The Emerging Science of Gastrophysics

Next week, on August 27-28, an interdisciplinary symposium entitled “The Emerging Science of Gastrophysics” will be held at the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters in Copenhagen. I’m sorry to inform you that participation is by invitation only. However, having been included among the invited speakers, I promise to report back here with my impressions from the symposium. Considering the seminar on molecular gastronomy in 2011, the many Danish authors in the 2010 review on molecular gastronomy, the Nordic Food Lab (and their links to Noma) and now the upcoming symposium on gastrophysics, one can easily argue that Copenhagen is becoming an international hotspot for those interested in “the scientific study of deliciousness”.

From the program:

• Erik van der Linden, Food Physics Group, Wageningen University, The Netherlands: Physics “for here or to go”? Integration of physics and gastronomy for innovation
• Thomas Vilgis, MPI Polymers, Mainz, Germany: Texture, taste, and aroma: multi-scale materials and the gastrophysics of food
• Jens Risbo, Department of Food Science, University of Copenhagen, DK: The state of sugar in confectionary and desserts
• Martin Lersch, KHYMOS, Norway: Cooking with a pinch of curiosity
• Félix Goñi, Unidad de Biofí­sica, Bilbao, Spain: A biophysicist in the kitchen
• Dana Small, Yale University School of Medicine, USA: Flavor is in the brain
• Per Møller, Department of Food Science, University of Copenhagen, DK: Gastronomy in the brain and the body
• Sebastian Ahnert, Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, UK: The Flavour Network: Exploring the principles of food pairing
• Peter Barham, School of Physics, University of Bristol, UK: The physics of cooking
• Peter Schurtenberger, Division of Physical Chemistry, Lund University, Sweden: A colloid and materials science approach to food
• Ole G. Mouritsen, University of Southern Denmark, DK: The name of deliciousness and the physics behind it
• Michael Bom Frøst, Department of Food Science, University of Copenhagen, and Nordic Food Lab, DK: Science in the restaurant meal
• Lars Williams, Nordic Food Lab and Restaurant NOMA, DK: Culinary Applications of Microbial Ethnobiology
• Amy Rowat, Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, UCLA, USA: Science & Food: the physical and molecular origins of food for a general audience