Soft meringue with ice-cream and kelp oil

“Even though dried kelp or kombu is Japanese, it’s always associated with Noma,” says Clugston. “When you roast kombu it’s rich and dark and packed with umami and salty, almost like liquorice. Everyone knows how to make a meringue and the ice-cream can be bought, but the kelp oil gives it the wow factor.” Try top-quality extra-virgin olive oil in place of kelp oil. Prep time 10 mins, cook 1¼ hrs (plus infusing) Serves 8

1.5 litres vanilla ice-cream Kelp oil 100 gm dried kombu 200 ml grapeseed oil Soft meringue 100 gm white sugar

50 ml (about 1½) eggwhite 500 ml (2 cups) pouring cream

1 For kelp oil, preheat oven to 160C and roast kelp on a baking tray until crisp (1 hour). Break up, then process with oil in a blender. Leave to infuse for 1 hour, then strain through a sieve, pressing down on the sediment to release as much oil as possible (reserve sediment for another use, such as the grilled fish recipe on p176). Kelp oil will keep refrigerated for 2-3 weeks.

2 For meringue, boil sugar with 60ml water in a saucepan to soft-ball stage (118C; 8-10 minutes). Meanwhile, whisk eggwhites and a small pinch of salt with a hand-held blender until soft peaks form (1-2 minutes); the meringue should slowly collapse back into the bowl when you lift the beater. Aim for the sugar syrup and eggwhite to be ready at the same time. Gradually pour the sugar syrup into the eggwhite while whisking continuously on medium-high speed until the mixture cools (8-10 minutes). Meanwhile, whip cream to soft peaks, then carefully fold into meringue to keep it airy.

3 To serve, put 1 tbsp kelp oil in each serving bowl, top with a scoop of ice-cream and cover with the meringue.