Key Ingredient Courtney Joseph Of Takashi Grows To Like Rose Water

The Chef: Courtney Joseph (Takashi)The Challenger:Meg Galus (NoMi Kitchen)The Ingredient: Rose water

The difference between what she made and the desserts with rose water she’d had before, Joseph said, was that she was able to control how much she put in (not a lot). “You get the smell, and you’re like, OK, this isn’t too bad. And then you get the taste, and it actually doesn’t taste that bad once you put it with other stuff.”

Jeremy Brutzkus, pastry chef at Longman & Eagle, challenged to make a dish with mastic, the resin from the mastic tree. (“It’s like pine sap, but different trees,” Joseph said.) Originally chewed like gum, it’s now used as a flavoring for foods in Greece, Turkey, Lebanon, and Egypt, among other countries.

Steep heavy cream, cardamom, and vanilla for 15 minutes. Add sugar and heat until dissolved. Whisk in bloomed gelatin. Pour through fine mesh strainer. Pour panna cotta into molds and refrigerate until set. Freeze the set panna cotta for easy removal from the molds.

To plate: Smear blackberry gel on plate. Place two pieces of financier on the smears. Pipe yuzu curd alongside financier and sprinkle with chopped pistachios. Place panna cotta alongside one of the financiers.