Colleen and I (John) have spoken about lots of mouth-watering food in the past, but this episode takes the spelt-flour-agave-nectar cake. Howard knows his way around a kitchen.

He talks about his cooking demo at the Vegetarian Food Fair. He made Risotto Nouveau from powdered sushi rice, flavoured with Indonesian long pepper (available from the Spice Trader at Queen and Euclid) and coffee oil, then topped with crunchy dehydrated greens.

For dessert he made pure chocolate mousse using just chocolate and water, served with thin sheets of corn (made using sorbitol and agar), spicy cookie crumbs and tandoori masala syrup. See recipes below.

Howard talks about his inspiration these days: adapting the popular trend in avant-garde techno cuisine to vegetarian cooking. This approach is also known as molecular gastronomy – the study of the physical and chemical processes that occur in cooking.

This episode is a PB&J 4 minutes.

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Continue reading for the recipes:

Risotto Nouveau / dried salad / aromatics

For risotto:

½ cup sushi rice powder
2 cups vegetable stock (cold)

1. Mix the rice and half of the stock until smooth
2. Heat the mixture until it begins to thicken and add another ¼ of the liquid, stirring constantly
3. Add the remaining liquid and continue to stir
4. Total cooking time is approximately 7-10 minutes

For dried "salad”:

Cauliflower
Kale (young, if possible)
Soy Sauce, to taste

1. Shave the cauliflower using a mandoline 
2. Remove the stems from the kale leaves
3. Lightly brush the veggies with soy sauce and dehydrate in a low temperature oven for 1½ to 3 hours (approx. 170 degrees or less)

To plate (aromatics):

Coffee oil
Sweet paprika
Indonesian long pepper

1. Layer the risotto on a plate
2. Top with the vegetables
3. Drizzle with coffee oil and dust with spices
   
   

Chocolate mousse / corn sheet / masala syrup / crumbles

For mousse:

220 ml water
225 g (8 oz) dark chocolate

1. Warm the chocolate and water together until the chocolate melts
2. Whip the chocolate over ice until it reaches a mousse-like consistency

For corn sheet:

2 ears of corn
Water, if necessary
Agar agar (Kanten), as per box directions

1. Boil the corn (with a few leaves of the husk) until tender
2. Puree the corn (with some of the cooking liquid) until smooth
3. Return the puree to the heat and boil with agar until dissolved
4. Spread the mixture thinly over a silicone (silpat) lined baking sheet
5. Let set

For masala syrup:

1 cup water
½ cup brown sugar
1-2 tsp Tandoori Masala spice

Mix all the ingredients together and boil until it reaches a syrup-like consistency (approx 10-15 minutes)

For crumble:

1-2 crunchy (dry) cookies

Break the cookies into 1 cm pieces