RESEARCH PROJECT

ONMOLECULAR GASTRONOMY IN

BAKERY

ABSTRACT

Modern culinary direction - molecular gastronomy is very complex, and the

relative youth of that direction affects the ignorance of the matter by a large

number of professionals and the general public. It is precisely this lack of

matter which causes a number of disagreements between chefs and

scientists, while there is a number of related debates about aspects of

molecular gastronomy, especially in connection with a change in its

gastronomic cuisine. The main focus of disagreement lies in the name of

''molecular'', which mostly leads to a misunderstanding, because of the

identification with something microscopic. A very common mistake is to

address this branch of gastronomy as a style of cooking, which she doesn't

represent. The second mistake is naming its practical application of

molecular cooking, molecular cuisine. Molecular gastronomy is a scientific

discipline that studies food and asks questions and gives answers so far

unanswered questions about gastronomy. Simply put, molecular gastronomy

can be understood as a process of application of science in everyday

cooking, and the application of molecular gastronomy in the kitchen.

Modern man with his awareness made some chefs to reconsider the adoption

of these radical ideas to accomplish the fusion of science and gastronomy.

This idea is established as a full hit, because today the best restaurants in the

world, the vast majority of those who have seen the benefits of these two

joints before incompatible branches of human activity. As a culinary

direction it quickly spread to Western Europe and North America, and it

later spread to other parts of the world, but Croatia and neighboring

countries are not one of them. Molecular gastronomy shows the trends of

further progress, and in the future molecular gastronomy will be more

prevalent and popular.

REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Every time something is placed in somebody’s mouth one or a

combination of tastes alerts to vital information about that matter. If it's

sweet, maybe it's got the nutrients the body needs to keep running for

another few hours. If it's salty, perhaps it is necessary to replace some of

those vital minerals just excreted through sweat or urine. If it's sour, there's a

chance it's not ripe and will cause a bad bellyache. If it's bitter, watch out…..

it could be poison and the next swallow will be the last. Thus, eating is

associated to neurophyscological inherited and acquired phenomena.

Deciding what tastes "good" is anything but simple.

A food's flavor doesn't usually depend on data from a single sense

Rather, smell, touch, sight and even hearing often come into play, and the

best methods of pleasurably exciting those senses, during a meal or

snack,occupies the days of thousands of chefs, brewers, marketing flaks, and

scientists around the world.Senses depend on an intricate cross talk between

the different sensitive areas enervated by peripheral nerve branches and the

remaining nervous system, medulla and brain

This is a complex system yet not fully known which has demanded

scientists to delve deeply into its mechanisms In terms of taste, until very

recently, a concept that has guided much taste research is the existence of

only four (or possibly five) independent taste qualities. These four so-called

basic” or “primary” tastes are sweet, sour, salty, and bitter; a fifth quality,

the taste of glutamate salts called “umami,” has also been described

. All other tastes are presumed to be combinations of these basic tastes

mixed in various proportions. The idea that taste was, as the other senses,

just a mechanical action in which nervous fibers played the conductors to

reach the brain has also been

rejected. A new concept has emerged showing that aside from the receptor,

this has to interact with a chemical signal or “a tastant”

Tastants are chemicals that stimulate receptors and ion channels in

taste receptor cells found in taste buds ( garlic clove-like structures). The

latter are contained within papillae on the tongue’s surface in the soft palate,

pharynx, larynx, and epiglottis.. Papillae types vary according to the region

in the tongue. For example, in the anterior area of the tongue fungiform

papillae predominate, foliate papillae are located in the posterior lateral sides

of the tongue and circumvallate (rearward facing chevron across the back of

the tongue) papillae

Taste buds contain between 50 and 150 cells that form a discrete

ovoid structure

.These cells are divided into basal cells (from which new taste cells

originate) as well as elongated cells, some of which have microvilli that

extend through a taste pore into the oral environment. Tastants dissolve in

saliva and cross a mucus layer to reach microvilli and taste receptors.

