[Fourth in a series.] Moto is a restaurant in Chicago that serves science food (or maybe even science fiction food). I heard about it on the radio, and had wanted to go for about a year and a half. We ordered the ten-course menu, and it was incredible:

GREEK salad
GREEK salad, again
CARIBBEAN escolar
BBQ PORK & baked beans
PASTA & quail
PRIME with potato
FRUIT & bubbles
TRUFFLE & white chocolate
PERSIMMON & cream
S'MORES

Moto: Course Three: Caribbean Escolar

June 16, 2008

The next dish that we had was Caribbean Escolar. Before it came, I had absolutely no idea what escolar was. But when it arrived alongside freeze-grilled jerk pineapple on rectangular plates, in the hands of finely dressed waiters, I learned that it was fish. Knowing absolutely nothing about what kind of fish it was I took a bite.

It was the best tasting fish I have ever had. The fish was warm, softly flaky, and almost creamy. It seemed to be pan seared in butter, which had a wonderful effect. The outside of the fish was salty and slightly crisp, and it sealed in the creamy flavor of the fish beautifully. I had to make myself stop eating the fish so I could try some of the pineapple.

The jerk-seasoned pineapple was served on a small (4"x 4") square of grill bars that were covered in frost. The grills had been soaked in liquid nitrogen, and then the pineapples were "freeze-grilled." When you bit into the pineapple the chill on the back of your teeth hit you first, then you got the flavor. It was like an oddly spicy-sweet pineapple popsicle.

I didn"t think it would, but the pineapple and the escolar complemented each other fantastically, the sweet, tangy spice of the pineapple with the salty, warmth of the fish. The flavors were great alone, but when I took a bite with both pineapple and escolar, the flavor was unbelievable. The icy cold sweetness, alongside the warm, salty fish was mouthwatering.

This dish had less of the science aspect, and more flavor. Overall, this was my favorite of the savory (not dessert) courses of the evening. The next course, "BBQ PORK & baked beans," sounded pretty normal to a Southern girl like me, so I wondered what it could possibly be!

Stay tuned for the next course, BBQ PORK & baked beans!

Isis (not her real name) is fourteen years old and is really interested in food because her dad is a good cook. She was practically raised in a Vietnamese restaurant, and as a baby ate her first solid foods there, which were rice noodles. She tries most foods that are offered to her and her parents urge her to also. For example, when she was 7 years old, she was at a French restaurant and her parents were having snails and they easily talked her into trying them. They ended up being pretty good! Isis takes ballet, plays soccer, sings in a choir, and loves to travel. Isis went to Italy for two weeks and when she came back she went on and on about the food, especially the gelato. Isis thinks that if you are going to eat, why not eat well if you can? There seems to be no reason not to.

Email questions or comments for these two young women to webmaster@drgourmet.com.