Carbonated strawberries
Here’s some pictures of an experiment I did with strawberries and dry ice (solid carbon dioxide). Dry ice is frozen carbon dioxide which holds a temperature of -78 °C. What is fascinating is that dry ice does not melt –…
Martin Lersch
Spain’s top chefs display tools and techniques in NY
Spain’s top 10 chefs, including Ferran Adria of El Bulli, were featured at the “Spain’s 10 – Cocina de Vanguardia” in New York. Off the broiler and foodite have nice reports. I particularly fancy their pictures, depicting how laboratory equipment,…
Molecular mixology: Jellied G&T
Wired has a feature on “Better drinking through chemistry”. This includes a recipe for Eben Freeman’s jellied gin and tonic. This was made for Herve This’ molecular mixology masterclas held at the Ritz in Paris (hosted by Bols, more links…
IgNoble prize for food chemistry!
Slightly off topic, but quite amusing: Last night the IgNoble prizes were awarded. Their slogan reads “First it makes you LAUGH, then it makes you THINK”. The 2006 IgNoble prize in chemistry was awarded to a research group studying “Ultrasonic…
Espesso – a thick, lucious espresso foam
Ferran Adria’s espresso foam, named “Espesso”, is indeed a fascinating concoction, created in cooperation with coffee producer Lavazza. The word espesso is a combination of espresso and the Italian word spesso, meaning thick. Just luck at the thick lucious foam.…
Is the term “molecular gastronomy” obsolete?
According to Emma Marris at The Sceptical Chymist, Harold McGee, author of my favorite book “On Food and Cooking” has suggested that the term “molecular gastronomy” should be ditched. He noted that most chefs labeled as molecular gastronomists rejected the…
Career opportunities at The Fat Duck
Currently, there is a career opportunity for chefs with an interest in science. Heston Blumenthal at The Fat Duck is hiring: Research Chef Stage – Applicants should give a minimum commitment of 3 months, but a longer stay of up…
Suppression of bitterness
I received an email last week from a supertaster (read more: BBC, Wikipedia) with an interesting question: Certain foods contain bitter substances that only a fraction of the population can taste. Examples include a group of compounds called cucurbitacins, found…
Flavor pairing – try this at home!
If two different foods share one or more volatile molecules, chances are they can taste pretty nice when eaten together. A further discussion of the science behind can be found here. I justed wanted to share a picture of the…