QimiQ good for the house wife better for the Garde Manger

As a member of the ACF I attend my local chapters monthly meetings. A great means for meeting local chefs, staying current with trends in the industry, hear about new products from local vendors, and just staying connected all together.  We just had a new roll out of members in office and they are sticking to their main platform...education.  Meetings since have been integrated with demonstrations and mini seminars ranging in topics from strudel dough to jamón ibérico tastings.

Chef Helmut Holtzer, CMC and Chris Drogos from Atlanta Foods/Gourmet Foods International, presented QimiQ, one of their specialty brands that they carry. Basically a sauce base for hot and cold sauces made from cream and gelatin.  The demo was a display of the more popular applications, you can find a list of them on their website.  As Chef Helmut Holtzer was running through all the ways you could use this product, he threw out a couple unconventional uses that one might be intrigued to hear.  Instant chemise anyone? Yes please! Chaud Froid in a box? Sign me up!

For the ones who find peace in long nights staring at food with the smell of aspic in the air, hands painted white from gloves, and on the edge of either going insane or truly defining yourself as a serious cook i.e cold food competitors, this is a product you might want to play with.

QimiQ
Classic:  Like I said before this is basically cream and gelatin which in my book is "chaud froid."

Chaud froids really did not come about until the beginning of the 19th century and had about a 100 year run before dying out.  It being a dying skill and technique is the very reason why I commit myself to the art of Garde Manger. The salmon piece in the picture is wrapped with a green and white chaud froid.  I snapped this photo at the 2012 ACF Culinary Olympic Team tryouts.  Ben Grupe presented this for the cold food portion of the tryout.  Beautiful piece, one of the best platters there that evening.

Whip:    
Melt, pour, let set, he says.  I am talking about a chemise.  Cold platters, traditionally displayed out on silver or ceramic had a thin layer of gelatin that you laid your food on.  Your ability to pour a even, clear, and thin chemise is taken into judgment and will reflect on your score.  This picture was the first platter I entered into a cold salon, it has a clear chemise under the food for an example of what I am talking about.  It was a representation of American shellfish and being seafood I went with a clear chemise.  Now as you get into other meats and other displays of cooking methods such as a braise or a roast, it would be suitable to pour a colored chemise down first.  White, tan, and brown are most common.  Now in most cold food competitions the food is not tasted, it is a display of the craft and art.  So there are trick of the trade, and I am thinking that QimiQ might soon be in my bag of tricks.