A Lovely Recipe for Grilled Prawns with Beetroot, Chilies and Smoldering Cinnamon

Get your notebooks out, folks — it's Molecular Gastronomy 101

Grant Achatz

Grant Achatz is a chef and co-owner of The Alinea Group, as well as a key figure in America's molecular gastronomy movement.

September 18, 2023 5:16 pm

Hi there. My name is Grant Achatz. I’m the chef and co-owner of The Alinea Group, which has four restaurants and two cocktail bars in Chicago. Our flagship restaurant, Alinea, opened in 2005 and has led the “Molecular Gastronomy” (or what we call “Progressive American”) genre of cooking in the United States. For those not in Chicago, we also have five self-published food and cocktail books as well as my autobiography, Life On The Line.

What, exactly, is molecular gastronomy, you ask? Good question. The term refers to a style of cooking that expanded the culinary toolbox to include machines and methods more commonly used by food scientists in laboratories than by chefs in professional kitchens. I like to say that this style of cooking uses emotions as seasoning: intimidation, confusion, intrigue, happiness, magic and nostalgia are layered over delicious food by using newly developed techniques, ideas and equipment to manipulate the food in unexpected ways.

As for how I got into it? At an early age I recognized an insatiable curiosity, a relentless creative spirit, and almost a feeling of obligation to change the status quo. After culinary school, I knew I wanted to learn from the best, and I knew that would be learning from Thomas Keller at the French Laundry. I hand-wrote him a letter every day until he said I could come try out in the kitchen. It was my time staging at el Bulli restaurant under Ferran Adrià in Spain that catapulted me into the realm of hyper-modern cooking. Like most everything, to do it well requires endless practice, study, risk-taking and failure. I gained most of my essential knowledge from reading books, trial and error and, of course, the internet.

A few examples that illustrate my style include the edible balloon — where we challenged ourselves to make food float (plus there’s just something about watching people of all ages suck the helium from a completely edible apple taffy balloon and sing like Mickey Mouse). There’s also the tabletop dessert, when we redefined what a “plate” could be — a chef appears from the kitchen and paints the dessert on the entire table surface in front of the guests. Finally, the pheasant with burning oak leaves, where the aroma of smoldering leaves transports you to a nostalgic time.

Now, this is not to say that only a professional chef with many years under his/her belt can pull this stuff off. For the most part, you can put together a molecular gastronomy meal with what you already have in your home kitchen. Although, if you happen to have a vacuum sealer, immersion circulator, a vaporizer or access to liquid nitrogen … even better! Below you’ll find a recipe to get you started that requires only patience, practice and a good quality torch. Enjoy!

Alinea’s Grilled Prawns with Beetroot, Chilies and Smoldering Cinnamon

Servings: 1-2

Copy Ingredients

Ingredients

12 prawns, large, U-16, shelled
12 cinnamon sticks, as long as possible, split lengthwise into skewers
2 red beetroots, large
4 pink grapefruits
1 oz Korean red chili threads
Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
20g mint, leaves removed and torn

For the Beets

2 large red beets
4l water
100g salt

For the grapefruit glaze

4 pink grapefruits
1 lemon, juiced
Pinch red chili flakes
50g sugar
50g soy sauce

Directions

Copy Directions

Method for the beets
1. Place the beets in a large pot with water and salt and bring to a simmer.
2. Cook the beets until a knife inserted in the beet can be removed without resistance and they are tender.
3. Remove from the water and cool at room temperature.
4. Using a towel, remove the beet skins.
5. Cut the beets into 13mm thick x 2.5 cm x 2.5 cm pieces.
Method for the grapefruit glaze
1. Using a micro-planer, zest the grapefruits. Reserve the zest.
2. Juice the grapefruit flesh and strain out the pulp.
3. In a medium pot, combine the sugar, soy sauce, lemon, chilies and grapefruit juice and reduce over a medium heat until a light syrup is formed.
4. Remove from heat and cool.
For the Cooking and Assembly
1. Preheat a grill to 500°F or as hot as it will go.
2. Carefully skewer the beet followed by the prawn onto the cinnamon.
3. Brush the skewered end with grape seed oil, season with salt and pepper.
4. Grill the skewers on each side for 2 minutes or until the shrimp are barely cooked through.
5. Dip the skewered end into the grapefruit glaze and let the excess drain off.
6. Place 5 pieces of mint leaves and 13 chili threads on top of the shrimp and beet.
7. Using a torch, ignite the end of the cinnamon stick until it begins to smoke.
8. Serve.