Ron’s Laboratory
One cool dessert that has recently become trendy in the tropical city Jakarta is liquid nitrogen gelato. A molecular gastronomy dessert house named Ron’s Laboratory is one of the pioneers of this trend, introducing the city to its instant ice cream creations in a shopfront kitted out to look like a chemical laboratory with employees dressed up like mad scientists. Customers can watch the ingredients metamorph into gelato in moments thanks to the magic of liquid nitrogen. The cold compound freezes the gelato so fast ice crystals can’t form, resulting in a remarkably smooth texture. An early favourite at Ron’s Laboratory is called Early Bird. It may look like a sunny side up egg, but the coconut gelato that forms the whites is topped with a mango ‘ravioli’ yolk, which is made from a sauce but has a thin jelly-like skin created through the use of sodium alginate.