Diminished salivary production can impair taste perception and this explains

why elderly people who, in general, have less saliva present with taste

disorders, as well as those individuals who have undergone chemo or

radiotherapy. The tastants then activate either ion channels (sour, salty) or G

protein (gustucin) coupled receptors (sweet, bitter, umami), depolarizing

these cells. These, in turn, set up impulses in the taste nerves. It is

interesting to note that the pleasure response to sweetness and disgust from

bitterness is present at birth and not learned. Response to saltiness develops

during the first year of life

Branches of three cranial nerves innervate taste buds, transmitting the

electrical impulses to the medulla: the chorda tympani nerve innervates

fungiform and anterior foliate papillae and the lingual nerve innervates the

posterior foliate and circumvallate papillae. Taste buds on the soft palate are

innervated by the superficial petrosal nerve, while those on the epiglottis are

innervated by the superior branch of the vagus nerve. Each nerve has fibers

that respond best to a specific taste quality

. However, the tongue map – the idea that certain areas respond only to

certain taste qualities – is wrong; all areas of the tongue respond to all

qualities From the medulla, the taste impulses reach the brain, more

precisely the primary taste cortex in the rostal insula and adjoining frontal

operculum and the orbitofrontal cortex that contains the secondary taste

cortex, in which the reward value of taste is represented. The latter area also

contains the secondary and tertiary olfactory cortical areas, in which

information about the identity and also about the reward value of odors is

represented. The orbitofrontal cortex also receives information about the

sight of objects from the temporal lobe cortical visual areas, and neurons in

it learn and reverse

the visual stimulus to which they respond when the association of the visual

stimulus with a primary reinforcing stimulus (such as taste) is reversed.

Foods and beverages stimulate multiple fibers in the trigeminal nerve (CN

V): tactile sensations such as particle size, texture and creaminess stimulate

mechanoreceptors while temperature triggers thermo receptors and, irritants

and pungent foods stimulate nociceptors. Somatosensory input is tightly

integrated with, but separate from, smell and taste input.

INTRODUCTION

WHAT IS MOLECULAR GASTRONOMY?

Originally coined to describe the scientific study of food and cooking,

molecular gastronomy is now associated with innovative modern cuisine.

Chefs use a combination of unusual tastes, textures and theatrical twists to

give the eating experience a new multi-sensory dimension with the aid of

high-tech equipment and a handful of clever chemicals. They're not afraid to

break the mould either - traditional kitchen techniques are examined in

scientific detail, and if they aren't up to scratch, they're adjusted. 

Many of the chefs branded as molecular gastronomists, including 4Food's

Heston Blumenthal can't stand the phrase though as they feel it misses the

point - they may be using new and innovative techniques, but quality and

flavour are still at the heart of what they're doing. 

A FEW TECHNIQUES EXPLORED

FOAM

There are a few different ways to achieve froths and foams. The easiest is

using a hand blender, held just under the surface of the liquid. As the foam

appears, skim it off and add to your dish - this works well with creamy or

buttery sauces or sauces, but the bubbles won't last long. Another method is

to use a cream whipper(opens in a new window) and put your

creamy/buttery sauce through that. To give your foam a bit more stability

and body, or to foam thinner liquids, stocks and juices, you can add a gelling

agent such as agar agar, or thickener like lecithin before using either of the

techniques above.

SNAP, CRACKLE AND POP

If it's good enough for Heston, it's good enough for us. Addpopping

candy(opens in a new window) to the base of cheesecakes and tarts to give

your diners a pleasant surprise when they start chewing.

SPHERIFICATION 

You can give just about anything the appearance of balls of caviar with this

trick. Mix sodium alginate with any liquid, then drip the mixture into a

calcium salt and water solution. Scoop them out quickly enough and they

should be jellied on the outside and still liquid in the middle as the calcium

solution will set the sodium alginate gel. Fruit juices make a nice choice for

spherification as you can add them to desserts for a bit of decoration.

Alternatively make balls of of consommé, or other thin soups or sauces for

an interesting savoury garnish.

FIZZ

If you mix bicarbonate of soda with any form of acid and then add water, it

will fizz. So, make your own by mixing a little bicarb, citric acid and icing

sugar, then dust it onto toffees, boiled sweets, or even on to the surface of

fruits (only if the skins are really dry though) and get tongues tingling.

