Breaking the (jelly) mould: an interview with Bompas and Parr

Breaking the (jelly) mould: an interview with Bompas and Parr

07 December, 2011
by: Mrsginge

I don't think you're ready for this jelly.

Jellymongers and food artistes Bompas and Parr have wowed London with their crazy creations, from chocolate fountains to breathable clouds of gin and tonic (the ONLY way to get the christmas party started). We talk to Sam Bompas about flooding buildings with punch, the joys of ether and how to make lewd jellies...

Didn’t your Mums ever tell you not to play with food?

My first ever cookbook was Roald Dahl's revolting recipes which my Mum bought me. It was a total inspiration. We've since gone on to make flavour changing chewing gum for the Artisanal Chewing Gum Factory and a mighty five tonne Chocolate Waterfall at Whiteley's so it's stuck. I guess in that respect you could say she encouraged me.

Would you consider yourselves to be cooks or artists? Or both? Is cookery on a basic level an art form?

We don't see any boundaries to creativity and borrow techniques from myriad different disciplines and apply them to jelly. This incorporates sculpture, design, architecture, marketing, set design, theatrical performance... The most important thing for us is giving people the ultimate food sensation.

Who would you like to give the ultimate food sensation to - Delia or Nigella?

Nigella – fingers in mouths are always a good look.

You’ve brought a lot of recipes back from the dead. What’s an underrated ingredient you’d like to see people using more often?

I've been doing a load of research of late on ether cocktails. Ether was one of the most common recreational drugs in the 19th century and is currently the most widely used general anaesthetic, but it isn’t used in cooking which we think is a shame. It has similar effects to alcohol but doesn't give you a hangover allowing you to get drunk up to six times a day without ill effect. The only slight downside is that it is dangerously explosive.
 
Are there any ideas you’ve had that are too wacky to undertake?

When working with food it’s important you celebrate the food and do something that is tasteful as well as tasting good. We turn down a huge amount of work as it's totally disgusting, the nightmare concepts of advertising men and art directors on the brink on running out of ideas have no appeal to us whatsoever. We were once asked to make a dog food ice cream.
 
If you were on death row, what would your last supper be?

Eight course dinner of entirely black food. Here's the menu I'd eat by Michael Cirino of A Razor A Shiny Knife:

Blackberry, Caviar, Cream Cheese

John Dory, Confit Lemon, Tamari Soy

Maldon Rock Oyster, Cuttlefish, Black Garlic Aioli

Egg, Fresh Tofu, Hijiki

Halibut, Black Truffle, Trumpet Mushroom, Trenette

Beef Tenderloin, Balsamic, Tomato, Mozzarella

Black Pudding, Stone Fruit, Malt, Cola

Jelly Ziggurat

Let’s talk jelly. What’s the one thing you need for gelatinous greatness?

Once you work out your gelatine ratios there are no mysteries to jellying. We use 1 leaf gelatine to 100ml jelly liquid. This works everytime for a jelly set enough to use with a fancy mould like the ones we make of St Paul's Cathedral and the Mausoleum of Halicanassus.

If you could make a jelly for anyone, who would it be?

Alice Cooper

Can you give us a recipe for a simple jelly we can make at home?

This is our recipe for a sexy seduction jelly. In our opinion jelly is the most sensual dessert  ever, and we first made this recipe for a Valentine’s Day event. The lewd wobble titillates and the silky texture can be used to conceal exotic and potent alcohols. Perfect for a last ditch attempt at seduction. The recipe tastes outstanding, sounds like hard work to make but is actually  easy and sneaks a fair wack of alcohol into the dessert. I hope it does the trick for you.

For 500g, serves 4

450g wild strawberries

55g caster sugar

200ml water

50ml Campari

50ml Hendrick’s Gin – (you can use others but this is best)

juice of ½ lemon

5 leaves of gelatine

Start by juicing the strawberries. It is easiest to do this a day ahead if possible. Hull and chop the strawberries and place in a heatproof bowl. Then add the sugar and the lemon juice. The lemon juice is important, as it cuts through the richness of the strawberry juice and balances the flavour. Cover the top of the bowl with clingfilm (plastic wrap) – make sure that both the bowl and clingfilm (plastic wrap) are heat-resistant. Place the bowl above a pan of simmering water, and give it a good shake from time to time so that the strawberries are heated evenly. It will take about 30 minutes for the juice to be released.

You’ll be left with a bowl of vibrantly coloured juice and a whole heap of strawberry pulp. To  separate the juice from the strawberries, it is best to use a jelly bag. A jelly bag is a very fine fabric sieve (strainer), which over the course of many hours will let the juice drip out beautifully clear. If you  don’t have a jelly bag, line a sieve (strainer) with an old – but clean! – tea towel (dish towel) and set  over a bowl. The juice will be at it clearest only if you let gravity do the work. If you’re in a rush, you  could use a few strokes of a wooden spoon to encourage the juice through – but don’t go over the top.

Depending on the fruitiness of the strawberries, you should be left with about 200ml. Add the water gin and Campari to bring it up to 500ml of liquid.  To set the jelly, cut up the gelatine and cover with about 2 tablespoons of the strawberry juice mixture and allow to soften. Then place over a pan of simmering water until it has dissolved. Finally add the rest of the strawberry juice mixture, stir and then pass through a sieve (strainer) into a suitable mould.

Finally – there can be miracles when you believe, True or false?

Of course. You just have to be geeky and keen enough to make them happen. Over the past four years Harry and I have flooded buildings with over four tonnes of 20-year-old Courvoisier punch that you could boat across before drinking, served Somalian pirate drug khat in the Museum of London, created breathable clouds of gin & tonic that intoxicated through the eyeballs and made a vast chocolate waterfall in Whiteleys.  Mariah has nothing on us.

Photo credit: Greta llieva

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Mrsginge