A famed Chicago restaurant is offering a new twist on a classic fall dish this season, and it’s quite clearly — ahem — a winner.
Alinea, which has three Michelin stars and is considered one of the best restaurants in the world, is known for its inventive and and extravagant tasting menu, which includes about 20 courses and sets diners back $210 to $265 each.
This fall, one of several desserts added to the menu is a ‘distillation of pumpkin pie’ — a treat that tastes just like regular pumpkin pie but is totally see-through.
Clearly buzzworthy: Alinea in Chicago has a clear pumpkin pie on its menu this fall
Brilliant: Executive chef Mike Bagale and chef de cuisine Simon Davies distill the pie filling ingredients and add gelatin, but don’t let it thicken too much
Set on a flaky crust and topped with whipped cream, the pie filling looks quite a bit like clear Jell-O — but executive chef Mike Bagale and chef de cuisine Simon Davies, who came up with the dish, insist it doesn’t have that consistency.
‘Texture is very important to us. This melts away,’ Davies wrote on Instagram. ‘If it were over-gelled it would not be worth serving. The main texture that brings on nostalgia is from the pate brisee.’
And it tastes like actual pumpkin pie because it’s made with all the same ingredients — real cooked pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger, and dairy.
‘I wanted to do a distillation of pumpkin pie because it’s very technical and thought-provoking,’ Bagale told Vogue. ‘I wasn’t sure how I wanted to serve the distillation, and Simon suggested setting it in a pie crust.
Unique: The distilled pie filling is then added to crust and topped with whipped cram
Fancy: It is served in tiny pieces as part of a 20-course tasting menu
What’s cool about the dish is the juxtaposition between modern technique coupled with very classic technique, and when you taste it you get to appreciate the qualities of both.’
The chefs start with pumpkin, cinnamon, clove, ginger, and condensed milk, and mixes them all together in a rotary evaporator.
‘We put the pumpkin pie stock under a vacuum, and that stock boils at room temperature. Because it’s boiling, it’s evaporating, and that evaporation hits the rotary evaporator’s chilled coils and drips into a collection flask,’ he explained.
‘We take that collection flask and we season it with a little bit of salt and sugar, and then set it with gelatin. So, it’s basically pure aroma.’
Amazing: Alinea is known for its experimental dishes, like this bubble gum dessert
Distill all the things! They’ve also served distilled candy bars like these (which show the wrapper encased in the Reese’s and Butterfinger-flavored gelatin
The pie is then sliced up into tiny bite-sized pieces as part of the extensive 20-course tasting menu.
And the reviews are raving.
‘Invisible pumpkin pie at Alinea tastes better than visible pumpkin pie anywhere,’ wrote Instagram user @nponch.
‘Probably the best piece of pumpkin pie I’ve ever had,’ said @_yoink7.
Alinea has used distillation in desserts in the past, and has previously served a clear chocolate sorbet and distilled Butterfinger and Reese’s candy.