Grapes on the Cutting Edge

Chefs active in the realm of molecular gastronomy are getting attention for manipulating ingredients in ways never imagined. Some of their experiments work, some don't, but they deserve praise for nudging all cooks to unleash the potential in their raw materials.

What else can you do with a fresh table grape besides eat it (always a good idea), heat it, peel it, or puree it? Chef Samuel challenged himself to probe the frontiers of possibility and made an intriguing discovery.

"The idea came from one of my colleagues," says Samuel of his effort to carbonate grapes. "You put the grapes in a whipping-cream canister with wine and then charge it. You have to prick the grapes first. When I didn't prick them, they exploded. Pricking gives them the ability to transmit pressure. When you take the grapes out, they're fizzing, like soda pop. It's an easy way to do something really unique. You get that punch of flavor in your mouth."

Chef Samuel decided to showcase his fizzy grapes in a salad with goat cheese, greens, shallot vinaigrette, and a gastrique (a reduction of wine, wine vinegar, and sugar). "The carbonated grape is part of the textural appeal of the salad," says the chef. "It plays off the creaminess of the goat cheese and the crunchiness of the crostini."

These astonishing grapes would add style to many salads, but it's easy to imagine other uses for them: as a garnish for a sorbet or panna cotta, as a counterpoint to seared foie gras, or as a component of a cutting-edge cheese course.

Rethinking the rules for vinaigrette led Chef Samuel to another discovery: that a fresh grape puree, strained and reduced, contributes desirable body and sweetness to a salad dressing. When a salad has a tart fruit component, like citrus, the grape vinaigrette balances the flavor. You can infuse the grape puree with fresh mint, thyme, ginger, or vanilla bean before whisking in the acid (Chef Samuel uses white balsamic vinegar and lime juice) and the oil.

Don't these two imaginative uses for table grapes make you wonder what else this tasty fruit can do?

Featured Recipe: Watch Chef Samuel give grapes an unexpected twist in his Carbonated Grape Salad with Crispy Toast, Goat Cheese, and Muscat Gastrique.

Featured Recipe: Watch Chef Samuel prepare a vinaigrette with some surprising techniques in Grape, Toasted Almond, and Shaved Fennel Salad with Vanilla-Grape Vinaigrette.