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Photos: Millennials buy-in to high-tech tapas

Sep. 17, 2015
green apple

1. A piercing action

This popular fruit-and-cheese pintxo was inspired by Thompson’s sous chef, who staged at Michelin-starred restaurant Arzak in San Sebastian, Spain, known for its modernist approach. Thompson wanted to emulate Arzak’s foie gras marbled with veins of color, using a more accessible and less expensive apple. With a medical needle, Thompson pierces apples with shallow,  angled holes to ready the fruit for its infusion of color. 

cryovac apples

2. Coloring under pressure

Next, Thompson combines the apples with beet juice in vacuum-sealed bags. This technique compresses the apples so the beet juice immediately disperses into the holes, creating “lightning rods of color” that resemble tie-dyeing, says Thompson. He tried blackberry juice first, but it bled and didn’t produce the desired effect. Besides, he says, “the earthy flavor and color of beets works better in contrast to the apple’s green skin and white flesh. It creates a carnival of colors.”

cana y frutas

3. Building the pintxo

Thompson slices the apple paper-thin and layers it on toasted bread. One apple goes far, covering 30 to 40 orders, he says. Caña de Cabra, a Spanish goat cheese, sits on top. “I’m usually very nontraditional, but here I played by Basque rules, using this traditional cheese to be authentic,” he says. 

blackberries

4. Fruity pearls and glue

Another modernist technique goes into creating the garnish. With an eyedropper, Thompson squeezes blackberry gelee into very cold olive oil, causing the droplets to freeze into semisolid pearls. To make sure the blackberry pearls don’t slide off the pintxo, he uses mango puree, which acts as glue, he says.

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