AQUA Cultured Meals, a Chicago-based meals know-how firm, has formally launched restaurant menus.
Chef Marcos Campos Sánchez, proprietor of Bonhomme Hospitality, changed standard tuna with AQUA Tuna at his Michelin-awarded Mama Delia restaurant in Chicago.
“I feel they did an unbelievable job of making one thing that appears precisely like one thing we're already aware of,” Chef Campos stated. “Some individuals it gained't discover the distinction.”
AQUA Tuna is vegan, allergen-free, being pregnant protected and filled with fiber. Along with AQUA Scallops, the merchandise derived from the fermentation are freed from microplastics, mercury and every part else. Moreover, they provide a refrigerated shelf lifetime of six weeks, in stark distinction to the three or 4 day window for standard seafood.
Throughout his dozen eating places, Campos and his culinary crew confronted inconsistencies with the availability and high quality of their standard uncooked tuna, making it troublesome to maintain the menu constant for purchasers from week to week. Given provide constraints, costs inevitably change, affecting eating places' already skinny margins and placing a constructive buyer expertise in danger.
Enter WATER. From their pilot facility in West City, the AQUA crew makes use of biomass fermentation, a course of much like brewing beer or wine, to provide complete merchandise comprised of cellulose. By way of a patented course of, AQUA cuts, colours and flavors cellulose to imitate the flavour and texture of uncooked tuna and scallops.
When Chef Marcos met CEO and Co-Founder Brittany Chibe, he was impressed by the corporate's sustainability story and was energized by the thought of innovating his personal enterprise whereas supporting an area Chicago enterprise.
“That is one thing actually particular. As a chef, once you see one thing inventive and totally different from what others do, it at all times catches your consideration,” stated Chef Campos. “'How can I assist deliver this to life?' And an organization primarily based in Chicago… can also be one thing essential to us.”
What's on the menu? Uncooked Tuna with AQUA Tuna, fried egg and potato strips. The dish is gluten-free and might be made vegan upon request.
Since launch, Mama Delia's customer support crew shared that they most well-liked to serve AQUA tuna to keep away from complaints about fishy style or freshness, as that they had skilled with actual tuna.
Tuna Crudo is simply the primary software of AQUA for Chef Campos: “I wish to present totally different dishes to point out the flexibility.” Bonhomme Hospitality ideas fluctuate in delicacies, largely that includes Mediterranean flavors to symbolize the chef's Galician roots.
In all ideas, Chef Campos normally works with uncooked seafood. He defined that once you order complete yellow tuna or bluefin tuna, you lose between 20 and 30% throughout trimming. AQUA, alternatively, is packaged in good sakus to standardize the wholesale expertise and get rid of waste. “Sustainability goes to be the philosophy of many firms and eating places all over the world. It's going to need to occur,” he provides.
AQUA Tuna is now obtainable for buy instantly from foodservice. The product is designed for uncooked functions and might be ready like true uncooked seafood, with no further coaching required.
As for the style? “The flavour is simply… actually tuna-like,” Campos stated. “Even higher than frozen tuna available on the market.”
They are saying that proving is believing. Strive AQUA Tuna at Mama Delia. (1721 W Division St, Chicago, IL 60622).