Forum: cooking.stackexchange.com
Tags: <flavor><molecular-gastronomy><gelling-agents><experimental>
Title: I fancy making flavoured 'spaghetti', any tips?
Question: I would like to experiment with flavoured 'spaghetti' by taking a juice and gelling it in spaghetti shape, so I could have beetroot strands that I could use in a pasta dish.    Anyone done this?  Got any tips on gelling agents to use and what I could make the strands with ie moulds etc?    Also any flavour ideas would be appreciated.  Lobster bisque flavour appeals for a hot clam based 'pasta' dish or maybe an apple and cinnamon with ice-cream

Answers:
sents: text: Why actually, I have just the link for you. http://www.eatfoo.com/archives/2007/12/recipes_more_spherification_wi.php Is exactly what you are looking for.
text: And http://www.albertyferranadria.com/eng/texturas-gelification-dosages.html for supplies.
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/None/
score: 6
sents: text: I've seen it done with agar-agar on the Danish show "Spise med Price".
text: They made spaghetti with lemon balm .
text: They sucked the warm liquid with agar-agar in it up with a syringe, pushed the liquid into a thin plastic tube, which they lowered into ice water.
text: Before they served it, they pushed the spaghetti out of the tube with the syringe.
text: As for a flavor idea, they served it with carrot cake made in mere minutes (from start to finish) in a microwave oven.
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/122/jumoel
score: 5
sents: text: Check out this PDF called 'Texture: A Hydrocolloid Recipe Collection'.
text: It has some recipes for various types of spaghetti using agar and other hydrocolloids.
text: Since agar tends to dissolve under heat, it also has a recipe to make noodles with methyl cellulose which gels when heated.
text: They suggest using a syringe to make your strands of spaghetti.
text: It may be time consuming, but I could see it working.
text: I like your ideas for flavors!
text: Perhaps mushroom bisque/broth flavored noodles with a beef stroganoff sauce.
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/296/Vecta
score: 4
sents: text: I can't help with the gelling, but to make the strands, consider using (making?)
text: a chitarra : it's a frame with parallel wires -- you lay a sheet of pasta on top, then use a rolling pin to force it onto the wires, cutting the pasta into strands.
text: This would allow you to make sheets of gel, rather than trying to form each strand individually.
text: Some quick searching suggests they can be bought from a gourmet cooking store in the US for $40.
text: I don't know how hard it would be to find one in the UK.
text: I've also seen things that look like multiple pizza cutters mounted so they can be adjusted in how far apart they are.
text: (it looks like they're called an "adjustable dough divider" or "adjustable dough cutter", and they run between $22 and $200).
text: There are also fixed blades mounted on a single handle, and looks like the term to use is "rolling pasta cutter", which are much more reasonably priced, but not as flexible in their use)
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/67/Joe
score: 2
sents: text: Starch gelatinization .
text: Not sure if it'll work, but it won't melt at high temperatures.
text: Might be worth experimenting with.
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/990/Mike Yockey
score: 2
sents: text: Regarding flavors, try the Matcha tea ...also for the color of course,
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/876/HeDinges
score: 0
sents: text: Sheet gelatin.
text: Commercial bakeries use sheet gelatin to make large quantities of gelled foods such as jello.
text: It's perfectly edible and neutrally flavored.
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/990/Mike Yockey
score: 0

Summary of the answers:
The pasta can be made with agar agar or sheet gelatin, and squirting the liquid into ice water with a syringe can be used to make the spaghetti shape. Possible flavours include lemon balm, mushroom, and matcha tea.
For the setting agent, try agar agar or gelatin using a syringe. Flavor ideas include matcha tea and lemon balm.