SOUS VIDE

Food, such as meat or fish, is sealed in vacuum packed bags and cooked in a

water bath for several hours on a very low heat. Cooking in this way helps

food to retain its moisture and flavour, as well as tenderizing tough cuts of

meat. Sous vide cookery is become so popular these days that you can now

buy domestic.

MOLECULAR GASTRONOMY KITS 

There are various kits(opens in a new window) on the market which

contain all the basic chemicals you'll need to get started with techniques

such as spherification, fizz and jelly making. They usually contain a few bits

of basic equipment too such as pipettes, tubing and a recipe book or leaflet.

It's worth investing in a set of precision scales(opens in a new

window) too, as you'll be working with very small quantities.

Molecular gastronomy is a sub discipline of food science that seeks to

investigate, explain and make practical use of

the physical and chemical transformations of ingredients that occur

while cooking, as well as the social, artistic and technical components of

culinary and gastronomic phenomena in general. Molecular gastronomy is a

modern style of cooking, which is practiced by both scientists and food

professionals in many professional kitchens and labs and takes advantage of

many technical innovations from the scientific disciplines.

The term "molecular gastronomy" was coined in 1992 by

late Oxford physicist Nicholas Kurti and the French INRA chemist Hervé

This. Some chefs associated with the term choose to reject its use, preferring

other terms such as "culinary physics" and "experimental cuisine"

Molecular gastronomy is the new direction of gastronomy mostly initiated

by idea of implementation of science in cooking. Many things associated

with this term are not quite clear and many have a wrong idea. This direction

of gastronomy seeks innovation and improvement of the existing situation, a

fundamental goal of improving ways of preparing meals, so that they have

such taste as it should be in the optimal case, every time. The idea of a

practical molecular gastronomy in restaurants and forming a sort of

combination of traditional and modern, artistic and scientific approach to

cooking is widespread throughout the world, but the greatest concentration

of such restaurants are located within the European Union, where actually

were created the first prototypes of such restaurants. In the today' world the

obesity is one of the biggest problems of modern man, a result of sedentary

lifestyles and unbalanced diets imposed by lifestyle. Standard restaurants'

offer is based on the portions that exceed nutritional requirements and the

entry of such foods further undermines the notion of a balanced diet. For

these reasons there is a need for rationalization and regular moderate intake

of what is needed. Rationalization of nutrition is one of the main features of

the new attitudes adopted by molecular gastronomy, as well as the use of

food as a whole.

PURPOSE OF STUDY

PURPOSE OF STUDY

This project aims to be guideline to the Hoteliers

entrepreneurs including _____________.

This project would also provide helpful to teacher

and trainers as sufficient material for giving lesson is

provided. Even the students will gain a lot in knowledge as

out _____________ .

SCOPE OF STUDY

SCOPE OF STUDY

Though the theoretical portion of this project has

been taken from various books, the data analysis and the

interpretation has been done basing on the experiments

conducted, the results yielded and the scores given by the

judges that comprise of the respected faculty of the

college.

OBJECTIVES

OBJECTIVES

RESEARCH

METHODOLOGY

&

METHODS OF

DATA COLLECTION

RESEARCH

METHODOLOGY

&METHODS OF

DATA COLLECTION

The data collected for the project are primary. They have been collected

based on the survey conducted by myself in New Delhi. The theoretical

framework has been done with the help of some books, but the data

analysis & interpretation has been done based on primary source of

information. From the very beginning of my study upon this valuable as

well as important and interesting topic, I have got always a positive

response from every concern and individual wherever I approached. I went

to some old and renowned restaurants, hotel’s, which are well known to

the staff.

The experiments had been solely conducted by me keeping

in mind the valuable advise & information’s from the

esteemed teachers. The result product was presented

before a panel of judges comprising lecturers of our

college. They had been provided with a score sheet

prepared by me. The marks provided by the panel were

used for the data analysis & interpretation.

I personally interviewed some chefs and staff according to

my questionnaire. I found they are really cordial and

supportive during my survey.

