Molecular gastronomy
Molecular gastronomy is the scientific approach of cuisine from primarily the perspective of chemistry. The composition (molecular structure), properties (mass, viscosity, etc) and transformations (chemical reactions, reactant products) of an ingredient are addressed and utilized in the preparation and appreciation of the ingested products. It is a branch of food science that approaches the preparation and enjoyment of nutrition from the perspective of a scientist at the scale of atoms, molecules, and mixtures.
Nicholas Kurti, Hungarian physicist, and Hervé This, at the INRA in France, coined "Molecular and Physical Gastronomy" in 1988.[4]
Gibbs – infusing pods in egg white with sugar, adding olive oil and then microwave cooking. Named after physicist Josiah Willard Gibbs (1839–1903).
vanilla
Vauquelin – using or cranberry juice with added sugar when whipping eggs to increase the viscosity and to stabilize the foam, and then microwave cooking. Named after Nicolas Vauquelin (1763–1829), one of Lavoisier's teachers.
orange juice
Baumé – soaking a whole egg for a month in to create a coagulated egg. Named after the French chemist Antoine Baumé (1728–1804).
alcohol
How ingredients are changed by different cooking methods
How all the senses play their own roles in our appreciation of food
The mechanisms of aroma release and the perception of taste and flavor
How and why we evolved our particular taste and flavor sense organs and our general food likes and dislikes
How cooking methods affect the eventual flavor and texture of food ingredients
How new cooking methods might produce improved results of texture and flavor
How our brains interpret the signals from all our senses to tell us the "flavor" of food
How our enjoyment of food is affected by other influences, our environment, our mood, how it is presented, who prepares it, etc.
for flash freezing and shattering
Liquid nitrogen
for cooling and freezing
Anti-griddle
Food dehydrator
– can turn a high-fat liquid into a powder
Maltodextrin
such as starch, gelatin, pectin and natural gums – used as thickening agents, gelling agents, emulsifying agents and stabilizers, sometimes needed for foams
Hydrocolloids
– a protein binder, called meat glue
Transglutaminase
for injecting unexpected fillings
Syringe
Edible paper made from soybeans and potato starch, for use with edible fruit inks and an
inkjet printer
Aromatic accompaniment: gases trapped in a bag, a serving device, or the food itself; an aromatic substance presented as a garnish or creative serveware;[36] or a smell produced by burning
[35]
Avant-garde cuisine
[43]
Culinary constructivism
[44]
Cocina de vanguardia – term used by Ferran Adrià
[45]
Emotional cuisine
[46]
Experimental cuisine
Kitchen science
[3]
Modern cuisine
[48]
Modernist cuisine, which shares its name with a by Nathan Myhrvold,[49] and which is endorsed by Ferran Adrià of El Bulli and David Chang
cookbook
Molecular cooking
New cuisine
New cookery
[32]
Nueva cocina
Progressive cuisine
[52]
Technologically forward cuisine
[54]
Vanguard cuisine
[55]
Techno-cuisine
[43]
The term molecular gastronomy was originally intended to refer only to the scientific investigation of cooking,[41] though it has been adopted by a number of people and applied to cooking itself or to describe a style of cuisine.
Other names for the style of cuisine practiced by these chefs include:
No singular name has ever been applied in consensus, and the term "molecular gastronomy" continues to be used often as a blanket term to refer to any and all of these things—particularly in the media. Ferran Adrià hates the term "molecular gastronomy"[42] and prefers 'deconstructivist' to describe his style of cooking.[42] A 2006 open letter by Ferran Adria, Heston Blumenthal, Thomas Keller and Harold McGee published in The Times used no specific term, referring only to "a new approach to cooking" and "our cooking".[32]
Caporaso, Nicola, Diego Formisano (2016). Developments, applications, and trends of molecular gastronomy among food scientists and innovative chefs. Food Reviews International, 32(4), 417–435.
Hoelscher, Dietmar, Molecular kitchen and moleculare mixology: you can do what you imagine (2008 DVD) 978-3-00-022641-0
ISBN
Kurti, Nicholas, But the Crackling Is Superb, Institute of Physics Publishing, 1998 978-0-85274-301-0
ISBN
McGee, Harold, The Curious Cook. North Point Press, Berkeley, 1990.
McGee, Harold, On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen. Scribner, New York, 2004. 0-684-80001-2.
ISBN
Building a Meal: From Molecular Gastronomy to Culinary Constructivism, Columbia University Press 2009 ISBN 978-0-231-14466-7
This, Hervé
This, Hervé, Pierre Gagnaire: Cooking: The Quintessential Art, 2008 ISBN 978-0-520-25295-0
University of California Press
This, Hervé, Kitchen Mysteries: Revealing the Science of Cooking. Columbia University Press, New York, 2007 978-0-231-14170-3
ISBN
This, Hervé, Molecular Gastronomy: Exploring the Science of Flavor. Columbia University Press, New York, 2006. 978-0-231-13312-8
ISBN
Wolke, Robert L., "What Einstein Told His Cook: Kitchen Science Explained" (2002, 350p) 0-393-01183-6