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This is from "Afternoon Tea"; I change their recipes all the time. |
To tell you the truth, cooking is a sort of therapy for me. I truly believe in my heart of hearts that no sane person would ever go into the culinary industry. It is not glamorous. At all. It's hard. It's hard, there are long hours, you barely sleep, you get cuts and burns on your arms and hands, and kitchen floors are built on a very slight incline, all to drain water into--well--drains. What this means for you is that you're constantly balancing yourself on a non-level surface, which causes back problems, but also gives you really sick definition on your calves. So, you know, it's got its ups.
The point is that I choose to be in this environment because I feel like any other workplace environment would allow me to become too stagnant. I have a tendency to drag my feet. I have a tendency to sulk. I just broke up with my boyfriend of 3.5 years and I'm now in a weird mental limbo state where I just feel...lethargy. I don't feel hopeless. Not at all. I'm the one that broke it off. And yet I feel lost. So I seek solace in the only thing I understand: Food.
No matter what's going on in your life, you can absolutely know that,without fail, eggs are a thickener in baked goods. Butter is a fat. Sugar is a sweetener. That's what they are. That's what they were yesterday, and what they will be tomorrow, and the day after that. If you add egg yolks to melted chocolate and milk and a little bit of butter, it'll get thick and turn into a custard. Oh, is it ever a comfort! It's like your own little piece of paradise, one that you create. And when you bite into it, it's like you forget--for the tiniest of moments--all of the bad things in your life. The only thing that matters is that custard.
A dish is like a gift to your customer. You fill it with hard work and love. You want to give, you want to feed. But some dishes are just for you. Some dishes are just for the sake of you trying something new. I'm learning that there's nothing wrong with that.
This dish, Wasabi Raspberry Cheesecake, was inspired by Chef Christina Tosi's Liquid Cheesecake from my well-worn copy of Momofuku Milk Bar. It was also inspired by Making Artisan Chocolates by Andre Garrison Shotts, in a recipe for dipped chocolates called "wasabi raspberry." The Chef said that he loved this particular flavor combination, for that zing and heat of wasabi went so well with the tang of raspberry. And the chocolate ganache sounded superb. I didn't make the chocolates, but I took the flavor combination and put it into something I know that I make well: liquid cheesecake. Specifically, Wasabi-Raspberry Liquid Cheesecake:
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It actually was really good. Seriously. |
Wasabi-Raspberry Liquid Cheesecake
- +1 lb cream cheese
- +2 large eggs, room temperature
- +1 Tbsp +2 tsp cornstarch
- +1 1/2 c sugar
- +2 oz. Milk
- +1 tsp wasabi powder (you can add more, if you like)
- +a few dollops of Raspberry compote of your liking(can even be jam)
