Compressed endive leaves?

[Jenise]

Intriguing description from a menu at Per Se:

Compressed endive leaves and granny smith apples
pickled caraway seeds and pumpernickel toast
with apple marmalade

Anyone had a compressed endive leaf?

I think it means that the leaves are compressed into a salad such as this picture shows. I think that is a endive leaf sort of center bottom of the picture.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sackerman519/2800392951/

[Jenise]

Karen, thanks for digging up that pic. But I don't think so--that is, what we're looking at there, I'm pretty sure, is the melon strips. I don't think we're seeing the compressed endive leaves in a way that tells us how he compresses a leaf and why the result is so good (excpet that we know if Tom Keller does it, it IS good.) Like, does he blanch them and then put them under weights? Blanching would likely be neccessary because something would have to retard the oxidation process belgian endives are prone to, and the more flexible blanched leave would be easier to manipulate.

Jenise, Hi..

I can't vouch for Keller's system but several chefs in France do "compressed endive leaves" simply by sprinkling them over generously with coarse Brittany salt and then placing the individual leaves under a quite heavy weight for about 20 minutes. After compression the leaves are rinsed quickly with barely warm water to eliminate exess salt. I believe (but am not certain) that the salt interacting with the natural liquids of the leaves that are released under pressure to inhibit oxidation and browning.

Best
Rogov

[Jenise]

Thanks, Daniel. I can imagine a number of applications for this; will have to get some endive and play with it.

Another thought, when you do research on endive, the description on the plant say they are compressed leaves, meaning that they are very tight to one another, much like a solid piece rather than individual leaves. Do you suppose the whole endive is processed as a whole, somehow?

Karen, Hi...

I have seen whole endives "compressed" only once and that was at one of Alain Ducasse's restaurants. I recall that the compressed endive was meant to be eaten by hand, dipped first into a sauce of olive and walnut oils and a hint of balsamic vinegar and then dipped into coarse salt. I remember the offering as delicious but no more so than if the endive had been served "au naturel" which is they way I serve it at home. But then again, I adore endive in almost any form.

Best
Rogov

[Jenise]

Doing a little more digging on the internet just now, I found a report from another Per Se diner about compressed fennel bulb who, god bless 'em, posted pictures--AND the fennel's on top, easy to see. Another interesting vegetable treatment! I'm equally fascinated by the "celery branch ribbons" in another of their pictures.

Take a look:

http://www.keepercollection.com/blog/travel/se-spectacular-sunset-service/

Interesting. Haven't heard of a "celery branch" before.

Did you notice the compressed fennel bulb in the other dish?

Wow, this thread really perked my interest. "Compressing" it seems is vacuum sealing vegitables, fruits etc. with additions to infuse flavor combinations. Found this link. Makes perfect sense as I've vacuum sealed meats with "additions" to infuse flavor for years.

Drew

http://www.sousvidecooking.org/compress ... er-vacuum/

[Jenise]

Interesting. Haven't heard of a "celery branch" before.

Did you notice the compressed fennel bulb in the other dish?

Like 'rib', 'branch' is a way of referring to an individual piece of celery separated from the whole stalk. I'm sure you've seen it before. Re the compressed fennel, are you speed reading or is there a second fennel bulb I didn't see?


Drew--vacuum. HMMM! Interesting suggestion, and especially probably re the "ribbon of celery branch" in the Per Se photo--I can't think how else they'd get that smooth transluscense. For all we know they use another method to compress the endive, and possibly a combination of methods to achieve the fennel bulb (like moderate dehydration).

This is what Traca, a chef and food writer from another website had to say....almost word for word what Daniel said.
I think this is in reference to the photo link I posted with the salad.
"collapse the cell walls. I believe it concentrates and intensifies the flavors by removing air and some liquid.

Here's something I found:
I can't vouch for Keller's system but several chefs in France do "compressed endive leaves" simply by sprinkling them over generously with coarse Brittany salt and then placing the individual leaves under a quite heavy weight for about 20 minutes. After compression the leaves are rinsed quickly with barely warm water to eliminate exess salt. I believe (but am not certain) that the salt interacting with the natural liquids of the leaves that are released under pressure to inhibit oxidation and browning.

>> Then this recipe says: Cut the peeled melon into quarters and cut out the seeds. Season the melon lightly with salt and then place into a vacuum bag. Vacuum compress the melon in the machine on the highest setting. The melon will transform from pale green to a translucent emerald green. When the melon is compressed, open the bag and pat the melon dry.

>>Another part of a multi-step recipe says to compress melon, then blend it. Next, put the soup in a vacuum chamber to remove the air bubbles. The color will shift from pale orange to intense orange."

From Keller's book "Under Pressure"

Compression is our newest sous vide technique, discovered (if you will) by Mark Hopper, chef de cuisine at Bouchon in Las Vegas. We use it lamos exclusively to change the texture of food, specifically porous fruits such as pineapple and melon. Compression, which requires a great deal of pressure, can transform a crisp, light bite of fruit into a dense, almost meaty one. We also compress cucumbers, celery, and tomatoes.

A secondary effect of compression is what might be called "setting" -- in other words, using the pressure to bring a food to a specific shape and maintain it so that when it's briefly cooked, the food sets in that shape but remains raw inside. It can then be finished using another cooking method without loosing its shape. We set the shapes of different fish and meat this way--a loing of rabbit wrapped in cacon, a piece of delicate St. Peter's fish (John Dory), a sfuffed squab breast."

Interesting. Haven't heard of a "celery branch" before.

Did you notice the compressed fennel bulb in the other dish?

Like 'rib', 'branch' is a way of referring to an individual piece of celery separated from the whole stalk. I'm sure you've seen it before. Re the compressed fennel, are you speed reading or is there a second fennel bulb I didn't see?


Drew--vacuum. HMMM! Interesting suggestion, and especially probably re the "ribbon of celery branch" in the Per Se photo--I can't think how else they'd get that smooth transluscense. For all we know they use another method to compress the endive, and possibly a combination of methods to achieve the fennel bulb (like moderate dehydration).

Sheesh. I transposed endive for fennel in my hazy brain when I read your post.

[Jenise]

Sheesh. I transposed endive for fennel in my hazy brain when I read your post.

No problem--looks cool, doesn't it? Rather like a harp.

[Jenise]

From Keller's book "Under Pressure"

Compression is our newest sous vide technique, discovered (if you will) by Mark Hopper, chef de cuisine at Bouchon in Las Vegas. We use it lamos exclusively to change the texture of food, specifically porous fruits such as pineapple and melon. Compression, which requires a great deal of pressure, can transform a crisp, light bite of fruit into a dense, almost meaty one. We also compress cucumbers, celery, and tomatoes.

A secondary effect of compression is what might be called "setting" -- in other words, using the pressure to bring a food to a specific shape and maintain it so that when it's briefly cooked, the food sets in that shape but remains raw inside. It can then be finished using another cooking method without loosing its shape. We set the shapes of different fish and meat this way--a loing of rabbit wrapped in cacon, a piece of delicate St. Peter's fish (John Dory), a sfuffed squab breast."

Good catch, Karen. And interesting additional bit about using compression to shape meats--I now understand how a favorite restaurant up here achieves the hockey-puck shaped short rib they serve.