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Published on 7/4/08
Published on 7/2/08
Video
Click the photo gallery at left for a step-by-step illustration of the creation process.
Whey protein noodles from wd-50
Wd-50 chef-owner Wylie Dufresne said there were “some pretty interesting textural possibilities” with whey protein, a powder that can be used to form a gel that doesn’t melt upon being reheated (thermo-irreversible is the fancier term). The brains at the restaurant have been tinkering for several weeks and came up with whey noodles, which they will serve at the restaurant for the first time ever this fall. Here’s how they make it:
1. Research and development guru/wd-50 waiter Geoffrey Fischer mixes dried whey protein (refined protein that comes from whey) with hot water. He uses a whisk instead of an electric mixer so that the whey powder mixture, which is a foaming agent, doesn’t get too much air in it.
2. When the whey powder’s absorbed all the water, Fischer pushes the mixture through a fine sieve to remove the lumps. He then spreads a thin layer of the mixture onto a plastic-lined half-sheet pan.
3. Fischer cooks the whey-powder mixture for 30 minutes in the CVap oven (a low temperature oven that cooks with both steam and dry heat) at around 90 degrees Celsius (or close to 200 degrees Fahrenheit). He removes the pan from the oven, and it cools in a matter of minutes at room temperature. The result can be peeled off in a sheet, which looks and tastes much like processed mozzarella cheese, only with more tang.
4. Fischer slices his sheet thinly and places the slivers in a heap that uncannily resembles pasta but, like processed cheese, breaks easily. “Once we’re able to make a noodle that behaves like pasta,” says Dufresne, “we’ll build a dish. We’re looking for more elasticity.”
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