Pure mono sodium glutamate from Taiwan A recent article (found via Harold McGee’s News for curious cooks) featuring Heston Blumenthal as a co-author emphasizes the huge difference in glutamic acid contents between the flesh and pulp of tomatoes. Glutamic acid…
Among dedicated whisky/whiskey drinkers it is customary to add a little water as this “helps to unlock and release the esters, or flavours, from the fats”. Another site claims that dilution helps “breaking down the ester chains and freeing the…
5. Learn how to control taste and flavor. When invited over to friends for dinner, even before eating, you judge the food by it’s aroma, handing out compliments such as “It really smells nice”! Thankfully, nature is on the cook’s…
The Scientist in an interview with Hervé This reports that: Recently, New York University Assistant Professor of Chemistry Kent Kirshenbaum teamed up with chef Will Goldfarb to bring experts together to discuss the intersection of science, cooking and eating. Often…
About.com has a nice guide on how to color eggs, and the list of colors is quite impressive (click for instructions): Lavender Small Quantity of Purple Grape Juice Violet Blossoms plus 2 tsp Lemon Juice Violet Blue Violet BlossomsSmall Quantity…
Dialogos de Cocina took place in San Sebastian, Spain, on March 12 and 13. Monday’s program featured a session on Technology, Technique and Science which should be of great interest to the molecular gastronomy community. The sessions have been made…
Cookware made from cast iron has a reputation for keeping food warm for a long time. Is that really true? Best way to find out is by an experiment. I decided to compare a cast iron pot with one of…
Get a basic understanding of heat transfer, heat capacity and heat conductance. Since a lot of cooking involves temperature manipulations, it’s a good idea to get a basic understandning of how heat is transferred and how well it is stored…
Some years ago, a group of researches studied the formation of lightstruck flavor in beer (Chem. Eur. J. 2001, 4554). They found that isohumulones, compounds contributing to the bitter taste of beer, decomposed when exposed to ultraviolet light. In a…
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…
