Category molecular gastronomy

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…

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…

Baking stones / Pizza stones

Every now and then I end up explaning to friends how they can make good pizza at home. One of the main issues is how to obtain the nice, crisp crust. And of course I’m referring to Italian pizza now,…

New book by Heston Blumenthal: Perfection

Look out for the new book by Heston Blumenthal to appear in October 2006: Perfection. The book is based on an eight part BBC series where Heston Blumenthal, chef at The Fat Duck and front player within the field of…