Burnt? No - detoxifying charcoal

With its earthy, slightly smoky taste and dark colouring, it gives a premium feel to food and makes it a real talking point,”

Jonathan Moore, executive chef for Waitrose.

'Premium'! Have you ever seen anything more unappetising in your life? But apparently this is the latest and the greatest thing. Black charcoal food. And that includes ice-cream!

According the New York creator of this particular ice-cream "one lick is a coconut explosion. Coconut flakes, coconut cream and coconut milk in addition to the richly pigmented ash."

Michelin starred chefs everywhere are featuring it in some form or another on their menus - activated charcoal that is - and the health supplements industry is cashing in big-time.

What started me on this was the latest edition of Coles Magazine - always an inspiration, and you can take that however you like - in which Curtis Stone (not quite Michelin starred but up there), proposes a prawn burger on a Coles charcoal brioche bun. It is definitely more appetising looking than the burger at the top of the page, and if you don't look too closely you could, at first, take the bun to be made of dark German style bread, but then you do a double-take and really don't know what you are looking at.

Doubtless Curtis Stone was asked to devise something to advertise this latest offering from Coles. And this time they are even acknowledging that they come from Laurent - like many of their very tasty breads. They will set you back$1.35 for two, which I suppose is pretty reasonable for a so-called gourmet treat. But I don't think I shall be rushing to buy. Well maybe out of curiosity one day.

The one on the right is another version by someone called Philippe - here in Melbourne I believe. This one is priceless - and to me it just looks burnt.

Anyway all this proves is that the high-end weird trend has filtered down to the populace if Coles is promoting it. And as you see from the quote at the top of the page, in England it has reached mainstream too. I believe that KFC also had a black bun for a while for a special promotion.

I have to say that my first reaction when I heard that it was charcoal was horror - isn't charcoal supposed to be carcinogenic? Yes indeed it is, but this is activated charcoal - it's been put through a process that involves really high temperatures and the end result is supposed to remove toxins. Yes toxins. We watched a program on the TV about all the detox mania that is going the rounds, and it seems that charcoal is part of it. Indeed it has been used for hundreds of years - particularly in Japan.

"Commonly produced from coal or wood (including bamboo), activated charcoal has been processed to increase its surface area, which enhances its ability to absorb impurities. It’s used widely in industry, including food and drink manufacturing, to purify water, for example, and decolour products like sugar. " Sue Quinn - The Telegraph

,"don't try this at home". Interesting that is should be used to decolour when it It is the black colour that is really the thing here. It is also used in hospitals to remove certain poisons and overdoses but, as they say

Because it can be dangerous. Well all those pills and supplements anyway - don't use them without proper medical advice. A tiny bit in a brioche bun may be alright. Though interestingly even all the so called gourmets who were raving about it were mostly raving about the look. Only a few seemed to think it had much of a taste.

The Huff Post had quite an amusing article about the charcoal craze and I can't resist a couple of quotes, because they sort of sum up my feeling - and that of the TV program too - about the detox craze:

"Besides the fact that OMG YOU DO NOT NEED TO DETOX YOUR SYSTEM! (how many times am I going to write that/be interviewed about it/say it to people before they believe me), activated charcoal doesn't detox anything in a healthy person. Your body detoxes itself, and if your diet is so shitty that you feel you need to detox, maybe eat some vegetables or something. Don't swallow unregulated supplements aka charcoal. ...

Charcoal, not having a brain, finds it hard to differentiate from some poison you've ingested, and your actual medications -- like birth control, for example. So eating that charcoal hamburger bun might actually bind your contraceptive, along with other medications." Abby Langer Huff Post

In Japan they use bamboo, here they mostly use coconut husks I believe. Although sometimes that black colour is gained from squid ink. And here I should say that I have never thought that black spaghetti looks appetising either. Unappetising and somewhat jokey is what I think. Surely this is a craze that it is not going to last - though if Coles has gone for it - maybe not.