Do you think of charcoal as nothing more than that rank black stuff you find at the bottom of your barbecue? Well, think again.
Charcoal, it turns out, is the latest food fad. And it’s cropping up in everything from macarons (yes, seriously) to thirst-quenching summer drinks.
Trendy London restaurant Bull In A China Shop serves burgers in black brioche buns. Pizza restaurants serving charcoal flavoured bases are springing up everywhere. And at the capital’s Oxo Tower restaurant, diners tuck into charcoal ice cream.
They are all using activated charcoal — most commonly found in water filters to remove impurities. Just like charcoal on your barbecue, it’s derived from carbonised wood or other vegetable matter which has then been specially processed.
The treatment boosts the surface area, turning the porous charcoal into an effective internal cleanser. As charcoal is an insoluble fibre, it doesn’t get absorbed into the gut, but simply soaks up nasty toxins.
‘Activated charcoal is extremely effective as a medicine to rid the body of toxins in acute situations,’ says nutritionist Angela Dowden.
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‘However, it’s hard to be sure how much good it does in the tiny amount you find in foods.’
Even so, foodies claim it’s great for treating everything from a hangover to bloating. So, it’s no surprise supermarkets and online retailers are turning basic foods black. But what do they actually taste like?
POSH MACARONS
I adore macarons, but I’m used to them coming in girly colours. Despite arriving on a bed of pink tissue paper in a decadent gold box, these are seriously macho.
The brainchild of owner-chef Loretta Liu, they look like ash, but explode with sweetness. Apart from the colour, the only hint of charcoal is the slightly grainy texture.
There are two varieties: a charcoal top with a purple, plum liqueur-flavoured bottom or a cream jasmine-flavoured bottom. Expensive but worth it if you want a showstopper to impress your friends.
GOURMET SALT
Sprinkle black granules over my chips seems odd to say the least.
Derived from the Dead Sea in Israel — billed as the world’s most unusual source of salt — this has also got to be one of the most expensive. I hope it’s going to transform my fish and chips into something epic. Sadly not. My meal looks dramatic, but I can’t say that the salt — with 3 per cent charcoal — tastes any different from bog standard. 2/5
BITTER BISCUITS
These are an unappetising green colour and taste unpleasantly earthy, which is disappointing as they’re from posh organic farm, Daylesford.
Made from flour, oatmeal and salted butter, with a tiny sprinkling of charcoal (0.4 per cent), they are like overbaked oat cakes. Even cheddar on top doesn’t help.
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PERFUMED NUTS
The smell of roses is so intense it’s like burying my head in a bed of highly perfumed petals. It’s a shame because the charcoal should give a depth to the flavour. Instead these nuts are slightly sickly sweet.
GRITTY NOODLES
I boil the noodles and serve them with pesto. My other half recoils in horror. They remind him of the time he served his little sister a plate of worms.
But if you can get over the disgusting appearance, you’ll be won over. They have a gritty flavour that makes them more interesting than normal noodles. And they’re much cheaper than black squid pasta for just the same effect.
ZINGY DRINK
This sludgy black drink looks like the contents of my drain, so I’m expecting a rank, bitter taste. In fact, it’s deliciously refreshing and tangy.
That’s down to the raw cane juice and Japanese yuzu, a fruit that looks like a grapefruit and tastes like a sour mandarin.
I struggle to isolate any distinct flavour from the 500mg of activated charcoal, but there’s a graininess that I really like.
My daughter — a soft drink snob — turns her nose up. ‘Far too thick,’ she sniffs. Botanic Lab, which supplies cold pressed juices to Harrods, claims the charcoal makes the drink a de-toxifier.
MUDDY WAFERS
These wafer-thin biscuits — made from stoneground wholemeal flour, malted barley and 1per cent charcoal — are the colour of dried mud and taste like sandpaper. But they come into their own when spread with a runny Camembert.
DIVINE CRISPBREAD
Made from a Swedish recipe using sourdough, rye flour and 2.3 per cent charcoal, these crackers are divine.
They are seriously crunchy with a lovely multi-layered flavour. But be warned — when I’d finished, my teeth were full of so many black bits I looked like a time traveller from Dickensian London.
Daily Mail