Oct 1, 2006 12:00 PM

Better Drinking Through Chemistry

These days the menus at the hautest purveyors of haute cuisine may seem more scientific than culinary – tobacco-flavored ice cream, extruded vegetable noodles, fried mayonnaise. Chefs call it molecular gastronomy, but why should they have all the fun? Some of the world’s greatest bartenders are working on their own version, molecular mixology, using food […]

These days the menus at the hautest purveyors of haute cuisine may seem more scientific than culinary – tobacco-flavored ice cream, extruded vegetable noodles, fried mayonnaise. Chefs call it molecular gastronomy, but why should they have all the fun? Some of the world's greatest bartenders are working on their own version, molecular mixology, using food science principles and laboratory techniques to develop off-the-wall flavor combinations and surprising textures. We asked a few of our fave drink doctors for the recipes to their most futuristic libations. OK, you may not see military-grade lasers and liquid nitrogen at local watering holes anytime soon, but who knows? Someday "the usual" might just be a cherry tomato filled with solidified gin and served in a shot glass. Bottoms up!

MARY'S FRUIT
Mixologist: Jamie Boudreau
8 cherry tomatoes
4 1⁄2 oz. gin
3 dashes Tabasco
2 dashes Worcestershire
1 dash of salt
1⁄4 tsp. agar
Core tomatoes. Whisk remaining ingredients together and boil. Spoon gin mixture into hollowed-out tomatoes and let cool until solid. Serve in shot glasses.

DEHYDRATED RUM AND COKE
Mixologist: Eben Freeman
1⁄2 tsp. cola-flavored Pop Rocks (special-ordered from Japan)
1⁄4 tsp. powdered rum (available from industrial flavor houses)
Combine ingredients. Serve on demitasse spoon.

CARAMELASERIZED WINE
Mixologist: Homaro Cantu
1 vanilla bean
6 oz. red wine
Clamp vanilla bean below an inverted wine glass. Heat bean with class-IV laser until mist coats inside of glass. Remove bean, flip glass, fill with wine, and serve.

JELLIED GIN AND TONIC
Mixologist: Eben Freeman
1 frozen lime
2 oz. simple syrup
1 1⁄4 tsp. citric acid
1⁄4 tsp. bicarbonate of soda
1⁄4 tsp. confectioner's sugar
1 1⁄2 sheets of sheet gelatin
1 oz. gin
2 oz. tonic water
Freeze lime and cut into chips with deli slicer. Coat slices in simple syrup and 1 tsp. citric acid; bake at 150 degrees until crisp. Mix bicarbonate of soda, sugar, and remaining citric acid. Soften sheet gelatin in cold water for two minutes. Warm gin and add gelatin. Pour into a shallow baking pan lined with plastic wrap, add tonic, and refrigerate for two hours. Cut into 1⁄2-inch cubes. Put cube onto lime chip, sprinkle on sugar-soda-acid mixture (the acid combines with the baking soda for a carbonated feeling on the tongue), and serve.

– Jason Daley

credit Cocktails: Todd Tankersley; Food Stylist: V. L. Woollard;