Science of Food | How to Make Super-Classy Culinary Foam, Even if You Aren’t Classy

(high energy music)

[Announcer] Nothing says fancy dining

quite like a blob of foam.

Well that and when waiters sweep up your bread crumbs

with that tiny scoop.

But back to the foam.

So soothing, such a great mouth feel, and get this,

you can make it a home!

Fancy restaurants be damned.

You'll need a whipping siphon first of all.

Also a liquid, juice perhaps.

And the secret ingredient, gelatin.

That'd be the collagen protein

from animal hides and bones by the way.

So what's so magical about that gelatin?

What's happening is the proteins

are forming a film around air bubbles.

This both gives the foam support,

and keeps the bubbles from merging with each other

to form ever larger bubbles.

The more gelatin, the more protein,

and the thicker your foam.

Now you'll need to figure out how thick you want your foam.

Really thick foam will be two point five percent gelatin.

While one point five percent gelatin

will get you medium thickness.

The thinnest foam for cocktails and such,

is known by the horrible name espuma.

That's just three quarters of one percent gelatin.

Start by heating up your liquid of choice.

Then just add your sheets of gelatin,

and stir until they dissolve.

Easy!

Chill over an ice bath, and pour into your whipping siphon.

Charge the siphon up, and give it a good shake,

and you've got yourself some pro-grade culinary foam.

We recommend going thicker though,

so you can avoid saying the word espuma.