Snacks: 1125 - Brioche: Veal Marrow and Caviar/Rose-scented Mozzarella 2005

Since this is Caviar weekend I decided to make two of the three brioche snacks from recipe 1125: Veal Marrow and Caviar and Rose-scented Mozzarella. I skipped the truffle brioche because one ludicrously expensive ingredient per day is more than enough.

The first step is to make the brioche. It's the same recipe used in Saint-Félicien Blini with White Truffle with slightly different mixing instructions. This version uses a regular mixer instead of the Thermomix used in 1754. Being somewhat addicted to my Thermomix I used the more recent instructions.

Once the brioche dough was safely in the 'fridge I prepped the veal marrow. I bought the bones already sliced into inch thick pieces.

It was simple to run a thin knife around the marrow and then pop it out. The marrow chunks went into a container of cold water and into the 'fridge. The brioche dough and marrow spent the night together and...

The brioche was cooked exactly as in 1754. A three hour ferment floating in my sous vide bath, then a 16 minute steam in the Thermomix.

While the brioche were steaming I poached the marrow. Just put the soaked marrow into some cold water and bring it to a boil. Then off the heat until assembly.

Assembly has a lot of steps but isn't very difficult:

Lay out the brioche

Stuff with mozzarella and marrow

Warm under the broiler for 30 seconds

Top with caviar and rose scented milk foam (which melted).

How it tastes: Good. The marrow/caviar was very interesting texturally. The caviar I used was quite rich and "buttery"; I think a "sharper" flavored caviar might have made the contrasts more vivid. The mozzarella/rose was sort of bland.

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.


Caviar - We used California White Sturgeon from Paramount Caviar
Veal Marrow Bones - Surprising easy to get. Just ask your butcher. Some fancy grocery stores may even stock them.
Rose Essence - Indian grocery store or online

Thermomix
A scale that measures in grams