Power to the powder foods

Bubble Food, an events and catering company that prides itself on being at the forefront of molecular gastronomy, developed the dish for a client looking for something out of the ordinary.

Dried, finely powdered asparagus is presented on a flat surface and you are encouraged to snort a line or two through a straw. Michael Collins, the managing director of Bubble Foods and the creator of the dish, is keeping the exact recipe to himself but claims that because asparagus is relatively alkaline it's one of a limited number of foods that can be enjoyed in this fashion.

Furthermore, he must have a sense of humour as the "Colombian Asparagus" dish is priced at £50 a gram.

The fashion for dusts and "edible soil" probably first emerged from René Redzepi's Noma restaurant in Copenhagen. For his classic dish "radishes planted in soil", Redzepi made the soil from dried and crumbled dark bread and then "planted" the radishes. Closer to home, Heston Blumenthal has experimented with edible "soils" for his television series about feasts.

At Blandford Street newcomer Roganic, head chef Ben Spalding serves "Vintage potatoes in onion ashes, lovage and wood sorrel". The "onion ashes" are made by roasting onions until they are black, dehydrating them and then grinding them into a powder before adding onion oil and maltodexdrin.

The dish works very well as the "ashes" and add an interesting seasoning to the heritage potatoes.

Bacon powder is all the rage at Texture on Portman Street, where head chef Agnar Sverrisson cooks Anjou quail and serves the birds with bacon powder, sweetcorn, shallots and bacon popcorn. He is also a big fan of his homemade sol powder, made from Icelandic kelp.

At Hibiscus, Claude Bosi and his team use ultra-fine breadcrumbs to add texture to a popular foie gras dish: the chefs take sourdough bread and after dehydrating it, grind it small before frying it in a little butter. They also make an unusual ice cream with xanthan gum and liquid nitrogen - the custard is passed through a very fine sieve so that the drops fall into a bowl of liquid nitrogen. Each tiny particle freezes instantly and you end up with a crunchy, creamy ice cream "sand".

But however popular these powders become, there will still be better things to do with asparagus than stick it up your nose.

bubblefood.com; roganic.co.uk;
texture-restaurant.co.u; hibiscusrestaurant.co.uk