Spring Aspic | A quirky food experience with Alexandra Mitsiou (& recipe)

Playing is a part of life we sometimes forget. Yet, every once in a while, the right people can remind you to let loose, stop taking yourself so seriously and play a little bit more.

Our dear friend Alexandra is one of those people. When we first started to follow her on instagram, we became dazzled by her orgasmic food photography. Tantalizing close-ups of creamy things, abstract shots of sticky sourdough and so many of her own creations captured with style, making our mouths water and bellies rumble. Even though her aesthetic very anchored in minimalism and understatement, we could feel how much she likes to play with food - and with her creative process.

To a food stylist - just like any artist and any creative human being who likes to make things - playing means to consciously have fun in the process of creation. To try something new, to follow an impulse, and see what happens. Doing that often enough so that the excitement drives the journey. Laughing about your failures. Celebrating and sharing those things you create that end up so sensorial, so dreamy, so luscious. Making it an art form.

A few months ago Alexandra visited us on our island home, in Crete - and I feel like most of what we did was play. Playing with wild beach clay. Playing with food. Making lots of creamy things to pipe on top of seasonal produce, like the creamy frosting we paired with roasted baby butternut squashes, or the vanilla bean cream we enjoyed for dessert. Enjoying those childhood flavours and textures of comfort in the middle of Winter.

Somehow, in the midst of exploring pleasurable and weird food textures, we ended up talking about jelly - and landed on Aspic. Aspic is essentially soup in solid, jelly form. A culinary creation that is very connected the art of layered puddings made during the victorian era. It is also connected to some rather tacky creations from 50’s cooking in the US. Either way, we were intrigued. One night we couldn’t stop watching videos about all these different gelatin creations - and the playful spirits within us couldn’t wait to give it a try.

Try we did… and we succeeded. A new kind of Aspic was born from our hands, our hearts and our child-like buzz and ideas coming together as one. It was Seasonal. Green. And very elegant looking. Of course, we had to capture lots of pictures. However this feast was not just aesthetically pleasing - it was also very tasty.

We will drop our recipe below, in case you want to give it a try.

Nettle, Pea & Dashi Aspic

Ingredients

A small bunch of freshly foraged nettles, cut from the top 4 sets of leaves | A piece of kombu, about 10cm long | Two handfuls of bonito flakes | Gelatin Sheets (may be anywhere from 6 to 12 leaves depending on the type of gelatin you will use and the total amount of liquid you will have. Check the directions on the package to see how many you will need in total) | 500g of frozen peas | 1 onion, chopped | A small handful of mint, chopped | 150ml of cooking cream | Olive Oil | Salt & Pepper

You will also need a cool tin/container that can contain 1,5-1,8l of liquid volume.
We used one of Alexandra’s funky bundt cake tins.

Layer One (Top)
Nettle Dashi Stock with Fresh Nettle Leaves

First, prepare your nettle leaves. Pick out a handful of leaves from a bunch of freshly foraged nettles and quickly blanch them in hot water for 1-2 minutes. This will assure you don’t have to deal with any stinging when you eat them later on. Carefully drain the leaves and set them aside. You will have to be quite meticulous as they are fragile. Approach this like a meditation.

Pour 1,5 Litres of water into a saucepan. When the water begins to boil, add the kombu, bonito and the rest of the nettle material (stalks, remaining leaves). Turn down the heat and let it all infuse in a gentle low boil for 20 minutes. After this time, taste the infusion and season with sea salt as needed. It should taste like a very mild, savoury and slightly smoky stock. You should have at least 1 litre of this concoction now. Strain it and set it aside.

Meanwhile prepare (hydrate) your gelatin leaves according to the directions on the package and the amount of stock you will be gelifying (see notes in ingredients). Add your gelatin into the liquid while its still warm and stir.

Pour the stock into the tin and then carefully place your nettle leaves in. You can do this with a set of tweezers to get them closer to where you want. They will move around a bit while the stock is liquid but that adds to the charm.

Very carefully place your tin into the fridge. Let this layer set over a few hours. Then prepare the next layer.

Layer Two (Bottom)
Mint & Pea Soup

Now let’s make the pea soup. Pour a little bit of olive oil into a small saucepan. Place over medium/high heat. When oil is warm, add the onion, cooking till soft. Add the peas. Pour 1-1,5 litre of water over the peas and bring to a boil. Cook till softened, for about 12 minutes. Use a handheld blender to blend it all into a silky soup. Lower the heat while it continues cooking. Stir in the cream, season with salt & pepper, add in the mint. Let it infuse for another couple of minutes, give it a taste, season further according to your taste. Set aside.

Meanwhile prepare your gelatin sheets once more, depending on the volume of soup you have. Stir them in while the soup is warm, then let it come to room temperature.

Once your soup has come to room temperature you can safely pour it into the rest of the tin.
Place the tin back in the fridge to set for a few hours.

Then, finally the moment of truth: taking the Aspic out of the tin! A tip: pour some warm water over your tin. That will make it easier to take out. Place a plate face down over your tin. Turn it upside down and carefully lift… Watch the magic reveal itself. Oh yes. Make it wiggle and shake.

Whenever you are ready, you can cut your aspic like you would a cake, and serve it in very elegant slices.