon juice

• 2 g alginate

• 500 g water

• 2.5 g calcium

Mix the alginate with 1/3 of juice and whisk. Mix the other 2/3, strain and leave aside. Dissolve the calcium in water. Fill the syringes with the melon-alginate mix. Pour it drop by drop on the calcim base. Withdraw the spheres after one minute, strain and rinse in cool water.

Mandarin caviar

Put 250g of filtered mandarin juice into an electric mixer and add 2 g alginate, let all rest for 1 hour. Fill a plastic 200 cc. syringe with the mixed liquid. Prepare a calcic bath using 1/2 liter water and 2.5 dry calcium. Pour drop by drop the mandarin juice gently using the syringe; drops will become spheric oce into the calcic bath.

Withdraw the spheres after one minute, strain, rinse and immerse them in a neutral water bath.

Rinse them again. The caviar is ready.