elBulli 2005 Makeability Survey

The first question that comes up in almost every non-professional discussion of the elBulli books always seems to be something like "But what can you actually make?" Since the purpose of this blog is to document actually making as many of the recipes as I can I decided to start documenting the "makeability" of all the recipes in each volume.

Although these recipes were developed for one of the most sophisticated kitchens on the planet and executed by some of the most skilled chefs anywhere, they are surprisingly accessible in 2014. The once mysterious "molecular" ingredients are readily available from many internet sources. Much of the laboratory style hardware has shown up in consumer friendly price ranges. The Roner  has morphed into the under $200 Anova Sous Vide Immersion Circulator that can be used with almost any container. Chamber vacuum machines are well under $1000 (the one you want is $869). Here in the USA the Thermomix is a little tricky to get but it can be done (unfortunately it costs $1599 CA plus tax). Other gadgets like dehydrators, ISI Whips, candy floss machines, and super bags (actually a very fine industrial filter) are readily available. There are really only four items that are beyond the average American home kitchen: the Thermomix (expensive and not available in the USA), freeze dryer, the Paco Jet and liquid nitrogen.

The real issues with executing most elBulli recipes center around sourcing ingredients and time. For me, sourcing ingredients (or learning enough about them to make reasonable substitutions) is part of the fun. Time is what it is. Some stuff just takes a while but like barbecue and charcuterie it's often "hands off" with the product freezing, filtering or drying.

Anyway, here's the 2005 catalog. Recipe number and name are on the left. The following columns contain an X if the named gadget is needed. Rows marked in green are what I consider "makeable", that is they do not require a chamber vacuum, freeze dryer, Thermomix, Paco Jet, or liquid nitrogen.

Notation:

-LYO - refers to freeze drying or lyophilization. In many cases the ingredient being freeze-dried is available commercially.
-CRU - refers to the chamber vacuum.
-nitro - Yep, liquid nitrogen