Moth Mousse

Wax moth larvae, hazelnuts and morels

Serves 4

Nordic Food Lab by www.nordicfoodlab.org is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0
International License.
Background
Part of the Pestival menu. We took a classic French mousseline as our starting point, as a way of incorporating
the novel taste of wax moth larvae into a familiar context.

Ingredients
Element Ingredient % Amount (g) Equipment

Smoked Hazelnuts, skins removed 200 Thermomix

hazelnut cream Water, filtered 400 Fine superbag
Xanthan gum .4 Smoke gun
Shaved juniper wood 5

Chicken breast x1 Fine tamis

Chicken purée

Wax moth larvae (Galleria 200 Thermomix

Moth mousse
mellonella) 200
Smoked hazelnut cream 75
Chicken purée 2
Sea salt 5
Faux foie* (optional, but
recommended)

Morel mushrooms, dried

100
Chestnut mushrooms, finely
Morel & 600 Hand blender
sliced 1mm
hazelnut cream Unsalted butter
Shallots, finely sliced 2mm 60
Smoked hazelnut milk 60
Mead, dry 300
Faux foie* (optional) 60
Fresh lemon verbena 10
Sea salt 3

Faux foie purée

Egg white 30
Koji extract* (optional but 30
excellent) 5
Faux foie crisp Tamis
Faux foie* (optional)
Dehydrator
3
Silica gel / anhydrous salt
Unsalted butter packet
Fresh/rehydrated morels, 20
small, well-washed and dried 150
Mead, dry
Garnish Lemon verbena, fresh leaves 15
Ramson flowers (Allium 3
ursinum) x10

Smoked hazelnut milk

Blend the hazelnuts and water together for 2 minutes on high power in the thermomix. Leave in the fridge
overnight. Squeeze the liquid through a fine superbag to separate the pulp from the cream. You should be left
with a yield of 440-450g. In a thermomix on high power incorporate the xanthan gum with the hazelnut milk.

Nordic Food Lab by www.nordicfoodlab.org is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0
International License.
Decant the hazelnut milk into a large bowl and cover with cling film. Using the smoke gun fill the bowl with juniper
smoke and allow to infuse, covered for 10 minutes. Repeat this process to develop a pronounced smoky flavour.

Chicken purée
Chill thermomix jug in the freezer. Dice chicken breast, and blend for 45 seconds on full power. Chill the jug with
the purée for 10 minutes and blend again, to create a fine purée. Pass the purée through a fine tamis to remove
any sinew. Reserve purée.

Moth mousse
Blanch wax moth larvae for 5 seconds in boiling water, refresh in ice water, drain and dry.
In the chilled jug of a thermomix blender, blend the wax moth larvae with 100g of the smoked hazelnut cream on
full power for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the blender jug and repeat 3 times. Pass this puree through a
very fine mesh. It should yield 140g. Reserve on ice.
Return the passed wax moth larvae puree to the chilled jug of the thermomix blender. Add the passed chicken
purée, 100g of smoked hazelnut cream and seasonings. Blend to achieve a silky smooth mousse.
Prepare a tester by wrapping 30g of the mouse mix in a cling film boudin and poach in a 65˚C water bath for 10
minutes. Taste to adjust the seasoning. The mouse should be light and delicate with a gently smoky flavour.
Once satisfied with the seasoning, wrap in cling film and reserve on ice until ready to cook.
It is important to keep the temperature cool to ensure the mechanical action of the blade does not generate heat
which could begin to coagulate the chicken protein, resulting in a grainy texture in the finished mousse.

Morel & hazelnut cream

Rehydrate the dried morels in 600ml water overnight. Boil the mead to remove the alcohol (30 seconds) and
reserve.
Make the mushroom stock: in a large frying pan, caramelise half of the sliced chestnut mushrooms in 30g
unsalted butter until golden and crisp. Separately soften the remaining mushrooms in a dry pan. Strain the
soaked morels, passing the soaking liquid through a fine mesh to remove any grit. Add the caramelised
mushrooms and morel soaking liquid to the softened mushrooms. Simmer for 20 minutes, skim and remove from
the heat and allow to rest for 20 minutes before pressing and passing the mushroom stock to extract all the
liquid.
For the sauce, soften the finely sliced shallots for 8 minutes on a low heat until translucent, with no colour. Stir in
the morels and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add the hazelnut milk, boiled mead, and mushroom stock, and
simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the lemon verbena sprig, cover to infuse and allow to rest
for 20 minutes before blitzing for 10 seconds with a hand blender and passing through a fine sieve. Taste and
adjust the seasoning, and add the faux foie if using.

Morel crisp
Purée the solid part of the faux foie ferment in a thermomix until smooth. Pass through a tamis to remove any
bits. Mix the ingredients together and spread in a fine layer on a silpat mat. Place in a dehydrator at 55˚C for 5-6
hours until dehydrated and crisp. Break into shards and store in an airtight container, with a packet of silica gel to
keep dry if available.

Garnish and serve

Poach the moth mousse boudins blancs at 65˚C for 10 minutes. In a little unsalted butter, sauté the morel
mushrooms briefly with a little sea salt and a splash of dry mead. Remove from the heat add a sprig of verbena,
the faux foie if using and cover. Reheat the morel and hazelnut cream, blend to emulsify and lighten. Lift the
boudins blancs from the water bath, cut to remove the cling film, portion and place the moth mousse in warm
bowls. Spoon over the morel and hazelnut cream, top with the sautéed morels, morel crisp and a few small
leaves of verbena and garlic flowers.

Nordic Food Lab by www.nordicfoodlab.org is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0
International License.