Sweet Heat

Unknowingly about to dodge the six inches of snow that would fall upon New York City, I set out last week for the warmer climes of Grand Cayman: sun, clear blue waters, and a fairly constant 85 degrees. Though a welcome respite from the Northeast winter, the weather was merely incidental to my real purpose. This was no vacation; I was here to work. Open just over two years, Blue, Eric Ripert's first of ongoing collaborations with the Ritz Carlton, is the signature dining outlet in the company's 400 room resort situated on the island's Seven Mile Beach. Responsible for the restaurant's dessert menu from the beginning, I typically travel twice a year to not only tweak and troubleshoot the current offerings, but to introduce new menu items as well. This time around, a complete menu overhaul was my goal: six to eight new desserts in three days.

Perhaps the consulting project that most resembles Le Bernardin (though by no means an exact replica), Blue maintains a casual elegance, a relaxed atmosphere reflective of it's surroundings; luxury and fine dining meets Caribbean tranquility. The kitchen is run by our former sous chef Richard Brower, who is supported by a young, international cast of cooks: American, French, Moroccan, Peruvian, South African, local Caymanians, and other nationalities have all been represented in the kitchen there, which always makes for an exciting cultural exchange and a few foreign language lessons. But then, come to think of it, the kitchens of New York City are no different! But the focus of the restaurant from the beginning has been to take advantage of what is available locally. With an obvious interest in the surrounding waters, Richard sources from local fisherman wahoo, ocean yellow tail, queen snapper, conch, and huge spiny lobster, among others. And though just barely twice the size of Manhattan, Grand Cayman also offers some interesting fruit and vegetables. Wanting to take advantage of such produce, I knew before setting out that my new menu would incorporate a unique little pepper to spice things up a bit.

A Caribbean staple known as a mutton, or simply, "seasoning" pepper, this diminutive flavor bomb is a close cousin of the fiery Scotch Bonnet, or habanero. Possessing far fewer Scoville units, these seasoning peppers reveal all of the sweet complexities often overshadowed by its larger relative's heat.Tame enough to be eaten raw, they also release a layer of sweet heat to cooked dishes as well. While I had a fairly good idea of the menu changes to be made, I always try to leave myself open to spontaneity. So within an hour of arriving at the hotel, I found myself first checking out the kitchen's stash of seasoning peppers, and then other ingredients, surveying possible ways to introduce them into a dessert befitting the tropical vibe I was instantly succumbing to.

Infusing desserts with heat is nothing new. Most decent traditional hot chocolate contains some form of smoky dried chiles. And as children we all enjoyed the red-tongued, painful pleasure of consuming too many "red hot" candies or jaw breaking "fireballs"; I especially loved those chewy Hot Tamales- a peek at the official website shows that they are still trying to fire up the original, created in the 1950s. Years ago, I stumbled upon a combination of cinnamon and jalapeno that closely replicated that flavor, and set to work at the time infusing that flavor into winter squash to accompany a chocolate dessert. Cory Barrett, my successor at Tribute now gaining recognition at Cleveland's Lola, had toyed with the concept of a "fruit kimchee", a garnish of lightly salted and pickled fruit, amped up with requisite spice. And more recently, a trip to Puerto Rico introduced my mainland palate to the wonders of the condiment pique, often a home-brewed concoction combining peppers, pineapple rinds, vinegar, and a myriad of spices; some of the best (and scariest) are those cloudy liquids sold in old rum bottles among the stalls of old San Juan's plaza del mercado. Anyway, I had this kind of fresh and fiery approach in mind as I gathered some seasoning peppers, pineapples, mangoes, and limes.

I thought an infusion would be a good starting point, so I combined roughly chopped pineapple with the sliced peppers, sugar, and water. Giving those flavors a simmer and a few hours to co-mingle, I diced more pineapple along with mango, and another more intense fire-engine red cherry pepper. I then spied water apples in the walk-in refrigerator. Water apples, or Malay apples are usually associated with Indonesia and Southeast Asia, but a Caribbean strain is also popular, often referred to as Jamaica or Otaheite apples. Their crisp and juicy flesh are not unlike jicama or Asian pears. Diced water apple would add a bit of refreshing texture to my developing fruit salad. Just as I set to work on the water apples, I noticed one of the nearby garde manger cooks going to town on a gargantuan green papaya, which would have been another interesting addition, but I figured I'd file that away for another time, another experiment.

Adjusting the sugar and acid of my pepper "dressing", I then looked for both contrast and compliment to best show off my fruit salad, now also garnished with micro cilantro. Lime and coconut answered in the form of a basic lime curd and coconut sorbet. The simple composition shown here eventually grew into a proper plated dessert including a creamy lime-vanilla parfait and crisp meringue. Building upon my enthusiasm for locally enhanced classics, I paired simple profiteroles with chocolate and a coriander-pink peppercorn spiked mango coulis, and a riff on lemon and meringue, using ginger and maracuja, or passion fruit. Creating three other plated desserts and a handful of petit fours rounded out my busy week.

Given my short time and ambitious goals, I could only take mental note of other sources of inspiration that came from immersing myself in a few days of Cayman culture. Tamarind, fresh sugar cane, young coconut, sweet sorrel, and several varieties of pumpkins and sweet potatoes will all be on my agenda when I visit next. As a bonus, I returned to New York with a bagful of Peruvian ingredients to play with, courtesy of Guiliana, Blue's pastry cook who will be executing all of the new desserts. I now can add to my pantry dried purple corn (used to produce a sweet soft drink in Peru) and both dried and pureed lucuma (best described as being similar to sapote), as well as a powdered quinoa reminiscent of malted milk powder.

Have I ever mentioned how much I love my job?

Download coconut_lime_recipe.pdf

For general notes on the recipes posted here, please read About the Recipes. And for hard to find ingredients or equipment, please refer to Resources.

Comments

[H. Alexander Talbot]

The seasoning peppers are off the hook. We actually used them in our Dr. Pepper relish as well as in raw fish preparations. They freeze extremely well and zest wonderfully from that frozen state.

Great ideas. Thanks for the sparks.

[Vicente Echeverria]

Do you still have pureed Lucuma in the freezer from last year?

[Michael Laiskonis]

Vicente, don't get started on the Chile vs. Peru argument! We did indeed use up the Lucuma you brought us. As well as the Cherimoya. We are waiting for you to send us more!

[Vicente Echeverria]

Ha ha! I didn't mean it like that! By the way, let me know if you're interested in any other special products here in Chile. Have you ever heard about the "Calafate" berry?

[Sara]

Hi,
I just made a citrus kimchee, well...more of a sunomono I suppose...cumquats, thai chilis, grapefruit, blood orange, rice vinegar, sugar, vanilla, star anise, cinnamon and whole cloves...it has a great citrus sweetness, good spice and a subtle vanilla flavor...we're currently serving it with parrot fish...i didn't even think of using it as a dessert item...

i love reading your blog by the way...i'm not a pastry chef, just a line cook...but i like to play around...you are quite inspiring.

thank you