TGIF: Presenting the tongue jacket – the molecular gastronomy of tomorrow
Next month’s TGRWT challenge will be to combine flavours #156 and #298! 😉 [Invention and artwork by Jordan Brough, winner of an Eureka contest over at Gizmodo]
TGRWT #4: Trout with peppermint and mustard sauce
My first idea for this month’s TGRWT was to marinate some meat with mustard, peppermint and garlic. The meat was OK, but it wasn’t great and the flavors didn’t really come through. There was either something missing or the balance…
Glutamic acid in tomatoes and parmesan
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…
TGRWT #4: Mint and mustard
I just wanted to let you all know that Dennis at Kookjegek will be hosting the next round of “They go really well together” (TGRWT #4). Deadline for submission is August 1st. Ingredients to pair this time are mint and…
Ten tips for practical molecular gastronomy, part 6
6. Learn how our senses work Prolonged exposure to a flavor causes adaption and habituation, meaning that your brain thinks the food smells less even though it’s still present in the same amount. Back in 1953 Lloyd M. Beidler isolated…
Banana marshmallows with parsley (v 1.5)
For TGRWT #2 I made banana marshmallows with parsley. The texture came out nice, but the initially fresh parsley flavour had become grassy/hay-like over night. The litterature I referred to last time suggested that the off-flavour is produced by oxidation…
TGRWT #3: Foamy strawberries with coriander
Previously I had only tasted sliced strawberries with a fresh coriander leaf, just as a very basic illustration of this pairing. I must say I liked the combination, even though it’s dominated by coriander (or cilantro as it’s called in…
TGRWT #3: Strawberries and coriander
It’s time for the third round of the They go really well together food blogging event (TGRWT #3). Ingredients to pair this time are strawberry and coriander (coriander sativum, also known as cilantro in North America). You can use fresh…
Making sense about science
When chopping onions, propanethial-S-oxide is liberated. If this compound is not a chemical, what is it then? There are many misconceptions about chemicals, and one of the most common ones is that food should be “free” of chemicals. For example,…
New perspectives on whisky and water
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…