Chef René Redzepi's beetroot and rhubarb dessert
Chef René Redzepi's beetroot and rhubarb dessert
a recipe inspired by Noma
Hello and happy Sunday! These last few weeks have been intense. My husband had to be rushed to hospital for emergency surgery (please, if a doctor is reading this, why exactly do we need our appendix?!)
In all seriousness, it was a humbling experience. After the busy, worrisome time spent in the emergency room, the relatively short hour and half that it took to complete the surgery felt like an eternity. Sitting alone in a huge empty waiting room, I found comfort in the company of my lovely Mum, who had stayed up all night, in the UK, to keep me company on FaceTime. I don’t think I have ever cried so much, at least in public!
Thankfully, my husband is now at home, well and recovering. And as for me? I’ve been nursing him back to health the best way I know how - cooking. On the menu - endless steaming bowls of chicken noodle soup, cups of vanilla and goji berry tea, and fresh ramp butter on sourdough toast as well as his favorite little comforting snacks: cheese sables, early season strawberries with mint syrup and beetroot sorbet (keep reading for the recipe!).
This week’s kitchen project
Every spare minute I’ve had this week has been spent studying René Redzepi’s cookbook, Noma. As part of my home culinary school project, in tandem with studying Escoffier’s Le guide Culinaire, I am deconstructing and re-interpreting Michelin star dishes from Chefs I admire. Last week I fiddled with a few of Chef Grant Achatz dishes and amidst all the complicated techniques (asparagus coulis, asparagus foam and milk-infused garlic chips), I unearthed a very reliable and absurdly simple method of making the most creamy beurre blanc. Read here if you would like to catch up.
One day, perhaps, I’ll learn secrets from a chef I admire in person, but for now I have my books.
Beetroot and rhubarb - the Noma way
Below is my interpretation of Chef Redzepi’s beetroot and rhubarb dessert. From left we have a layered rhubarb mousse dusted with dehydrated and candied rhubarb ‘powder’. Center stage is the wonderfully light beetroot sorbet garnished with a candied sour rhubarb swirl—crafted from thinly sliced rhubarb soaked in warm grapefruit-infused simple syrup and baked at a very low temperature for an hour. Finally on the right is a refreshing granita made from a blend of cow and sheep's yogurt. Yum.
The inspiration
I’m sure I don't need to introduce you to the renowned restaurant Noma in Copenhagen, led by Chef René Redzepi. It is by now the stuff of legends. Chef Redzepi is a trailblazer whose approach to cooking is rooted in local and seasonal ingredients, many of which are foraged, in accordance with his philosophy of collaborating with, rather than against the land.
Chef Redzepi’s cookbook is brimming with wonderful flavor combinations. On this occasion, however, my recipe options were limited by the need to use up some leftover beetroot in something other than soup. Beetroot is normally associated with winter but it is truly at its sweetest during spring and summer. And what good timing - I’ve always found beetroot particularly delightful in desserts. Rene’s recipe also includes a lovely rhubarb mousse, and with rhubarb season winding down, I thought it fitting to give one of my favorite vegetables a memorable farewell. Rhubarb and beetroot are an enigmatic duo. Deeply nuanced, and very lovely.
A delight
On Friday, I hosted a cocktail and canapé evening for some friends. Before serving the canapés, I presented an amuse-bouche in dainty silver ice cream bowls featuring Rene’s sorbet complete with the yogurt granita and a little rhubarb gelée garnished with candied rhubarb bows. My guests were delighted. My husband said it felt like a childhood dream come true: dessert before dinner.
For me, this is what food is all about: delight.
I won't share the full recipe; you’ll have to buy the Noma cookbook for yourself to discover more. I will, however, share the recipes for the beetroot sorbet and yogurt granita. You’ll love the flavor profile combination. The tang of the yogurt granita works in complete harmony with the sweetness and very slight earthiness of the beetroot. The beetroot juice is best if homemade, but if you must, buy from the store.
The Recipe
Beetroot sorbet
130g stock syrup (50% water 50% sugar)
1 leaf gelatine
215g beet juice
8.5g lemon juice ( I didn’t have any lemons so used freshly squeezed grapefruit juice instead)
Yogurt granita
350g water
75g sugar
450g sheep's milk yogurt
125g cow’s milk yogurt
7g lemon juice
Method
Beetroot Sorbet
Heat the stock syrup. Bloom the gelatin and melt it in a little of the warm stock syrup. Combine with the rest of the ingredients and place in Paco containers* to set in the freezer.
*I unfortunately don’t own a Pacojet (yet), so I placed the sorbet into my Cuisinart ice cream machine.
Yogurt Granita
Bring the water and sugar to the boil, and cool. Mix with the remaining ingredients and freeze in a metal container. When frozen solid scrape with a fork to a powder and keep in the freezer.
Well, that’s it for this week, thank you for joining me once again. Please don’t hesitate to let me know if you make this, and like a good pen pal, do send pictures!
Now, I think I’ll have a glass of wine and sit out on our little patio so that I can quietly enjoy the beauty and fragrance of our floral treasures as they gently sway in the Californian spring breeze. It’s nice to stop every once in a while and smell the roses, don’t you think?
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