Espesso by Ferran Adria

This afternoon my sister Annie and I had an Espesso break.

Not espresso but the edible coffee created by Ferran Adria. We weren't at El Bulli or even in Europe but Chicago. And not at a restaurant a la Alinea or Moto, but a small downtown coffee house.

Lavazza introduced the product it developed in collaboration with Ferran in the US today. The Italian company has only three locations in this country and all are within a few blocks' radius in the city.

Espesso's been available exclusively in Europe since 2002. Interestingly, it's been served warm on The Continent, but now the import's dispensed chilled. I speculate it's because Europeans prefer their coffee concoctions hot but Americans suck them down ice cold. Or maybe the idea of a warm solid coffee might be too much for the mind of the average morning commuter.

The name is a play on words: espresso + spesso - "thick" in Italian. It's sturdy enough to stay put in an overturned cup, but deceptively light and airy, without the resistance of a traditional mousse, and delivers a surprisingly bold coffee flavor.

Lavazza alludes to a secret ingredient that solidifies the coffee. They claim this ingredient limits the servings available each day because it needs to set for 12 hours. It did in fact sell out at one location by late morning. The product's dispensed from the iSi Gourmet Whip that Ferran made famous with his foams.

I don't know for certain what they use in their version but Ferran does have a cold coffee espuma that uses simple gelatine. For the warm preparation I'd guess he used agar-agar.

You can take an Espesso to go - and it's spill-proof - but you should eat it immediately since as a foam it starts to collapse within minutes.

I strongly recommend you have it in-house served in the covetable custom cups and saucers with specially designed spoons. The cup's emblazoned with the cute logo - a fluffy mound in an upside-down cup - and the saucer's imprinted around the edge with "Coffee that you eat" in English, French, German,  Portuguese, Italian, and Spanish. And when you do eat it, it's with a special spoon - an espresso spoon with a small hole in the bowl - meant to reinforce the idea that the product is solid - the handle engraved with "Espesso by Ferran Adria".

There are three variations: a straight espresso Espesso; cappucino, dusted with cocoa powder; and macchiato, served with an edible milk side-by-side in the same cup. Each are $2.49 a cup.

My sister's reaction? "Coffee foam. What's the big deal?" Ahh, little sisters.

Cold Coffee Espuma
(by Ferran Adria)

- 325 ml cold espresso
- 125 ml heavy cream (33% fat)
- 75 g sugar
- 2-2.5 sheets gelatine

Soak gelatine sheets in cold water until soft.

Heat 100 ml of espresso to 60C/140F then remove from heat. Add sugar then stir to dissolve. Squeeze water from gelatine sheets well, add to hot espresso, then stir to dissolve. Add remaining cold espresso then set aside to cool slightly. Before gelatine sets, add cream, then stir.

Use iSi Gourmet Whip or Thermo Whip. Pour mixture into bottle, charge with one charger, then shake well. Chill for several hours before dispensing. Keep refrigerated.

Comments

[Scott at Real Epicurean]

This is one of the most interesting ideas I've seen in months.
I'm one of those people that scoops the foam off my coffee with a teaspoon to eat it, so this sounds very appealing to me!

[Dana]

One of the few things I put on my wedding registry was the ISI gourmet whip. Thank god my family knows me well enough to get it! Now I have the perfect recipe to christen it! I'd do the Fat Duck's green tea meringue, but the liquid nitrogen to poach it in is kinda hard to get.

[Bux]

At the very least it's intriguing, but I wonder if I would miss what I now enjoy about sipping a hot espresso. The cold version seems like a dessert (mousse barvarois) rather than a drink replacement. The idea of a warm coffee mousse for dessert sounds even more interesting than a drink replacement as well.

[Julia]

hi louisa!
wow, how cool, I love it! sounds very refreshing!
like Scott, I always scoop my foam off my cappuccino...yum!
Since I unfortunately can’t buy it, I ill definitely try your recipe!

[clotilde]

Loved Annie's comment!

[Lil]

sounds like quite a treat... ;)

[ak]

so its possible to have this in chicago?

[L]

Have you tried the recipe at home with the iSi Whip? I found it had trouble with the gelatin after I chilled it. It worked MUCH better without the gelatine.

-L

[golfwidow]

I wonder if the "secret ingredient" is cornstarch, as is used in cooked pudding. I don't know. Sounds delicious, though.

[Frances]

Which downtown coffeehouse? Thanks.

[anna maria]

Visiting here for the first time, and I find this delicious concoction!
I wonder about something, however. If the secret ingredient were gelatine, wouldn't they be obliged to reveal it since a vegetarian would have a FIT if they were not told they were eating a beef product? Remember the huge stink when it was discovered that a major fast food chain was frying french fries in beef fat?

[Julie O'Hara]

That is very cool. I hadn't heard anything about this. I wish it was available in shops other than the ones in Chicago.

[GiuseppeWong]

Thanks for the recipe! I tried it out and it's damn good. As you can see on the site, It came out a bit grainy the first time but I let it set over night and its beautiful. Im thinking ..Cold "Hot Chocolate" Espuma.

[Simon]

This is a first for me on this. I have never seen anything like this before. My friend and i are espresso mad so we going to try this and let you all know what its like.

[Tony]

I just tried this for the first time today and I had to have two. They are the bomb.

[Simon]

Well i tried it and it was very nice. Need a few more goes at making it though.

[Online Kitchenware]

After having a few goes at making it i think i have cracked it! Now i am going to do this for my xmas party.

[AproposPig]

Fascinating. I've never seen that over here, but i probably just haven't been looking hard enough.

[Hendri]

hi everybody, I've been dying to find the recipe, thank you for sharing....
btw, what size is the whipper you are using?

[Andrew]

For anyone curious: the unknown ingredient in this article is xanthane gum, it's a thickening agent which does not affect the flavour. hard to come by, though i saw feran adria having a site where they sell stuff like that, i'll check my history...

[andrew]

http://www.texturaselbulli.com/ENG/Espesantes_01.html
there you go

[Louisa]

It was not xanthan gum at the time that Ferran invented espesso - he was not using it until a few years later. It was simple gelatin - but xanthan gum is great fun. It's what's used to make "fluid gels" - remember Orbitz?

[Pille]

Thank you for the recipe, Louisa! I bought the iSi Gourmet Whip recently, too, and am experimenting with various recipes. This will be another one to try!

[Louisa]

Pille - you're so welcome! I now use a strong espresso with beans from Intelligentsia - amazingly deep, rounded flavor. Have fun with your whipper!

[A simple soldier]

Hey Lu? I saw a hydrocolloid recipe book somewhere on-line and the recipe they had for hot espuma involved setting a liquid with agar, blending it to a pudding consistancy, putting it in the charger, adding the nitrous, then warming it in a bath. I was wondering if you knew or could find out if heating a charger of compressed gas is a accident waiting to happen. I don't want to lose part of my face because I wanted to make a fluffy, hot foam.