I got a crazy press release today that confirmed a rumor I saw in the blogosphere earlier this week: not only do we have molecular gastronomy, but now we have molecular mixology, too.
The makers of Cointreau have unleashed special kits upon some of the most talented bartenders in New York City that will allow them to transform the liquid version of the liqueur into “Cointreau Caviar.”
According to the release: “After a year of research in Paris, the Cointreau team has found a way to turn liquid Cointreau into solid “pearls” of the beverage that can be served on the side of a cocktail for eating or for suspension within a cocktail like a Cosmopolitan or Margarita.
The “spherification” process (the multi-step scientific technologies used to create the Cointreau “pearls”) is elaborate and proprietary and was revealed for the first time in the U.S. last night in NYC to the city’s top mixologists.”
I guess that means we won’t be seeing Boone’s Farm caviar anytime soon.

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I don’t want to be an alarmist, but I found this article in The New York Times today rather alarming.
Perhaps because I love sushi and I love tuna.
According to the article, the tuna sushi from 5 out of 20 Manhattan restaurants tested off the charts for mercury.
One doc interviewed by the Times said nobody should eat that much mercury more than once every three weeks or so. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather not EVER eat food containing unhealthy levels of mercury.
I wish I had the means to commission a test of tuna sushi from restaurants around Roanoke and Blacksburg. Because here’s one of the most disturbing parts of the story:

Although the samples were gathered in New York City, experts believe similar results would be observed elsewhere.
“Mercury levels in bluefin are likely to be very high regardless of location,” said Tim Fitzgerald, a marine scientist for Environmental Defense, an advocacy group that works to protect the environment and improve human health.

Does news like this change the way you eat?