Pre Dessert: 1813 Coca De Vidre 2010-11

This is with a doubt the simplest elBulli recipe I've made so far. Coca de vidre is a Catalan flat bread made with anise and pine nuts. It's called "glass" (vidre) because it's very thin and fragile and because the caramelized sugar on top resembles glass. ElBulli took the concept of glass a step further and instead of the traditional crispy bread base substituted nearly transparent sheets of obulato and a transparent anise flavored syrup

The first step was toasting some pine nuts. There's nothing to this but you do need to keep a close eye on them. And for the love of all that's tasty, please, please, please, don't use those awful Asian pine nuts.

Then I made the anise syrup. It's just sugar, a little water and some anise flavored liquor. I used Ouzo.

At elBulli they cut giant sheets of obulato into long strips that resemble the regular coca de vidre. Those big sheets are darn expensive, so I used the 9 cm. squares that are readily available.

On a sheet pan covered with a piece of parchment paper I laid down an obulato square and then painted it with the anise syrup. I immediately learned that obulato will curl up at the slightest provocation. You have to be surprisingly aggressive with the syrup to keep 'em flat. A second sheet went on top of the first, then more syrup. Five toasted pine nuts finished each one. They go into a 300° F oven for 15 minutes to dry.

The top right edge broke off when I tried to pick it up

When I first pulled them out of the oven it looked like they'd be stuck to the parchment paper. But as they cooled off I could actually hear them popping off the paper. Even so, they're incredibly fragile.

How it tastes: O. M. G. Un-farkin' believable. These little squares are insane.

Equipment and Ingredients

The Books: El Bulli 2005-2011 - Yes, freakin' expensive. Check with your local library - they may well be "in the system" and available to be reserved.

Obulato Squares
Anise Liquor