Category hydrocolloids

Scientific chocolate tasting kits

Dominique & Cindy Duby, chocolatiers based in Canada, have put together two “scientific chocolate tasting kits” (one, two). Some of the science behind is explained in their “tasting notes” (copy the text into a wordprocessor to read it). For a…

Ten tips for practical molecular gastronomy

In a recent survey 72% of chefs say they may want to experiment with molecular gastronomy in 2007. That’s an impressive number and considering the attention molecular gastronomy gets in media I bet many home cooks would want to experiment…

Ingredients for molecular gastronomy

Since The fat duck and El Bulli were announced “Best restaurant” in 2005 and 2006 respectively by Restaurant Magazine, molecular gastronomy has received increased attention. This has also resulted in a greater demand for the ingredients used, especially various thickeners,…

Hot vanilla ice cream

I’ve mentioned hydrocolloids at several occasions earlier in the blog, and today I found an interesting recipe I would like to share. Put simple, hydrocolloids are compounds that form gels when mixed with water. One particular hydrocolloid is methyl cellulose…

Gastro physics

There is certainly some overlap between molecular gastronomy, kitchen chemistry, gastro physics, culinary physics and everyday chemistry… That’s why I thought the January 2004 issue of Physics Education would be of interest. It features a section on food physics, covering…

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…

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.…

Video on alginates

My fellow blogger on molecular gastronomy, Göde Schüler (check out his German MG blog Gourmetrics) found a great video on YouTube. The video shows how a red beet paste mixed with alginate solidifies when dripped into a solution of calcium…