New Equipment: Thermomix

After much internal debate and months of delay I finally pulled the trigger and bought a Thermomix. The process from the USA isn't entirely painless but it's not difficult either. I've only had it about 8 hours but so far it seems to be living up to expectations.

The Thermomix and elBulli

ElBulli seems to have incorporated Thermomix into the kitchen at a fairly early stage. An older version (probably the TM3300) is discussed in Los secretos de elBulli (published in 1997) along with a reference to what must be the TM-21:

Es uno de los aparatos que han aportado mayor rendimiento y economía de tiempo. La calidad de purés, sopas, vinagretas o cremas que ofrece no se puede conseguir con ninguna de las máquinas que se utilizaban hasta el momento. La thermomix tritura, monta y bate toda clase de alimentos, y además cruenta con una opción muy interesante, la de poder incorporar productos y aumentar su tempera tura hasta 90º. Recientemente ha salido al mercado un nuevo modelo de mayor capacidad y de gran calidad.

Adentrarse en el mundo de la thermomix y de su concepto de funcionamiento significa poder acceder a muchas elaboraciones que antes eran imposibles. El ahorro de tiempo que supone, propicia que muchas veces el cocine ro decida «jubilar» el tamiz o cedazo. Para pasar purés o sopas basta con disponer de este aparato en la cocina.

Not surprisingly, the Thermomix appears rather often in the 2005-2011 catalogs. There are at least 29 recipes where it is explicitly called for. There are many more recipes involving sorbet and ice cream mixtures that are obvious candidates for the Thermomix even if elBulli would probably have used their induction cook tops for temperature control.

The most common (and accessible) recipe type that uses the Thermomix is the croquante. These appear in two main varieties (proportions shown are typical for each):

Baked:

120 grams Dry Flavor Base (e.g. cocoa powder)

240 grams 100% Simple Syrup

60 grams Glucose

The liquids are heated to 90° C and the dry ingredient blended in to form a smooth paste. The paste is spread onto a non-stick sheet covered with a suitably shaped stencil 1 mm thick. The stencil is removed and the shapes are baked at 170° C.

Dehydrated:

Basic Recipe:

150 grams "wet" flavor base (e.g. pea puree)

20 grams Icing Sugar (not the USA "powdered sugar" but rather "Superfine" or 10X sugar)

25 grams Isomalt

10 grams Glucose

The ingredients are combined and blended at 80° C for 5 minutes. The mixture is spread onto a non-stick sheet covered with a suitably shaped stencil 1 mm thick. The stencil is removed and the shapes are dehydrated at 50-55° C for 48-72 hours depending on the moisture content of the flavor base. Here's a video showing how these are made:

Yogurt Based Variation:

35 grams Yogurt powder

185 grams Greek Yogurt

45 grams Isomalt

35 grams Icing Sugar

37 grams Maltodextrin

0.4 grams citric acid powder

30 grams freeze dried flavor base

This recipe occurs in a handful of recipes. The combination of the freeze dried flavor base and Greek yogurt replaces the "wet" flavor base in the basic recipe. The maltodextrin probably works to solidify or stabilize the fat in the yogurt. Some of the recipes incorporate small amounts food coloring.

The Stencils:

Also Smaller Rectangles
And Bigger Circles

The elBulli stencils are available in two horrifyingly expensive (about $200 each) packages: Geo Croquanter (geometric shapes) and Natur Croquanter ("natural" shapes like leaves). Each contains 8 shapes and 8 Teflon non-stick sheets. They fit perfectly in the Nesco FD1040 Gardenmaster dehydrator I bought a few months ago.

Theoretically they should be available from any place that sells the Texturas line of additives. In actual practice they're difficult to source in the United States. Albert Uster Imports sometimes has them and Modernist Pantry is willing to order them. I managed to score the Geo set on eBay at a significant discount because it was missing one of the non-stick sheets that support the shapes in the dehydrator.

Other Uses:

Constant Temperature:

In addition to the croquante, the Thermomix is implied in a number of recipes that call for cooking a mixture at a certain temperature "stirring constantly". These recipes typically involve jelling agents such as gelatine and agar-agar. There are also quite a few ice cream and sorbet mixtures that are obvious Thermomix candidates, though the device is not explicitly called for.

Puree/Grind

Many recipes call for ingredients to be processed in a "licuadora", the elBulli term for a high power blender. Sometimes these ingredients are not what you'd think of as typical blender candidates. For example, the toasted black sesame seeds in Black Sesame Sponge Cake must be ground to a fine powder, a task the Thermomix performs admirably.

Tempering Chocolate

elBulli's chefs devised a large number of clever mignardises ("morphings" in elBulli speak) many of which were chocolate based. These recipes often call for various types of chocolate to be flavored and  tempered. One of the easiest examples are the Chocolate Bars from 2008.

elBulli Thermomix Recipes:

2005

1104 Mango and Black Olive Discs
1105 Carrot ribbons with lemon verbena, ginger, and liquorice

1157 Sea Tomatoes
1192 Pea jelly with banana and lime ice cream

2006

1223 Mango croquante leaf and marigold

1231 Soursop croquante
1235 Thai peanut mantecado-LYO
1263 White asparagus with different cooking temperatures and an egg yolk shot
1275 Longan/sake/green almond 
1322 Pistachio croquante flower withgrapefruit, yuzu, and tea

1329 Lemon xuxo

2007

1410 Hot Cañarejal cheese with raspberries and kirsch
1419 Peapod

1423 Carnation

1425 Black Rose
1430 Butterfly

1432 Poma
1434 Asami flower
1437 Orchid

1444 Violet

2008

1468 Passion fruit orchid
1527 Cocoa and game canape

1535 Japanese autumn
1539 Seaweed

1544 Cocoa
1545 Snow Crystal

2010-2011

1691 Parmesan macaroon

1737 Duo of asparagus tips with vinaigrette and Hollandaise sauce

1802 Saint-Felicien and Kirsch coin