Sam Mason from Odd Fellows: “We knew {at WD-50} what we wanted to do. We knew the kind of stuff we wanted to produce, that type of aesthetics and the type of techniques but we just didn't know how to do it. So we had to teach ourselves. It was before anyone else was doing it. So you couldn't really ask people questions because no one knew what we were trying to get across in our mind's eye. We had these ideas. We had to come up with the techniques. And thankfully Wylie (Dufresne) was able to develop the relationships with the companies that produce the stuff and they were very helpful and, even them, they couldn't quite grasp what we were trying to do because the stuff we were trying to do was a little bit new to them too.”
What we covered In this first episode recorded face-to-face
- Sam Mason has created more than 250 ice cream and sorbet flavors since he opened Odd Fellows in Brooklyn.
- And he doesn't gravitate towards sweets stuff and desserts
- He went to culinary school for pastry at Johnson & Wales in Providence.
- Some of his mentors: Jean-Louis Palladin, David Burke, Charlie Palmer, Paul Liebrandt, PIerre Hermé and Rocco DiSpirito.
- He says: “I've had a very charmed life as far as food goes”
- Nowadays he doesn't think people (in the industry) care about culinary school diplomas. Instead he recommends to get real world experience in some of the finest kitchen.
- He remembers WD-50 with chef Wylie Dufresne.
- WD-50 is where Sam Mason discovered “science” in the kitchen. A lot of trial and errors.
- Obviously baking is a science. But he says that you don't think about it as such.
- Sam Mason talks about his creative process. He is using Shiitake mushrooms ice cream as an example.
- Outside of food architecture is a source of inspiration for Sam Mason.
- But at the end of the say he says what he sells is a scoop on a cone so how far can you go?
- The influence of Instagram in the creation of a dessert.
- First tasting session during the podcast with the following flavors: Lemon Turmeric Ginger sorbet, Rosemary Infused Goat Milk ice cream with Concord and Walnut, Peanut Butter S'mores ice cream, Toasted Sesame Nutella, and Vegan Coconut Caramel Chips.
- Increasing popularity of vegan ice creams.
- Developing a non sweet ice cream base for savory ice cream.
- The “passport” concept to boost sales in “non-ice cream” seasons.
- Sam describes the Odd Fellows Dumbo and Hudson Street concepts.
- A potential future TV show.
- 5 rapid-fire questions.
Links to other episodes in New York City
Created a new ice cream base for savory ice cream concepts
I made today a new formulation. I've been trying to come up with an ice cream that's not sweet. And I think I found it. To get that texture without sugar is almost impossible because sugar is a very fundamental ingredient in ice cream. It keeps ice cream from freezing rock hard. So this is my interpretation of what it can eventually be. This has obviously no flavor. It just tastes like salt and cream. I want to take this as a texture experiment but this can also be now a base for foie gras ice cream.
I just did a dinner in Pittsburgh at a friend's restaurant where we did the entire entire menu had an ice cream component. So with six courses of ice cream the first ice creams obviously were very savory because they were with like squab or foie gras with squab Edamame, and Green Apple Bonito sorbet. So we started off very savory and then we ended up sweet. You know obviously we went through the transition of salty sweet but I hadn't quite figured this out yet before the dinner and this new base would have obviously elevated some of the savory stuff.But I'm very excited about that texture.
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