One of the hallmarks of molecular gastronomy is presenting dishes in a way that allows diners to complete the final preparations themselves, such as drizzling sauce over a main course or dropping ingredients into a bowl of soup. Bercero says this helps diners appreciate new cooking twists that might at first seem a bit weird. He cites as an example one of his favorites among his own creations, crab with white chocolate sauce, which doesn’t use molecular gastronomy techniques but still has diners scratching their heads.
“It sounds so strange, so I serve them separately and let people first try the crab meat, and then add the white chocolate sauce so they will be able to understand the change. You can see how you can shift the taste of a traditional recipe with only one ingredient,” says Bercero.
Bercero is also willing to make compromises for diners unfamiliar with the results of molecular gastronomy techniques. He once made a dish with mussels that used water from the inside of the shell to create foam with large bubbles around the mussel meat.
“I served it to a good friend of mine who is a customer and he told me that the look was like spit. After thinking about it, I thought, ‘yeah, it is,’” says Bercero good-humoredly. “Even though the taste was so good and the texture was so nice, we stopped selling it because we were like, ‘yeah, you are right.’”
Despite making a few adjustments to his menu to suit the market, Bercero says he appreciates the adventurousness nature of his Taiwanese customers, who rarely refuse to try anything he offers them.
“No one says ‘no, I’d prefer not to try this.’ They all say, ‘I’ll try that,’”
says Bercero.
Living and working in Taiwan has also inspired Bercero to lend an Eastern twist to his new creations, including fresh takes on tea eggs, beef noodles and other Taiwanese favorites. Some of these recipes will be included in an upcoming book that Bercero is working on.
Despite his obvious enthusiasm for the innovations made possible by molecular gastronomy, Bercero stresses that the taste of a dish ultimately trumps its novelty.
“For me molecular gastronomy is just the garnish. It’s used to join the main ingredients. It’s not just about the foam or the bubbles. Its purpose is to bring a twist to a classical recipe and to introduce a new shape, a new texture or a new way to eat,” says Bercero.
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