I've been on a fruit soup kick lately. My juicer has been working OT. I promised him a break after this one.
The other night, I made a cold cherry soup infused with star anise and swirled with yogurt. I've never been to Morocco, but that soup took me there. Landed me in a souk in Marrakesh. With each spoonful, the saturated colors of silk and pottery intensified, the sounds of vendors haggling with buyers grew louder, the scent of leather and sweet spices grew stronger. By the time that I had finished, I half-expected to find my feet covered in dust and my house redecorated with exotic carpets and textiles, all purchased at the lowest possible price.
This strawberry soup, perfumed with Riesling and sweet woodruff sorbet, transports me to the Bavarian Alps, on the first day of May.
Sweet Woodruff (Galium odoratum) is a woodland herb
that grows prolifically in Northern Europe. In Germany, it is known as Waldmeister (master of the woods) and is steeped in white wine with strawberries to produce May Wine, traditionally served for May Day celebrations. It's primary aroma compound is coumarin, which lends it's characteristic sweet hay and vanilla flavor. Coumarin is also found in high concentrations in tonka beans; it's moderate toxicity is the reason why they are banned in the US. Fresh leaves of sweet woodruff have only a faint odor–they need to be wilted or dried to release the essential oils. In haste, a quick blast in the microwave does the trick.
Sour cream pearls couldn't be any easier when applying reverse spherification. Dairy products already contain sufficient amounts of calcium to react with a sodium alginate solution (1 liter water + 5 g. sodium alginate). This technique produces stable spheres that remain liquid in the center and can be served hot or cold.
Download recipe: Strawberry soup
Playing with Fire and Water 
What a gorgeous photo!
I am fascinated by the spherification process and now that you’ve mentioned that dairy needs only one chemical compound, I might try to find a source of it (food grade, one assumes) in the UK.
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Even milk?
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Angela- thanks, this is the easiest and most reliable way to introduce yourself to spherification. I hope you are able to find the sodium alginate.
Jesse- yes, you can make milk spheres, but you will have to thicken it. Straight milk will just spread and float on the surface of the alginate solution.
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How do you keep the alginate in your bath from reacting with the water to turn into gel/jelly?
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That shouldn’t be a problem as long as you keep the density of the base
greater than the bath. Also, the bath thins out if you let it sit overnight
or longer.
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