Trivia for the brigade: who popularized that pairing in fine dining — was it Heston Blumenthal in the late ’90s, or does anyone have an earlier menu cite? I’m riffing on it tonight on a chilled coupe, setting a paper-thin cocoa butter tuile with an offset spatula and a tight crème fraîche quenelle to lift the pearls and keep a clean crescent of negative space, and I’d love to nod to the origin in the menu line.
Pretty sure it’s Heston at The Fat Duck via François Benzi in the early 2000s; the earliest menu/press ref I’ve seen is 2002–03, but I haven’t found a legit earlier cite. > and keep a clean crescent of negative space, and I’d love to nod to the origin in the menu — I’d credit “Heston Blumenthal, The Fat Duck (c. 2002)” and use a less-sweet white chocolate like Valrhona Opalys so the salinity stays bright; anyone have a pre-2002 menu scan?
Blumenthal’s book credits François Benzi for the white chocolate–caviar pairing, and I haven’t seen a legit ’90s menu cite. If you’re setting that paper-thin cocoa butter tuile on a chilled coupe, temper to about 31–32°C so it snaps and the quenelle doesn’t skate. If anyone’s got a pre‑2002 menu scan, drop it — otherwise I’d call it his, though a thin Ivoire wafer can be a nicer lift than straight cocoa butter, @davwils?