Molecular gastronomy

Автор работы: Барбашов Георгий Дмитриевич Ученик 10 «Б» класса, МБОУ СОШ №27

Molecular gastronomy is a subdiscipline of food science that seeks to investigate the physical and chemical tran sformations of ingredients that occur while cooking. Its program includes three axes, as cooking was recognized to have three components, which are social, artistic and technical. Molecular cooking is one application of molecular gastronomy; it means cooking with modern tools. Molecular cuisine is a modern style of cooking, and takes advantage of many technical innovations from the scientific disciplines.

The term “molecular gastronomy” was coined in 1988 by late Oxford physicist Nicholas Kurti and the French INRA chemist Hervé This. Some chefs associated with the term choose to reject its use, preferring other terms such as modernist cuisine,culinary physics and experimental cuisine. Hervé This Nicholas Kurti

There are many branches of food science, all of which study different aspects of food such as safety, microbiology, preservation, chemistry, engineering, physics and the like. Until the advent of molecular gastronomy, there was no formal scientific discipline dedicated to studying the processes in regular cooking as done in the home or in a restaurant. The aforementioned have mostly been concerned with industrial food production and while the disciplines may overlap with each other to varying degrees, they are considered separate areas of investigation. Though many disparate examples of the scientific investigation of cooking exist throughout history, the creation of the discipline of molecular gastronomy was intended to bring together what had previously been fragmented and isolated investigation into the chemical and physical processes of cooking into an organized discipline within food science to address what the other disciplines within food science either do not cover, or cover in a manner intended for scientists rather than cooks. These mere investigations into the scientific process of cooking have unintentionally evolved into a revolutionary practice that is now prominent in today’s culinary world. The term “Molecular and Physical Gastronomy” was coined in 1988 by Hungarian physicist Nicholas Kurti and French physical chemist Hervé This. In 1992, it became the title for a set of workshops held in Errice, Italy (originally titled “Science and Gastronomy”) that brought together scientists and professional cooks for discussions on the science behind traditional cooking preparations. Eventually, the shortened term “Molecular Gastronomy” also became the name of the scientific discipline co-created by Kurti and This to be based on exploring the science behind traditional cooking methods.

Kurti and This have been the co-directors of the “Molecular and Physical Gastronomy” meetings in Erice and had considered the creation of a formal discipline around the subjects discussed in the meetings. For the first Workshop, the American food science writer Harold McGee, was invited as an invited director. After Kurti’s death in 1998, the name of the Erice workshops was changed by This to “The International Workshop on Molecular Gastronomy ‘N. Kurti'”. This remained the sole director of the subsequent workshops from 1999 through 2004 and continues his research in the field of Molecular Gastronomy today. University of Oxford physicist Nicholas Kurti was an enthusiastic advocate of applying scientific knowledge to culinary problems. He was one of the first television cooks in the UK, hosting a black and white television show in 1969 entitled “The Physicist in the Kitchen” where he demonstrated techniques such as using a syringe to inject hot mince pies with brandy in order to avoid disturbing the crust. That same year, he held a presentation for the Royal Society of London (also entitled “The Physicist in the Kitchen”) in which he is often quoted to have stated: I think it is a sad reflection on our civilization that while we can and do measure the temperature in the atmosphere of Venus we do not know what goes on inside our soufflés. During the presentation Kurti demonstrated making meringue in a vacuum chamber, the cooking of sausages by connecting them across a car battery, the digestion of protein by fresh pineapple juice and a reverse baked alaska – hot inside, cold outside — cooked in a microwave oven. Kurti was also an advocate of low temperature cooking, repeating 18th century experiments by the English scientist Benjamin Thompson by leaving a 2 kg (4.4 lb) lamb joint in an oven at 80 °C (176 °F). After 8.5 hours, both the inside and outside temperature of the lamb joint were around 75 °C (167 °F), and the meat was tender and juicy. Together with his wife, Giana Kurti, Nicholas Kurti edited an anthology on food and science by fellows and foreign members of the Royal Society.

Hervé This started collecting “culinary precisions” (old kitchen wives’ tales and cooking tricks) in the early 1980s and started testing these precisions to see which ones held up; his collection now numbers some 25,000. In 1995, he also has received a PhD in Physical Chemistry of Materials for which he wrote his thesis on “La gastronomy moléculaire et physique” (molecular and physical gastronomy), served as an adviser to the French minister of education, lectured internationally, and was invited to join the lab of Nobel Prize winning molecular chemist Jean-Marie Lehn. [14][15] This has published several books in French, four of which have been translated into English, including Molecular Gastronomy: Exploring the Science of Flavor, Kitchen Mysteries: Revealing the Science of Cooking, Cooking: The Quintessential Art, and Building a Meal: From Molecular Gastronomy to Culinary Constructivism. He currently publishes a series of essays in French and hosts free monthly seminars on molecular gastronomy at the INRA in France. He gives free and public seminars on molecular gastronomy any month, and once a year, he gives a public and free course on molecular gastronomy. Hervé This also authors a website and a pair of blogs on the subject in French and publishes monthly collaborations with French chef Pierre Gagnaire on Gagnaire’s website. Though she is rarely credited, the origins of the Erice workshops (originally entitled “Science and Gastronomy”) can be traced back to the cooking teacher Elizabeth Cawdry Thomas who studied atLe Cordon Bleu in London and ran a cooking school in Berkeley, CA. The one-time wife of a physicist, Thomas had many friends in the scientific community and an interest in the science of cooking. In 1988 while attending a meeting at the Ettore Majorana Center for Scientific Culture in Erice, Thomas had a conversation with Professor Ugo Valdrè of the University of Bologna who agreed with her that the science of cooking was an undervalued subject and encouraged her to organize a workshop at the Ettore Majorana Center. Thomas eventually approached the director of the Ettore Majorana center, physicist Antonino Zichichi who liked the idea. Thomas and Valdrè approached Kurti to be the director of the workshop. By Kurti’s invitation, noted food science writer Harold McGee and French Physical Chemist Hervé This became the co-organizers of the workshops, though McGee stepped down after the first meeting in 1992.

