Port Caviar

It was a test of molecular gastronomy.
Ingredients

• 3/8c Port
• 1/8c Sugar
• 1tsp agar agar and sugar mixture (not sure what % agar agar)
• oil

Pour some oil into a tall glass - you are looking to have about 4" of oil in the glass. Put the glass into the freezer for 30 minutes.

Now, in a saucepan, combine everything else. Bring the port to a boil, then turn off the heat and let it sit for a few minutes. Take the glass out of the freezer, and pour droplets of the port mixture into the glass. They should form little 'caviar' balls and collect at the bottom of the vessel. Pour the oil and port caviar through a little sieve, and wash off the collected caviar in cold water. Serve.

Thoughts: This isn't quite how it worked out for us. It could have to do with the unknown concentration of agar agar, but I was unable to get the port reduction to adhere properly. I dropped it into the oil - fine - and it stayed apart, but it was very messy. I was using an eye-dropper, but I still couldn't get neat spheres because of the weird texture of the sauce. Then when I rinsed off the caviar, they just all melted together into one big sticky mass. I'm not sure I'm going to try this one again.

Disaster Index: 9/10 - it doesn't get 10/10 because I was still able to melt the sauce and use it as a (way too sticky) sauce for blintzes.