Molecular Gastronomy

[DJEN]

This thread is for discussing the wonders of molecular gastronomy. A topic which is very great and interesting.

[Nibb31]

Go ahead then.

[phoenix_ca]

Uhhhh...okay.

[Aghanim]

How do you do molecular gastronomy?

[Albert VDS]

Here is something to start off with: Spherification or fake caviar.

It's made by mixing 2.0 gr Sodium Alginate and 2.5 gr Calcium Cloride in 500 g Water, squirt droplets of juice(or any other fairly liquid food) from a syringe into the mixture, wait 35-40 seconds and remove the "caviar" from the water with a strainer.

You can use anything from Chocolate sauce to ketchup or your any beverage.

A how to:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Carrot-Caviar/

[phoenix_ca]

Here is something to start off with: Spherification or fake caviar.

It's made by mixing 2.0 gr Sodium Alginate and 2.5 gr Calcium Cloride in 500 g Water, squirt droplets of juice(or any other fairly liquid food) from a syringe into the mixture, wait 35-40 seconds and remove the "caviar" from the water with a strainer.

You can use anything from Chocolate sauce to ketchup or your any beverage.

A how to:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Carrot-Caviar/

http://cdn.instructables.com/F4Z/X9MC/FBGW8BCG/F4ZX9MCFBGW8BCG.MEDIUM.jpg

Reminds me oddly of the ever-so-popular "bubble tea" imported from Asia here in Vancouver. Never really took a liking to it...

Do similarly crazy ideas like using liquid nitrogen to make ice cream count? (I've always wanted to do that, but Dewar flasks are expensive.) I approve of science in the kitchen. Science plus food = the best two things on earth in one.

[Scotius]

Anyone tried to make home-made mayonaisse? Just egg yolk, oil, some lemon juice or winegar and stir. But you can stir in only one direction If you try to stir in both direction it will curdle.

[Ravenchant]

Our faculty organizes an annual picnic for physics and maths students, and since there is a research institute pretty much next door, it was custom to take some surplus liquid nitrogen and use it to mix iced cocktails.

The practice eventually ended a couple of years ago when one- *sigh* - mathematician chugged the drink down while it was still friggin' steaming and suffered severe frostbite on the stomach. Ended up okay, fortunately

[phoenix_ca]

Our faculty organizes an annual picnic for physics and maths students, and since there is a research institute pretty much next door, it was custom to take some surplus liquid nitrogen and use it to mix iced cocktails.

The practice eventually ended a couple of years ago when one- *sigh* - mathematician chugged the drink down while it was still friggin' steaming and suffered severe frostbite on the stomach. Ended up okay, fortunately

Motto of the story...don't trust the theoreticians with the experiments (and the chemicals).

[lajoswinkler]

I remember the time when people cooking on TV used to talk in units. "1 dcL of water, 100 g of sugar", etc.

Nowdays it's "a bit of water, few spoons of sugar". What's a "bit"? How many is "few"? How large the spoon is? How full the spoon is?

I'm thoroughly disturbed by such shows and I refuse to watch them. Reproducibility is the key to successful meal preparation.

[sjwt]

I remember the time when people cooking on TV used to talk in units. "1 dcL of water, 100 g of sugar", etc.

Nowdays it's "a bit of water, few spoons of sugar". What's a "bit"? How many is "few"? How large the spoon is? How full the spoon is?

I'm thoroughly disturbed by such shows and I refuse to watch them. Reproducibility is the key to successful meal preparation.

Reproducibility is the key to mass market, experimentation and creativity is the key to learning. Do you want to be be reading a cookbook for how cook your rice every time?

A strict recipe is good to learn from, but after that you should be looking at realising that many things affect what you do, how fresh your ingredients are, how far into or out of season, under rip, over ripe? A hot day? a cold day?? Are you cooking for smokers or non smokers. Is this food inside or out side the comfort zone of who you are cooking for, have they ever even eaten this before?

Sure there are things you want to know how much of what, but most definitely on these shows, when told to use 'some' or 'a bit' its about the most important part of cooking, personal taste.

[RockoDyne]

I remember the time when people cooking on TV used to talk in units. "1 dcL of water, 100 g of sugar", etc.

Nowdays it's "a bit of water, few spoons of sugar". What's a "bit"? How many is "few"? How large the spoon is? How full the spoon is?

I'm thoroughly disturbed by such shows and I refuse to watch them. Reproducibility is the key to successful meal preparation.

That's always been the case. Most of the time if something doesn't have a solid amount, it's more about seasoning to taste than actually needing it. What bugs me more is using volume to measure dry ingredients (not powders but say a cup of chopped apples) when it really should be using weight.

Back to the topic; if molecular gastronomy would make something that didn't have a freakish texture, I might be more into it. Although the fact that most of the time it's more like dessert nutrient paste doesn't help my opinion of it.

[lajoswinkler]

Reproducibility is the key to mass market, experimentation and creativity is the key to learning. Do you want to be be reading a cookbook for how cook your rice every time?

A strict recipe is good to learn from, but after that you should be looking at realising that many things affect what you do, how fresh your ingredients are, how far into or out of season, under rip, over ripe? A hot day? a cold day?? Are you cooking for smokers or non smokers. Is this food inside or out side the comfort zone of who you are cooking for, have they ever even eaten this before?

Sure there are things you want to know how much of what, but most definitely on these shows, when told to use 'some' or 'a bit' its about the most important part of cooking, personal taste.

First the exact instructions, then creativity. Creativity without a foundation is chaos.

If like them to say how much exactly, and then add "if you want more x-ish taste, use more y".

[phoenix_ca]

I don't know what cooking shows you're watching. O.o I'm a fan of Stefano Faita, and he uses measurements. And if the doesn't say how much of something he's using, the recipe is on the CBC's website.

[lajoswinkler]

I don't watch any, ever. I don't like to cook. It's just that sometimes when I'm browsing through the channels, I see them putting "some" and "few" into their pots and I instantly get mad.

[KSK]

I don't watch any, ever. I don't like to cook. It's just that sometimes when I'm browsing through the channels, I see them putting "some" and "few" into their pots and I instantly get mad.

It's not quite molecular gastronomy so apologies for the mild thread-jack. However, Lajoswinkler's comments put me in mind of a pretty good Ars Technica article about cooking and why some folks just don't get along with it. Worth a read IMO.

[DJEN]

I guess good threads become train wrecks this way.

Please continue.