Message 17734 of 39188 in General Discussion

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> 
> Hi all
> 
> Your suggestions and commitment to using fresh ingredients are an 
> inspiration to many of us in the trenches who aspier to a higher 
> culinary level. 
> 
> Any suggestions for a "fresh", "natural". foaming agent in a 
> traditional fresh sour mix. I have no quams with using "brown" egg 
> whites personally, but certainly can't see doing so for the litigious 
> public. Any thoughts?
> 

Maybe this might give some ideas for you:

Foaming agents mostly used in beverages are Yucca and Quillaja E999. Root 
beer uses it for instance. 

But there is no reason no to use non-fresh non-natural foaming agents. The 
stuff is supposed to make foam nothing more nothing less. There is no 
difference between the foaming of nonfresh and fresh products. It is, I guess, 
only for esthetical reasons that people don't like to use non-natural foaming 
agents. Frothee is a commercial eggwhite substistute used in many 
cocktailbars.

There are more different foaming agents but they are not always easy available 
or easy to use or as good as eggwhite. Gelatin or other thickening agents 
can be used to create foams. Proteins and sugars from ingredients you already 
use might have foaming properties. You could also try foam stabilizers like 
Xanthan gum, gum arabic or creamstabilizer from the supermarket.

For cocktailbars eggwhites are good (easy to use and buy, good foam). You can 
put some eggwhites in a squeezy bottle at the beginning of the shift. If you 
are worried about health you can use Frothee. You could also consider 
pasteurized eggwhite.

And cream creates foam too of course.