Molecular Gastronomy
In the news today we are hearing about MOLECULAR
GASTRONOMY, is this a new concept? No infact it has been around for
many years.
It has been said in the past that because of
the costs involved it will only be a fleeting trend for those prepared
to spend a fortune on fine food.
First of all let’s take a look at what Molecular
Gastronomy is - In a nut shell it’s the chemistry and physics behind
the preparation of food.
It is however clear that although it has been
around for a while now that it is still a relatively new science,
and there is so much more to it than what we are hearing in the Media
today. But at the same time we have to understand that the science
of food is not new.
H e r v é T h i s defined molecular cooking
as a culinary trend using ‘new’ tools, ingredients, and methods. Molecular
gastronomy is science and science only. A distinction was needed between
the two because although technique, technology and science are extremely
important they are all very different.
Herve This and Nicholas Kurti introduced it as
a scientific discipline, part of food science, in 1988 whilst they
were preparing the International Workshops on Molecular and Physical
Gastronomy as they first named it.
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So although we have seen and heard
as recently as today about chefs using liquid nitrogen in the kitchen.
Herve This states “Some chefs may use the results of molecular gastronomy
to cook, but they do not solve differential equations. They may be
doing molecular cooking … but certainly not molecular gastronomy.
In a nutshell Molecular Gastronomy used in cooking
is the use of such things as:
Liquid nitrogen to fast freeze food such as sorbets
and ice-cream, and as liquid nitrogen disperses into the atmosphere
it has no damaging effects on the consumer of the food.
Liquid food and sodium alginate are mixed together
and then dipped into calcium chloride, to make Artificial Caviar.
Transglutaminase, which is a substance that binds
different proteins together, is used to make one of the biggest successes,
noodles made of shrimp meat a recipe by Wylie Dufresne.
And the list goes on…
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