Sun-ripened berry fruits, drops of extra virgin olive oil and lime cold beetroot drops, by Andoni Luis Aduriz
Ingredients
(Serves four)
For the beetroot bubbles 500g beetroot
750ml still mineral water
1.2g xanthan gum
20g egg white powder
For the red fruit juice 100g strawberries
25g blackberries
25g raspberries
For the red fruits 8 red raspberries
8 yellow raspberries
4 strawberries
8 wild strawberries
8 blackberries
8 red gooseberries
8 blueberries
8 redcurrants
For the candied beetroot 200g white sugar
200ml still mineral water
100g beetroot
For the lemon-flavoured oil 1 lemon
1 lime
100ml extra virgin olive oil
150ml red fruit juice (see above)
0.2g blended pink, green, white and black pepper
Method
To prepare the beetroot bubbles, peel the beetroot and cut it into pieces. Liquidise it and sieve the resulting juice through a very fine mesh sieve.
Pour 250ml of beetroot juice and the mineral water into a mixing bowl. Drizzle in the xanthan and mix at a low speed with a hand-held blender. Add the egg white powder and continue mixing very gently for at least 5 minutes. Vacuum pack the preparation on maximum pressure and leave to stand in the cold room for a day at 2-4°C.
For the red fruit juice, put all washed and disinfected fruits into separate vacuum bags for cooking. Vacuum-pack them under maximum pressure and immerse in a temperature-controlled bath at 70°C.
Keep the bags immersed for 5 hours and then sieve the fruit to collect the juice. Pass the juice through a fine mesh sieve and set aside in the refrigerator covered with clingfilm.
To prepare the red fruits, they should be ripe and should never be refrigerated. Whenever possible, we recommend that they should be picked on the day they are going to be used. Halve the strawberries, blackberries and gooseberries if they are too big. Set aside the different fruits in different containers (do not refrigerate) on damp paper towels to allow the fruit to regain any moisture it may have lost.
For the candied beetroot, gently heat the sugar and water in a saucepan until the sugar dissolves. Set aside. Peel the beetroot and cut it into irregular pieces about 1 cm wide. Blanch the pieces in the hot syrup for 2 minutes. Place them on a tray and cover.
To make the lemon-flavoured oil, cut off the rind of the lemon and lime, removing any pulp and pith. Put the oil into a bowl and make a twist with the rind of the two citrus fruits. Soak the rind for 2 minutes, sieve the oil and add it to the red fruit juice. Add the pepper.
For service, pour the beetroot bubble mixture into a large bowl and add air using an aquarium pump to produce a good quantity of bubbles.
Mix the different varieties of red fruit and the beetroot in small glass bowls. Coat them with the lemon flavoured oil mixed with fruit juice, soaking them well, and serve them in soup plates.
Collect the bubbles with a skimmer and place them over the fruit mixture.
