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"The term molecular gastronomy was coined in the 1980s by a French
scientist, Hervé This, and Nicholas Kurti, who was a professor of
physics at Oxford University in England. Both men were interested in
food science, but they felt that empirical knowledge and tradition
were as important in cooking as rational understanding."

Molecular gastronomy has manifested itself in the modern restaurant
trade in three ways.  First, it has led to a better understanding of
why traditional approaches to cooking work (or do not).  For example,
science has led to an improved understanding of how to make a perfect
soufflé.  Second, it has led to novel pairings of foods, such as white
chocolate and caviar.  The Fat Duck has used the discovery of unusual
combinations of ingredients to earn three Michelin stars, one of only
two British restaurants that have received this honor.  Third, it has
led to novel methods of food preparation.  "As a result of this
crossover between science and cooking, outstanding restaurants around
the world are serving unusual dishes such as tobacco-flavored ice
cream made with liquid nitrogen and sardines on sorbet toast. Utensils
such as blowtorches, pH meters, and refractometers, which were
previously relegated to science laboratories, are now creeping into
the kitchen."

"Food: his passion, his science" By Émilie Boyer King, Christian
Science Monitor (February 18, 2004)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0218/p11s02-lifo.html

Among the novel methods of food preparation that have been discovered
at manifested themselves in hypercuisine.  An especially popular
technique is sous vide, which consists of Cryovacking ingredients
under vacuum in plastic bags and then cooking them for many hours in
warm water at modest temperatures.  Cryovacking is more commonly used
for perishable deli items to package cheeses and meats, both at
processing plants and at store level.  Restaurants such as Dry Creek
Kitchen have embraced this technique extensively to create meals with
unusual textures and tastes.

"While the enthusiasm for hypercuisine is new, the methods developed
by Goussault and Pralus are not. Vacuum-packing has been used by food
companies while pasteurizing foods since at least the 1960s, but the
temperatures initially employed were very high. Starting in the
mid-1970s, Goussault and Pralus, working with the Cryovac division of
the W. R. Grace Company, explored ways to cook "under vacuum" at lower
temperatures. Goussault discovered that low temperatures were
sufficient to cook foods so that they could be safely eaten. At first,
the technique was used on an industrial scale by hotel chains,
airlines, and railways; but it has gradually been adopted by younger
chefs like Adria and Voltaggio (although it should be noted that the
latter cook also prepares other dishes by more traditional means).

Sous vide is only one of the techniques seized upon by the
practitioners of hypercuisine. Everywhere, chefs are consciously
altering the chemical structures of proteins, starches, and fats to
produce hitherto untasted flavors and textures. They are
flash-freezing sauces, emulsifying weird combinations of oils and
juices, and beating vegetable broths into airy froths."

"Technology and Hypercuisine" By Jason Pontin, Technology Review
(October 2005) http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/05/10/issue/editor.0.asp

An extensive listing of molecular gastronomy resources is available at
"Molecular Astronomy Resources" a Ia cuisine (November 20, 2004)
http://www.alacuisine.org/alacuisine/2004/11/molecular_gastr.html

Additional articles you may enjoy:

"MOLECULAR GASTRONOMY" Michael Quinion, World Wide Words (2005)
http://www.worldwidewords.org/turnsofphrase/tp-mol4.htm

"Molecular gastronomy and the science of cooking" by Martin Lersch
(August 2, 2005) http://folk.uio.no/lersch/mat/index.e.html

"Molecular Gastronomy in the UK" by Peter Barham (August 2004)
http://www.ifv.kvl.dk/foodchem/Molekylaerfiler/Molecular%20Gastronomy%20in%20the%20UK.pdf







 Recipes, the most important written form of culinary knowledge, traditionally consist of two parts. The first is a 'definition': for example, a soufflé is a foamy product that swells during cooking, and crumples once someone pokes a knife or fork into it (otherwise it would be a cake); or a mayonnaise is an emulsion of oil in egg yolk, salt, pepper and vinegar. In general, these definitions are usually mixed with 'materials and methods' in the form of a cooking protocol: how many to use of each ingredient for a given number of guests and how to process, blend and cook these ingredients to turn them into the final product. In addition, a recipe might contain what I call 'culinary precisions', such as hints and advice, old wives' tales, tricks, adages and maxims.

Take, for example, an eighteenth century book that advises us to cover the pan when beef is cooked with water to produce stock (Albert, 1838). If this recommendation is correct, why? And if it is not, why did someone write this sentence more than 150 years ago? To answer this question, we can use tools from physics, chemistry and biology—for example, the microscope, the thermometer and the gas chromatograph—to investigate the processes that take place during cooking. If we can answer the question, we can correct a mistake, use this knowledge to improve the cooking process or even invent new dishes or ways to prepare food.

One example of how chemistry and physics can lead to new ways of cooking is provided by the egg. If we heat an egg, water evaporates, the proteins denature and polymerize to enclose water, and the end result is a cooked egg. Is there another way to do this? Yes, alcohol can do the same trick because it can denature proteins; thus we achieve the same result by adding liquor to a raw egg. Similarly, the scientifically proven way to obtain an airy soufflé is to heat it from below, so the evaporating water pushes the dough upwards. This is simple physics but it can help us to make better food.