Chefs are becoming chemists as a new style in cooking gains popularity. Molecular gastronomy is a type of cooking which involves using chemicals such as liquid nitrogen in order to make interesting new creations in food. This new trend started off as a way to just add a little something extra to dishes but it has now evolved into being the starting point for an entire meal. One chef made an entire frozen salad using liquid nitrogen, which not only freezes the food but also enhances the taste. Another chemical that is used in this new style of cooking is a thickener called Ultra-Tech which can be used to turn something like vodka and dried cranberries into a smooth gel. Cooks around the world are finding new and innovative ways to use chemistry to make new and unprecedented cuisine.
See:
http://www.wickedlocal.com/burlington/news/lifestyle/x1055381992/Molecular-gastronomy-melds-cooking-and-chemistry
Posted by Katie Smith
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It is amazing how chemistry can be part of everyday life, in this case of something as simple (or sophisticated) as cooking. Not only are we able to recreate naturally occurring flavors using chemicals in food, but we are also able to affect food itself to accommodate to the needs of chefs and mothers around the globe. Chemistry is there even when an egg is boiled and proteins are degenerated, as well as when turning 'dried cranberries into a smooth gel'. Many people think chemistry is something you learn in school (or college) and will never be applied in real life unless you are in a lab... this entry proves them wrong.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious to if this is going to become even more popular now that more and more chefs are experimenting with molecular gastronomy. Even on the Food Network many programs show chefs cooking with liquid nitrogen or in high pressure cookers, both which relate back to chemistry. There are even professional chefs that experiment with different cooking techniques that involve different chemical processes as a living and serve their creations to the public as very high class cuisine. There are endless possibilities to what chefs can create with food, and molecular gastronomy may have opened the doors even wider and has made cooking even more of a science than it was before.
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