Anyone who has grimaced as they bite down on sandy lettuce may find this one perplexing. But eating dirt is the latest thing in restaurants around the world. It seems some chefs are so keen on communing with the soil that they are putting it in their dishes deliberately. Some chefs are creating imitation dirt from ingredients like dehydrated beets, or crushed dried-mushrooms. But others are using high tech devices like the Rotavapor—more commonly used in the perfume industry—to distill soil, the essence of which is used to create an earthy foam. The trend isn’t just confined to chefs—installation artist Laura Parker asks gallery goers to sniff soil samples, and then taste vegetables that were grown in that soil. (Source: www.treehugger.com) |