Día de los Muertos

This fall, we found ourselves inspired by the sentiment and iconography of Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). A two-day holiday, it begins November 1st with All Saints Day, when the spirits of infants and children are honored, and is followed by All Souls Day, honoring adults. Both holidays are a way of commemorating the lives of deceased loved ones, but the festivities are far from morose, and the mood is far from somber.

Head chef Francisco Migoya grew up in Mexico City, where he celebrated Día de los Muertos each year, often going to the village of Mixquic, which is famous for its celebrations. Sometimes referred to as “City of the Dead,” the village is home to the church of San Andrés Apóstol and its surrounding cemetery, which became the epicenter of commemorations. “It’s where most of these traditions are kept alive,” said Migoya. In Mixquic, the festival spans three days and is attended by thousands. It concludes with La Alumbrada on November 2nd, when the cemetery is awash with the glow of candles and people hold all-night vigils at gravesites.

Day of the Dead Illustration 2            Day of the dead, Francisco Migoya, 2014  

 

“A celebration centered on death might sound somewhat morbid to other cultures where it’s more taboo. [Día de los Muertos] is really a huge celebration that, in some ways, makes light of death…” said Migoya. For two days, vibrant processions snake through towns, and families build colorful altars called ofrendas at gravesites or in their homes to encourage spirits to visit, celebrate, and once again enjoy the luxuries of corporeal life.

The holiday is a feast for the senses. “There are specific flowers that are tied to the holiday. Marigolds and cockscomb flowers… You can smell the burning candles, incense, and Frankincense from the altars all day. Those smells are a big association with Día de los Muertos,” Migoya added.

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Flowers, stories, possessions, toys, and, of course, foods and libations, are offered to welcome home the spirits for the holiday’s duration. Traditional holiday staples, including sugar skulls and Pan de Muerto, are prepared, as well as the spirits’ favorite dishes.

 

Sugar Skulls

Intricately decorated sugar skulls, or calaveras, with names of the deceased written across the foreheads, represent departed spirits. They are typically covered in labyrinthine patterns of vibrantly colored icing that seemingly breathe life back into the spirits. Throughout the holiday, the skulls serve as gifts between friends and family.

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Chef Migoya based our sugar skulls on traditional recipes. First, he mixed sugar, water, and egg white powder until the mixture produced a texture similar to wet sand. Next, the mixture was pressed as tightly as possible into molds. “The process is similar to building sandcastles. Filling the molds is like filling buckets with sand. You want to pack them as tightly as possible so that the sugar skull pops out intact…” The skulls were dried on cardboard (permeable surfaces are preferable) and, after five hours, were hollowed out to reduce the weight of the skulls and make them easier to work with. After drying them for an additional 24 hours, they were decorated with a simple icing made of water, powdered sugar, and a little bit of citric acid; the skulls were then placed under a fan to keep the icing shiny. “The citric acid prevents the sugar from crystallizing. And the faster the icing dries, the shinier it will be.”

 

Pan de Muerto

Pan de Muerto (Bread of the Dead) also adorns ofrendas and is eaten during the holiday. This soft, yeasty bread is lightly sweetened and typically flavored with anise- and orange-blossom water, giving the bread a delicate taste and enticing aroma. The bread maintains the iconography of Día de los Muertos—before baking in the oven, the dough is rounded, topped with pieces shaped like long bones (representing the deceased), and dusted with sugar.

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We just happened to have a gorgeous skull stencil at The Cooking Lab, so we decided to put it to good use for our Pan de Muerto. We shaped our dough into a large boule (round) and dusted sugar over the stencil. The small notches around the bread’s edges represent traditional bone decorations. We then augmented the supernatural quality of our Pan de Muerto by adding clouds of liquid nitrogen.

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Pasta: A Retrospective

Chances are, there’s a food holiday (and maybe even two or three) for every day of the year. While we like to celebrate amazing food regularly at Modernist Cuisine, we couldn’t let National Pasta Month come and go without acknowledging it. As the weather in Bellevue, Washington, turns gray and cold, a plate of Spaghetti alle Vongole or bowl of Shanghai Soup Dumplings sounds even more enticing than normal. And Mac and Cheese, Russian Pelmeni, Chicken Noodle Soup, and Rye Levain Noodles? Check, check, check, and check.

 

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With noodles of all kinds on our minds, here is an homage to the delicious beauty of pasta.

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Rye Levain Noodles
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Spaghetti alle Vongole from Modernist Cuisine
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Cocoa Tajarin from Modernist Cuisine
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Mac and Cheese from Modernist Cuisine at Home
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Shanghai Soup Dumplings from Modernist Cuisine
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Chicken Noodle Soup from Modernist Cuisine at Home
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Russian Pelmeni from Modernist Cuisine

 

An Afternoon with Massimo Bottura

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Last week, we had the pleasure of hosting chef Massimo Bottura, of Osteria Francescana, at The Cooking Lab while he was on tour promoting his first book, Never Trust a Skinny Italian Chef. He was joined at the table by a group of exceptionally talented, Italian-influenced chefs from this region: chef Suzette Gresham of Acquerello, chef Nathan Lockwood of Altura, chef Pino Posteraro of Cioppino’s Mediterranean Grill, chef Simone Savaiano of Mucca Osteria, chef Holly Smith of Cafe Juanita, chef Michael Tusk of both Cotogna and Quince, and chef Cathy Whims of Nostrana.

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We always look forward to events where we can meet and cook for chefs who inspire us. Chef Bottura undoubtedly falls into this category. His food validates his creativity, his love for his country, and his culinary philosophies. It also demonstrates that food is fun in signature dishes like the wabi-sabi-esque beauty of a dropped lemon tart and his tribute to the best part of the lasagna: the crunchy bits of pasta, which he serves in a deconstructed fashion with ragù and béchamel.

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All too often we hear, “Modernist food lacks the soul of its more traditional counterparts.” or “Foams are cold, sous vide is unappealing and lacking passion—we just don’t get Modernist cuisine.” Why can’t food be traditional and innovative at the same time?

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The work of chef Bottura illustrates that these concepts, tradition and innovation, are not opposing forces. Instead, they are nuanced layers we can use to construct a single, transcendent bite. The three-Michelin-star Bottura can, in fact, transport you to his mother’s kitchen on a wisp of mortadella foam. It is whimsical, yes, but the dish is also a dialogue about ingredients and a love story about one’s heritage.

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Chef Bottura’s now-infamous bollito misto non-bollito is deeply rooted in history but born out of honoring the past through new techniques. Instead of boiling tough cuts of meat, as tradition would strictly dictate, he cooks them sous vide to maximize flavor, tenderness, and nutritional content—an homage to the original bollito misto, a dish Bottura grew up with. Thick sauces are replaced by light foams of familiar flavors, smartly designed to complement, not hide, the meat. All of the classic flavors are vibrantly present, and this metamorphosis of technique allows chef Bottura to continue the evolution of Italian cuisine.

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We honored the gregarious chef with a menu that featured our own tribute to Italian flavors: Vongole, Cacao and Sea Urchin Pasta, Polenta, and Cappuccino. Our classic dishes were reworked so that each would give a subtle nod to Italian cuisine, including Pea Stew, with a delicate ravioli, and Basil Cocktail, with a splash of chef Bottura’s Villa Manodori Balsamic Vinegar.

And, of course, there was Pistachio Gelato.

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Want more? Read Molly Wizenberg’s Yahoo Food article about lunch with chef Bottura.