Tapioca maltodextrin
A very light, barely sweet starch powder that soaks up fat and turns it to a powder that melts back to oil on the tongue — olive oil snow, brown butter dust, bacon soil.
neutral · powdery · melts on the tongue
Knowing it
- Where to buy
- Modernist suppliers, as tapioca maltodextrin or under brand names like N-Zorbit. The maltodextrin sold for sports drinks is a denser kind and won't do it.
- Worth knowing
- Start with about half the fat's weight and blitz or whisk in more until it turns to powder — it can take nearly equal weights. Sieve it for a finer dust, use strongly flavoured fats, season it, and make it close to serving: humidity and warm plates turn it back to oil.