Molecular gastronomy
Pierre Lindenbaum
Sunday, 17 June 2007 09:00 UTC
The Molecular gastronomy was introduced in France by Herve This . The idea behind this, is to apply modern science to culinary problems.
For example here is a recipe to create a Chocolate Chantilly made from only chocolate and water
.. or how to use a separatory funnel to create new tastes.
Is there anyone to share a scientific recipe ?
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Replies
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Hervé This and Nicholas Kurti may have introduced the concept of molecular gastronomy, but it was taken to great culinary heights by Heston Blumenthal, chef of The Fat Duck restaurant, and Ferran Adrià of the El Bulli. Both chefs have published recipes books, although Adrià’s books are expensive and have no recipes (they are on a CD).
There are many sites with scientific recipes. Many of the recipes innovate on the soft condensed matter aspects of food: new textures and phases. The inspiration, I imagine, comes from understanding the physics of foams and how to sustain them with different edible chemicals. Other recipes innovate with unusual flavor combinations: like mint and mustard. The science of flavors is harder, as it gets tangled up with psychology. It is not really known why two aromas go well together.
Two sites with scientific recipes that I tend to read are:
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Besides scientific recipes, one of Hervé This’ ideas at the moment is to collect culinary sayings and test them with a scientific perspective. This is what he presents at his monthly seminars at Ecole Ferrandi in Paris.
Now, everyone can contribute to this research thanks to one of This’ colleagues, Claude Costiou. From September onwards, he will report on the progress of the seminar and the new saying under investigation. Everyone is invited to test the saying in his kitchen following some protocol, the collection of these individual results turning it into a collaborative molecular gastronomy experiment!
Check the blog (in French)
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