Thursday, January 8, 2015

FFWD Arman's Caviar in Aspic


I want to reiterate that I love AMFT, FFWD, and blogging with all of you.  However, today I'm going to go for complete honesty.

Has anyone heard of Stitch Fix?  It's an online personal shopping service.  Upon request they send you five clothing items to your house.  You have three days to try them on and decide what to keep and what to return.  I think that it's a really fun treat, especially now that I rarely have time to shop for myself.  On the night I served the aspic, after we finished dinner, Paul said I could order one Stitch Fix box a month for the rest of my life if I ate the rest of the caviar and aspic.  I said no.  I told Paul he could have an unlimited budget for house projects (his favorite thing in the world!) for the next five years if he ate the rest of the caviar and aspic.  He said no.


Paul was skeptical the minute I told him about this dish.  I didn't think I'd like the aspic, but I thought I'd at least enjoy the caviar.  Paul gamely ate one of his squares.  I couldn't even finish a bite.  In hindsight, I think the primary problem was the caviar I bought.  It was salmon roe and incredibly salty.  I think this would have been much better with another (more expensive) caviar.  I also couldn't find fish bouillon so I substituted some fish stock that I had leftover from last week's soup.  I think the flavor was too strong.  On a better note, I used agar agar (vegan) instead of gelatin, and my aspic set absolutely beautiful.  I definitely won't be making this dish again, but I'm glad to have had the experience with the agar agar.  There are lots of sweet jello-like dishes that I would like to try.

12 comments:

  1. Couldn't have said it better myself - yuk.

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  2. It does make a lovely presentation...but I think I would have had the same response. And Bill would have stayed FAR, far away!!! You're a good sport for giving this a try :)

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  3. I love the dares... wow, I would have eaten the whole tray for more clothes, but I love clothes as much as food. I used to make a dessert with apple juice and fruit chunkys with agar agar when I was a vegetarian. It's good stuff and filled with minerals.

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  4. Yep, my husband and I shared one and ate the rest of the caviar with blinis and smoked salmon. And I don't think the problem was the caviar, because we bought some decent stuff and had generally the same opinion that you did.

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  5. Reading everyones review of this dish makes me so glad I chose a different road! The idea of fish gelatin just didn’t cut it for me! I made a Champagne version and it turned out lovely! I love the dares you and your husband gave each other! It can only get better! Happy Friday, Jora!

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  6. Jora, you and I had pretty much the exact same experience with this dish--salmon roe, etc. Not a fan! I felt like Tom Hanks in "Big" when he tries to get the caviar out of his mouth ASAP while eating this (and I like caviar). So, yeah, in complete agreement!

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  7. I had to laugh at what you and Paul gave up for not eating the aspic, but hats off to you for making it and writing it off firsthand.

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  8. Oh man, it was that bad, huh? Ouch.
    I give anyone who made this major kudos... You are both brave, brave souls.

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  9. This dish was kind of gross in my mind! I went a different direction with it. I've never heard of Stitch Fix but after reading your post I headed to the site. Very interesting! I take it you are a fan. I might try it out!

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  10. You've got me laughing with the challenges you both rejected when compared with eating the rest of the aspic. I didn't love this, but might have won a challenge by finishing it had that been on the table at my house. So funny!

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  11. Jora, I would have gagged those suckers down and had a wardrobe for the rest of my Life. Thinking again about it again, maybe not. I intend to google Stitch Fix after I comment on your post. Never, never heard of that one. Although I made the fish stew this week, I sympathize with and applaud with all of you who did. Aspic can be a good dish - just not this aspic made in this manner.

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  12. Kudos for you for making it anyway. I avoided it and made soup instead. Love the challenges that you had for one another. It must have been pretty bad to give those up.

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