' CRAB ROULADE with CARROT GELEE .'

Roulade of Blue swimmer crab , Carrot & ginger gelee , Apple & lemongrass gelee , Black lumpfish caviar , Cream cheese , Crab claw meat , lemon zest , kaffir lime leaf , carrot strip and edible flower. 

                          This dish is an execution of dexterity more so than technique, although it does call for an acute ability in gelification with the dish having three different gelling preparations. After coming across some good quality blue swimmer crab meat, I had an idea to make a crab terrine which ended up being a roulade. The meaning of roulade comes from the French word 'rouler' meaning 'to roll' and can be applied to any dish that is rolled, this not partial to european cuisine as sushi is considered a roulade. When putting together this dish I went to the food pairing charts and came up with the ingredients such as carrot, ginger and apple, these became the base ingredients for the two gelee preparations.                                            

                           I started with the gelee preps when making this dish, starting by juicing some carrots and ginger, pouring the juice into a saucepan, to this I added a little sugar and 2.4% gellan gum. This was brought to the boil whisking to dissolve the gum and sugar, once boiled the juice was poured onto a flat tray and put aside to set. I made the apple and lemongrass gelee next by juicing some apples and pouring into a saucepan, on a low heat I added some minced lemon grass and simmered for 5 minutes allowing the lemongrass to infuse in the apple juice. The liquid was then strained and a little green and yellow food colouring was added along with 1% agar agar powder, this was brought back to the simmer whisking to dissolve the powder. The apple and lemongrass gelee was then poured on to a flat tray to set. Next was to prepare the roulade, in a bowl I mixed together some crab meat, diced onion, fresh mint and lemon zest, this was set aside. In a saucepan I brought I little cream and 1% agar to the simmer whisking to dissolve the agar, this was then poured over the crab mix and incorporated. Using a spoon I filled an oil lined plastic tube with the crab filling, pressing the ends to compact. I then wrapped the tubing in clear wrap, twisting the ends and placing into the fridge to set.                                                     

                           To plate I cut a circle out of the carrot and ginger gelee, placing on to the plate. I removed the clear wrap from the roulade, trimmed the excess from the ends and pushed the roulade free of the tubing placing on top of the carrot gelee. Cutting a strip of the apple and lemongrass gelee out I placed this around the middle of the roulade, dabbing a little cream cheese atop of that and a spoonful of the black caviar and decorating with an edible cinnamon myrtle flower. Placing the carrot strip and kaffir lime leaf on either side of the cream cheese and finishing with some pieces of blue swimmer crab claw meat and lemon zest at both ends of the roulade.