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Transparent Cheese & Tomato Cube - The Secrets of Fine Dining by Natalia Rudakova

FDL
By
Fine Dining Lovers
Editorial Staff
Difficulty
Challenging
Total Time
4H 10MIN
Cuisine

Ingredients

Water: 500 ml

Parmesan cheese: 200g Parmesan rinds

White peppercorns: 10

Bay: 1 leaf

Agar agar: 2.5 gr

White wine: 20g Dry white wine

Vegetable oil: 500g

Thyme: 5 sprigs

Garlic: 5 cloves

Cherry tomatoes: 200 g

Calcium lactate: 6g

Water: 1 litre

Sodium alginate: 5g

Salt: 1/8 tsp

Learn how to make a transparent 'Cube of Wonders' packed with the flavours of Parmigiano and tomato, with chef Natalia Rudakova.

Natalia Rudakova is the host of The Secrets of Fine Dining series by Fine Dining Lovers, bringing you incredible tips and tricks, straight from the chef’s kitchen, to level up your fine-dining cooking techniques and plating skills.

If you enjoyed the fine-dining trend for transparent food, you'll love this transparent cube of cheese broth complete with a tangy tomato sphere suspended in the centre, which can be eaten either cold or hot. Prepare to be amazed as she highlights some incredible, yet simple, molecular gastronomy and fine-dining techniques, which you can re-create at home.
 

Method

01.
To make the cheese broth:

Add water, Parmesan rinds, peppercorns and bay leaves to a pot. Bring the mix to simmer and cook for about 20-30 min, in order to properly infuse the water with the cheese and other aromatics.

Cube of Wonder_Step one
02.

Pour in the wine and simmer for an additional 2 min.

Cube of Wonder_Step two
03.

The cheese broth is ready. Strain it through a cheesecloth and transfer the broth to a clean pot. 

Cube of Wonder_Step three
04.

Whisk agar agar powder into the cheese broth and bring to a simmer for about 1-3 min, while continuously whisking. 

Let the mix cool down a little bit.

Cube of Wonder_Step four
05.
To make the tomato sphere:

Confit the tomatoes by submerging them in the oil and aromatics (thyme, garlic, salt, etc.), and cooking at 100°C for about 20-30 mins.

Cube of Wonder_Tomato Sphere_Step one
06.

Cool down the mix and fish out the tomatoes. Transfer the remaining flavoured oil to a glass jar or an airtight container (once properly cooled down) and keep in the fridge for your future culinary endeavours.

Cube of Wonder_Tomato Sphere_Step two
07.

Juice the tomatoes.

Cube of wonder_Tomato Sphere_Step three
08.

Blend the confit tomato juice with calcium lactate, and transfer to a squeeze bottle.

Cube of Wonder_Tomato Sphere_Step four
09.

Meanwhile, blend water with sodium alginate.

Cube of Wonder_Step five
10.

Prepare 3 baths: 1 with sodium alginate mix; and 2 more with clean room-temp. water.

Cube of Wonder_Tomato sphere_Step 6
11.

Pour the tomato mix into a tsp. And drop into the sodium alginate bath. The tomato juice will start to spherify, forming a thin coating on the outside. This process is called reverse spherification and is widely used in fine-dining. 

Cube of Wonder_Step Seven
12.

Once the tomato sphere is formed, transfer it to a water bath to clean off some of the sodium alginate, and then to a second water bath for keeping purposes.

Cube of Wonder_Step eight
13.

Place the tomato spheres on parchment paper and freeze.

Cube of wonder_step nine
14.
To assemble the Cube of Wonders:

Pour the cheese broth mix into the cubical moulds, about 3/4 full.

Cube of Wonder_step one
15.

Dip the frozen tomato sphere into the cube filled with warm broth.

Cube of Wonder_Step Two
16.

Once in contact with the frozen sphere, the broth will start to slowly solidify, while as the tomato juice inside the frozen sphere will melt.

Cube of Wonder_Step three
17.

Serve these 'Cubes of Wonder' at a temp. no higher than 85°C, i.e. you can serve them either cooled down (fridge temp.) or warm. 

Cube of Wonder_Step four

Watch and learn as Rudakova breaks down the simple steps, showing how easy it is to make a cube of wonders at home. To see more videos and fine dining creations from Natalia Rudakova, visit her Youtube channel and follow her on Instagram.

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