On Food and Cooking

cave walls and dry to form a small but
strong cup. The harvested nests are soaked
in cold water to rinse out impurities and to
let them absorb water and swell. They’re
then simmered in broth, and enjoyed for
their semisolid, gelatinous consistency,
which is due not to gelatin itself, but to
salivary proteins called mucins, which are
related to the mucins in egg white (p. 77).
Carrageenan, Alginates, Gellan
Experimentally minded cooks are exploring a
number of other unusual carbohydrate gelling
agents, some traditional and some not.
Carrageenan, from certain red algae(p. 341),
has long been used in China to gel stews and
flavored liquids, and in Ireland to make a kind
of milk pudding. Purified fractions of crude
carrageenan produce gels with a range of
textures, from brittle to elastic. Alginates
come from a number of brown seaweeds, and
form gels only in the presence of calcium (in
milk and cream, for example). Inventive