Up until 2001, The International Workshop on Molecular Gastronomy “N. Kurti” (IWMG) was named the “International Workshops of Molecular and Physical Gastronomy” (IWMPG). The first meeting was held in 1992 and the meetings have continued every few years thereafter until the most recent in Each meeting encompassed an overall theme broken down into multiple sessions over the course of a few days – First Meeting 1995 – Sauces, or dishes made from them 1997 – Heat in cooking 1999 – Food flavors – how to get them, how to distribute them, how to keep them 2001 – Textures of Food: How to create them? 2004 – Interactions of food and liquids Examples of sessions within these meetings have included: Chemical Reactions in Cooking Heat Conduction, Convection and Transfer Physical aspects of food/liquid interaction When liquid meets food at low temperature Solubility problems, dispersion, texture/flavour relationship Stability of flavour

The idea of using techniques developed in chemistry to study food is not a new one, for instance the discipline of food science has existed for many years. Kurti and This acknowledged this fact and though they decided that a new, organized and specific discipline should be created within food science that investigated the processes in regular cooking (as food science was primarily concerned with the nutritional properties of food and developing methods to process food on an industrial scale), there are several notable examples throughout history of investigations into the science of everyday cooking recorded as far as back to 18th century.

The objectives of molecular gastronomy, as defined by Hervé This, are: Current objectives Looking for the mechanisms of culinary transformations and processes (from a chemical and physical point of view) in three areas: 1.the social phenomena linked to culinary activity 2.the artistic component of culinary activity 3.the technical component of culinary activity Original objectives The original fundamental objectives of molecular gastronomy were defined by This in his doctoral dissertation as: [ 1.Investigating culinary and gastronomical proverbs, sayings and old wives' tales 2.Exploring existing recipes 3.Introducing new tools, ingredients and methods into the kitchen 4.Inventing new dishes 5.Using molecular gastronomy to help the general public understand the contribution of science to society However, This later recognized points 3, 4 and 5 as being not entirely scientific endeavours (more application of technology and educational), and has since revised the primary objectives of molecular gastronomy. [4] [4]

Example areas of investigation How ingredients are changed by different cooking methods How all the senses play their own roles in our appreciation of food The mechanisms of aroma release and the perception of taste and flavor How and why we evolved our particular taste and flavor sense organs and our general food likes and dislikes How cooking methods affect the eventual flavor and texture of food ingredients How new cooking methods might produce improved results of texture and flavor How our brains interpret the signals from all our senses to tell us the "flavor" of food How our enjoyment of food is affected by other influences, our environment, our mood, how it is presented, who prepares it, etc.

Example myths debunked or explained The cooking time for roast meat depends on the weight (true or myth?) [ Examples of myths that were true before, but not anymore You need to add salt to water when cooking green vegetables (not true with commercial salt) Examples of debunked myths Searing meat seals in the juices (not true) When cooking meat stock you must start with cold water (not true).

Techniques, tools and ingredients Carbon dioxide source, for adding bubbles and making foams Foams can also be made with an immersion blender Liquid nitrogen, for flash freezing and shattering Ice cream maker, often used to make unusual flavors, including savory Anti-griddle, for cooling and freezing Thermal immersion circulator for sous-vide (low temperature cooking) Food dehydrator Centrifuge Maltodextrin - can turn a high-fat liquid into a powder Sugar substitutes Enzymes Lecithin - an emulsifier and non-stick agent Hydrocolloids such as starch, gelatin, pectin and natural gums - used as thickening agents, gelling agents, emulsifying agents and stabilizers, sometimes needed for foams Transglutaminase - a protein binder, called meat glue Spherification - a caviar-like effect Syringe, for injecting unexpected fillings Edible paper made from soybeans and potato starch, for use with edible fruit inks and an inkjet printer Aromatic accompaniment: gases trapped in a bag, a serving device, or the food itself; an aromatic substance presented as a garnish or creative serveware; or a smell produced by burning Presentation style is often whimsical or avant-garde, and may include unusual serviceware Unusual flavor combinations (food pairings) are favored, such as combining savory and sweet Using ultrasound to achieve more precise cooking times

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