Gastronomia

RANDY VAN DAM © CENGAGE LEARNING 2012

CHAPTER

3

AFTER READING THIS CHAPTER, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO:

Discuss the genesis of molecular
gastronomy.
De ne the term molecular
gastronomy.

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Explain applications for the use of
di erent colloids.
Discuss how to resource hydrocolloid
products.

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Chapter 3 Modern Techniques in KitchenChemistry

47

Modern
Techniques in
Kitchen Chemistry
“Cooking was the rst chemistry.”

—Felipe Fernández-Armesto

I

t is safe to say that humans have been experimenting with cooking ever since we rst put food to re.
In his book Food: A History, Felipe Fernández-Armesto (2002), a member of the faculty of Modern History
at Oxford University, wrote, “The cooking revolution was therst scienti c revolution: the discovery, by
experiment and observations, of the biochemical changes which transmute avour and aid digestion.” As
centuries have passed and the cuisines of countless cultures have ourished, the quest to convey one’s
artistic expression through the craft of cooking has never been as intense as during these modern times.

In an effort to highlight a current trendpracticed by a handful,
albeit growing number, of chefs who are offering avantgarde culinary creations, this chapter discusses the use of
food-altering edible substances that have found their way
into ne dining food service operations. For years, so-called
molecular gastronomy (MG) has teased the senses of diners
with the use of eye-catching and palate-pleasing gels and sols.
Moleculargastronomy is a scienti c discipline that studies
the physical and chemical processes that occur while cooking.
This chapter presents an overview on this topic in an
effort to provide a foundation for modern garde manger
chefs to experiment with molecular gastronomy techniques.

The Genesis of Molecular
Gastronomy
Much has been written about molecular gastronomy, both
about its genesis and theindividuals with which it has
been associated. But as Harold McGee revealed in his

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2008 article, “Modern Cooking, Science, and the Erice
Workshops on Molecular and Physical Gastronomy,”
some of the information is only urban legend and supposition. The truth is, the study of molecular gastronomy
was born from an idea put forth by a woman from
Berkeley,California.
While attending a conference at the Ettore Majorana
Center for Scienti c Culture in Erice, Sicily, with her
physicist husband, Elizabeth Cawdry Thomas had dinner with a friend, Professor Ugo Valdrè of the University of
Bologna. During their conversation, Ms. Thomas, who ran
a cooking school in Berkeley, California, expressed frustration that the science of cooking was an interestingyet
seemingly undervalued subject. Until then, scientists had
done little to study the science of cooking. One thing led
to another, and after some coaxing by Professor Valdrè and
the director of the Majorana Center, Ms. Thomas eventually
approached famed Oxford physicist Nicholas Kurti to host
a conference focused on cooking science. Kurti had long
been personally interested in the subject,having rst done a
television program on the science of cooking in 1969.

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48

PART 1 |

FOUNDATIONS IN GARDE MANGER

After meeting with Professor Kurti and Ms. Thomas,
American author Harold McGee was asked to co-organize
the summer conference. McGee had written the seminal
work “On Food and Cooking” in 1984 and was considered
a leading authority on the subject.McGee later brought in
Hervé This, who was working in Paris as a magazine editor
at the time, to share the organizational duties of the conference. After much debate about the name of the workshop,
which was initially entitled “Science and Gastronomy,” the
designation was later changed to “Molecular and Physical
Gastronomy” in an effort to create a more intriguing and
scholarly title for the...