The Chef: Amanda Rockman (Balena, the Bristol) The Challenger: Meg Colleran Sahs (Terzo Piano) The Ingredient: Pu-erh tea
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The tea is known for its earthy taste, and at first Rockman was worried it would be “nasty and herbaceous.” But she got a 2003 oak-barrel-aged pu-erh mixed with wild rose petals that she described as “delicate, but kind of funky . . . not superfloral, like eating potpourri. It was really pleasant.”
Panna cotta is one of Rockman’s favorite things in the world, she said, and as soon as she got the rose pu-erh she knew that was what she was going to make with it. “I think a lot of times it gets a bad rap because people think it’s just, like, milk jello. But there’s a real art to making a good panna cotta.”
Video by Michael Gebert/Sky Full of Bacon
Buttermilk panna cotta with raspberry-tea jus and strawberry sorbet
Buttermilk panna cotta
Place raspberries and sugar in a heat-proof bowl, wrap in plastic, and place over hot water bath for 65 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool before you take off the plastic. Strain into a chinois, being careful not to agitate. Add one tablespoon of rose pu-erh tea to the strained liquid and steep overnight in the fridge. Strain out the tea the next day.
1 c sugar 1 c water 1 cinnamon stick 1 dried guajillo pepper 1 c hazelnuts
