Fascinating applications of the products of Koppert Cress
Most of us who know the wonderful products of Koppert Cress use them as garnishes, to finish a dish that is actually already finished. Even though they work perfectly so, there is much more potential in these tiny plants and cresses. They can be a functional part of a course, in this article we’ll prove it.
Let’s take a look at Sakura® cress.
Sakura® cress is characterized by Maillard aromas, compounds that are readily found in fried meats, coffee, chocolate etc. Furthermore this cress has a quite pungent taste reminiscent to radicchio or rammenas. Combine this product with a nice acid and you’re half way towards a pre-dessert that tantalizes your taste buds and leaves you ready for more.
The core in our designed recipe is the Sakura® cress – dark chocolate combination. Searching for ingredients matching this combo led us to yoghurt, paprika and cayenne pepper. These ingredients were made into a spicy yet mild acidic cream which we used to fill a chocolate cannelloni. The
Sakura® cress really adds to this pre-dessert, it brings all ingredients together in a delicate
symphony of flavours.
Next in line is Kikuna cress, which has much fresher notes than Sakura® cress. Here you can browse its Foodpairing tree:
Kikuna contains aromas that are also present in peaches, apricots and coconut; this last attribute made us design avariation of the classic Thai coconut soup, an interesting concoction where freshness provided by lime and lemon grass is combined with a healthy dose of pungency from chili and ginger. The soup is traditionally toned down with soothing coconut cream.
Kikuna has a piney bouquet to it which can also be found in mango, this tropical fruit was also incorporated in our dish. As in the previous example, the Kikuna cress functions as a binder, linking all ingredients together.
Another interesting recipe with Kikuna cress is Carrot – Peach – yogurt – Kikuna Cress – hazelnut.
Because of Kikuna’s citrusy components we can make the link towards carrot, orange, lemon and peach. Peach by itself has aroma components in common with yoghurt, which provides some acidity that brightens up the flavours of this dish.
Shiso® Green contains mushroom-like aromas which can also be found in dry cured beef. This is basically the idea behind the Toast – mushrooms – dried entrecôte – soy sauce recipe. We made the shiso into a toast to provide textural contrast.
