On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 210

peakstage,thefoamisevenfirmer,takesona
dull,dryappearanceandcrumblyconsistency,
andbeginstoleaksomeliquid,sothatitslips
away from the bowl again.At this “slip-andstreak” stage, as pastry chef Bruce Healy
describes it, the protein webs in adjacent
bubble walls are bonding to each other and
squeezingoutwhatlittleliquidonceseparated
them.Pastrymakerslookforthisstagetogive
them the firmest foam for a meringue or
cookie batter; they stop the incipient
overcoagulation and weeping by immediately
addingsugar,whichseparatestheproteinsand
absorbsthewater.Theyalsostartthebeating
with about half the cream of tartar per egg
that a cake or soufflé maker will, so that the
foam will in fact progress to this somewhat
overwhipped condition. Past the slip-andstreak stage, the foam begins to lose volume
andgetgrainy.
Eggfoamscanbeusedontheirownoras
theaeratingingredientinavarietyof


complicatedmixtures.
Meringues:SweetFoams
onTheirOwn

Thoughthey’resometimesfoldedintocakeor
cookiebattersorfillings,meringues—
sweetenedeggfoams—generallystandby
themselvesasadiscreteelementinadish:as
afrothytopping,forexample,oracreamy

icing,orahardediblecontainer,ormelt-inthe-mouthdecoration.Ameringuefoammust
thereforebestiffandstableenoughtoholdits
shape.Thecookobtainsbothstiffnessand
stabilitybytheadditionofsugarand/orof
heat.Meringuesareoftenbakedveryslowly
inalowoven(200ºF/93ºC)todrythemout
intoabrittle,pristinelywhitemorselor
container.(Thedoorofelectricovensshould
beleftslightlyajartoallowthemeringue’s
moisturetoescape;gasovensarealready
vented.)Whenquicklybrownedinahotoven