Saptamana 8 / Week 8

Iubesc simetria! Ma linisteste, exact ca si “rutina”…

Descendentii MS regele Christian al IX-lea al Danemarcei

© Kongehuset
regele Christian IX

Postarea de azi este continuarea simetrica a Sapatamanii 7: dupa cum am promis, arat locul ASR Principesa Margareta in descendenta suveranului danez Christian IX, prin intermediul unui tabel genealogic detaliat. Intocmai ca si in cazul celui de saptamana trecuta, acest tabel genealogic contine, pentru claritate si din lipsa de spatiu, doar membrii relevanti in demonstrarea legaturilor de familie dintre casele regale ale Europei si doar acele casatorii care sunt relevante. De asemenea, au fost omisi anii de viata/domnie, la fel ca si data trecuta.

Am continuat simetria si in ceea ce priveste reteta pe care am incercat-o. Saptamana trecuta am inceput si terminat scurtul capitol inchinat MS Regina cu reteta de Zabaglione. In aceasta saptamana am inaugurat capitolul “Tata”, dedicate MS Regele, cu o reteta deloc pretentioasa, dar care, in urma testului de gust se afla, in opinia mea, pe locul I dintre toate cele 8 retete pregatite pana acum!!!

Spuma de ciocolata

Iata o reteta la fel de simpla ca si cea de saptamana trecuta, plina de farmec, cu un gust pe atat de sofisticat, pe cat e prepararea de lejera. Recomand aceasta reteta tuturor iubitorilor de ciocolata!

Dificultatea este, dupa cum aratam, redusa. Cheia reusitei sta in stapanirea a 2 din metodele pe care le-am mai descries in acest blog, atat in Saptamana 2, cat si Saptamana 7.

Am pus la bain-marie 2 table de ciocolata amaruie (o tabla cu concentratia de  cacao 75% si una de 85% - va reomand Heidi Grand’Or Dark Intense si Dark Extreme) rupte in patratele mici, alaturi de un sfert de litru de smantana de gatit, lichida (eu folosesc intotdeauna LaDorna 32%). Am amestacat pana am obtinut o crema fina de ciocolata.

Am separat galbenusurile si albusurile de la 2 oua mari. Galbenusurile le-am adaugat la crema de mai sus si am amestecat, in continuare la bain-marie, lasand de aceasta data apa sa fiarba. Amestecul astfel obtinut l-am pus deoparte sa se raceasca putin.

Separat, am batut albusurile, adaugand 2 linguri de zahar, pana cand au format o spuma ce-si mentine forma. Acesta spuma am adaugat-o la crema de ciocolata, smantana si galbenusuri, in mod treptat. Asa cum aratam in Saptamana 2, acest pas trebuie realizat cu grija si rabdare: crema de ciocolata trebuie sa fie nu prea calda (crema prea calda distruge bulele de aer din spuma), amestecul trebuie sa se faca astfel incat sa nu ramana urme albe de albus, dar in acelasi timp trebuie evitat un amestec exagerat, care, de asemenea, face ca bulele de aer din spuma sa se sparga. Rezultatul final trebuie sa fie cat mai omogen, pufos, aerat.

Spuma de ciocolata se toarna in cupe si se pune la frigider cateva ore bune.

Sunt incantat de acesta reteta! Gustul si consistenta sunt cheie, insa baza este caliatea ciocolatei folosite. Ca la orice reteta simpla, calitatea ingredientelor e de o importanta colosala. Visez deja la o combinatie suprapusa de spuma de ciocolata neagra si alba…

Reteta detaliata se afla in “Cartea regala de bucate”, Ed. Curtea Veche, Bucuresti 2010, pag. 29.

***

I love symmetry! It brings me comfort just like my daily “routine” does…

[see The Descendents of King Christian IX of Denmark genealogic table above]

Today’s post is the symmetric continuation of Week 7: as I promised, I have indicated the place of Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess as descendant of the Danish king Christian IX, through a detailed family tree. As was the case with last week’s family tree, this one also contains only those members of the family and only those marriages that are relevant in demonstrating the links between the royal houses of Europe  – this because of space limitations and also for clarity purposes. The years of birth, death and reign have been omitted, just as they were last time.

I continued the symmetry with this week’s recipe. Last week I started and finished the short chapter dedicated to Her Majesty the Queen of Romania with the Zabaglione recipe. This week I started the chapter “Tata”, dedicated to His Majesty the King with a recipe that is not at all pretentious. But, after tasting it, I can declare that to me it deserves the first place out of all eight recipes I’ve tried so far!!!

Chocolate mousse

This recipe is just as simple as last week’s, but very charming, with a taste as sophisticated as it is simple to make. I recommend this recipe to all chocolate lovers!

The difficulty is, as I was showing, very low. The key of the success is to master two of the methods I described before in this blog (Week 2 & Week 7).

I put two dark chocolate bars on a bain-marie (one with 75% cocoa concentration and one with 85%), after having broken them into small pieces, together with ¼ liter of heavy cream and I stirred until the chocolate was melted and well incorporated into the cream.

I separated the whites and the yolks of two big eggs. I added the yolks to the above mixture and I continued to stir on the bain-marie, allowing the water to boil this time. I set the chocolate mixture aside in order to cool down a little.

Separately I beat the egg whites, adding two spoonfuls of sugar, until they formed soft peaks. I gradually and gently folded the egg whites into the chocolate, cream and egg yolk mixture. As I was showing in Week 2, this step requires care: the chocolate mixture must not be too hot (as it can destroy the air bubbles in the egg whites), while the egg whites need to be folded thoroughly in order to cover all the white traces, but, in the same time an exaggerated mix needs to be avoided, because the air bubbles could be destroyed. The final result has to be smooth, soft, aerated.

Afterwards, the chocolate mousse is poured into cups, and then put into the fridge for several hours.

I was very pleased with this recipe! The taste and the texture are the key, but the essential is represented by the quality of the chocolate one uses. Like in any other simple recipe, the quality of the ingredients is extremely important. I’m already thinking of a layered combination of dark and white chocolate mousse…

The detailed recipe can be found in “Cartea regala de bucate”, Ed. Curtea Veche, Bucuresti, 2010, pag. 29.