The strangest food I found created with molecular gastronomy techniques is the miniature shrimp taco. It is simple to create by layering ultra thin edible film on top of itself using egg wash as a glue to hold the edible film together and topping it off with nori flakes, shrimp powder, and four small fresh shrimp for each taco.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qslAu7AqOZM
Personally I can’t imagine that this is flavorful or filling. I have never had a shrimp though so my conclusion is based on the few ingredients used and it might be wrong, but who other than a flamingo wants to eat unseasoned shrimp. I will say it is creative and looks like glancing into an aquarium. It reminds me of the miniature food kits that make hamburgers and pizza from powders and gels that you can buy in the toy section of the store for children. But another part of me thinks it is a bit of an insult to a taco and it would actually more correctly be named a tostada since it is flat and not folded. Although part of the point of molecular gastronomy is breaking tradition, so the titles of these reconstructed food recipes only need to closely resemble their traditional food counterparts. This recipe is simple enough as far as technique in molecular gastronomy goes, and so therefore someone could recreate this taco with other toppings, perhaps by squeezing a spiral of nacho cheese and a spiral of sour cream on the edible film and placing 4 beans atop of that, creating an aesthetically pleasing bean and cheese taco. Molecular gastronomy lets your creativity go wild and I can see the creative visual with this recipe. the point of this branch of cooking is to break the limits of what food is seen as, but it falls short of being a delicious taco with its lack of ingredients, seasoning (because frankly nori flakes and more ground up shrimp is not enough), and sauce.
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/280916/shrimp-tacos-with-cilantro-lime-crema/
These shrimp tacos with cilantro lime crema from Allrecipes look much more flavorful with many more components, and look like what I think of when I think of a taco. Put these next to the shrimp tacos created with molecular gastronomy techniques, I think 99% of people would pick these.
Comments
As a shrimp taco lover, I also have a hard time calling that a taco. Since when are we putting nori on tacos?? The recipe you found on the bottom however seems quite delicious and I would definitely enjoy that. As someone who grew up loving the toy cooking from powders, like Poppin Cookin I definitely can see the resemblance.
Hi Corinne, your topic is quite interesting because it reminds me of one of my favorite foods in my home country called rice paper which is also ultra-thin and they fry it in a pan with eggs, scrimp, and sometimes with extra beef or pork, and vegetables.