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A most fascinating ingredient that has played a part in food trends over the past couple of years is Activated Charcoal. Initially whilst I thought the blackness it created in food was fun, I wasn’t so sure of the safety of it being ingested. When we designed a class to include black steamed buns, we initially used sesame powder which created a pleasant marbled grey effect, but it missed the mark of the startling “moon-less night sky” black achieved only with activated charcoal.
Activated charcoal is not simply made from burnt out charcoal that is ground to a powder, but by superheating natural sources of carbon such as wood and coal. Industrial grade (often using waste products) is completely different to food grade which is predominantly made from coconut husks and completely safe to ingest.
With little or no flavour, it makes everything it touches a liquorice black including your face as you can see in the photo of me at the head of the table, hosting a past Food Tour Dinner!
A minuscule amount made a big smudge on my face, just one teaspoon of activate charcoal has a larger surface area than a football field!
Once ‘activated’ the surface area is huge and the absorption is greatly increased, so enabling the powder to absorb a massive amount of molecules, ions or atoms. Activated charcoal is used to effectively remove toxins from the body in medical emergencies, the body cannot absorb charcoal so toxins adhere to it and exit the body in the usual manner!
Cosmetic applications including (strangely enough) teeth whitening (which I haven’t tried) as well as culinary use has been all the rage for a while now. Using this ingredient in your kitchen can give your food presentation ‘the edge’. Purchase food-grade Activated Charcoal from health food stores, don’t try making your own!
We use activated charcoal in our Black Bao with Masterstock Chicken and Fermented Black Bean Sauce in our Epic Oriental Bites Class (and let me tell you, the food you’ll make and eat, is EPIC!). You can see in the pictures above, the black dough, the steamed buns and the finished oh-so-tasty-bites.
Activated charcoal is a fun ingredient to have on hand in your pantry and a little goes a long way. If you are a baker, try including it in yeasted or sourdough bread (think fruit loaf!) or serve Black Burger Buns at your next barbeque get-together and you’ll certainly have no lack of conversation.
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TECH DIP HOTEL CATERING AND INSTITUTIONAL MANAGEMENT
Tracey has been in the food industry since completing her Diploma in Hotel, Catering and Institutional Management in 1982 in the UK. She worked for an outside catering company in London, then joined her parents in rural West Sussex running
TECH DIP HOTEL CATERING AND INSTITUTIONAL MANAGEMENT
Tracey has been in the food industry since completing her Diploma in Hotel, Catering and Institutional Management in 1982 in the UK. She worked for an outside catering company in London, then joined her parents in rural West Sussex running the kitchens of a busy country inn.
After marrying Kojonup farmer-boy Anthony in 1990, they moved to Perth. Tracey initially worked for Mustard Catering in Fremantle where she enjoyed a senior role in menu development. She then went on to work for one of Perth’s leading law firms as their catering co-ordinator and later took a position with Kate Lamont’s team.
Establishing Matters of Taste Cooking School in 1997 Tracey says “After running this business for so many years, my love of food and cooking is constantly growing. We seem to have such gorgeous clients and I still get a buzz out of every class”.
Tracey is serious about cooking but doesn’t take cooking too seriously. She facilitates classes with her special style of humour and is known for making class participants feel immediately at ease. She has a vast knowledge of food and cooking and is delighted to be able to inspire and teach clients to realise their potential.
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