THEOROICALFRAMEWORK

APPLICATION OF ADDITIVES AND INNOVATION IN THE

PREPARATION OF FOOD MOLECULAR GASTRONOMY

The term to cook is defined as the use of heat to transform food for

consumption. The question is whether this is the only way to transform the

food for consumption? Is the heat the only that can be used to cook

something? When the meat is removed from the refrigerator it is dissolved,

for this process the heat is also used, but for that meat we would never say

that it is cooked. If the egg yolk is mixed with ethanol it will coagulate

and it will tranform although this transformation has not used any heat (This

2010). There are many ways for transforming foods in traditional

gastronomy. These methods are applied in the modern ''scientific'' molecular

gastronomy. With the development of traditional ways of trying to introduce

new and innovative ways. From new ways of transformation of food used in

molecular gastronomy in everyday practice can be applied:

Specification in a bath of sodium alginate or calcium chloride and

water

The use of liquid nitrogen

a) Specification in a bath of sodium alginate and calcium chloride and water

– an innovative way of transforming food without the presence of heat. This

is a technique used for making, among other things, false and reverse olive

caviar. There are many variations of using this process, but the last two uses

are the most often. During specification the food is transformed in the way

of placing them in a thin, slowly solvable membrane of sodium alginate and

calcium chloride. The process of specification in a big way introduces

Spanish chef Ferran Adrià and he was one of his trademarks.

For complete specification it is required special equipment, and it consists of

the following components:

sodium-alginate

salt, calcium chloride (calcium without food can not be spherificated)

spoons of different shapes and sizes

syringe without a needle (for the fake caviar)

water bath for stopping the process

b) Use of liquid nitrogen is a relatively new technique in gastronomy. The

temperature of liquid nitrogen is -196°C and as such has long been used

mainly for various industrial purposes. Its use as a cooking technique

reduces the production of ice cream and sorbet. It is a great plus in making

ice cream with liquid nitrogen so that the crystals are very small due to the

short time of freezing and thus ice cream made in this way has a very

creamy and smooth texture. The concept at first, totally impossible to

understand, but cooking with liquid nitrogen is nothing more than cooking in

a very cold medium. Because of the large so-called ''wow effect'' the use of

liquid nitrogen can be considered scientific, and especially since it is not

used in traditional cuisines, but it is more innovative way for the creation of

an extremely traditional preparations like ice cream or sorbet, which

previously could only work because most of the cooler was not able to

achieve much lower temperatures and is no more scientific to the bread

making (McGee 2004). New machinery, equipment and tools at the present

time offer chefs the opportunity to achieve what was always possible with

the food, but the available equipment didn't allow, in other words the borders

of realizable are moving. These new capabilities enable the use of science as

well as mutual cooperation between chefs and scientists. New equipment can

be divided into those originally intended for laboratories, which slowly

begins to apply in catering kitchens and the one whose purpose is primarily

and exclusively planned for the professional catering kitchen, some of which

are designed as equipment intended for household.

New equipment dedicated to kitchen:

Anti-grill

Machine for rotation of sugar

Paco jet

Sous-vide water bath

Smoking gun

gastrovac

bottle for production of domestic whipped cream

spaghetti set.

ANTI-GRILL - on the market, we encounter two types of anti

grill:

Electrical anti-grill ''bakes'' using liquid nitrogen freezing

food at temperature up to - 34°C. There are variations of

anti-grill instead of using electricity for freezing food using

liquid nitrogen, and is called Teppan Nitro. In addition to

difference in the way of freezing there is a difference in

temperature because by using liquid nitrogen Teppan

Nitro can be achieved much lower temperature up to -148°C.

Anti-grills allow completely freeze sauces and purees and

semi-freeze dishes to get a crispy surface and creamy

center.

MACHINE FOR ROTATION OF SUGAR - a device often seen in

amusement parks, while rarely used in restaurants. It is

used, among the others, in restaurant El Bulli, but not for the

spin of sugar which original purpose of this device is in the

production of sugar cotton. Application of machine for

rotation of sugar is not in any way scientific innovation as it

is a very creative way of using the device. When talking

about modern catering equipment, this is primarily thought

of:

Electrical

With liquid nitrogen.

PACO JET - machine that is used to make ice cream and

sorbet. It is used in most professional kitchens. It consists of

a very sharp knife that turns up to 2000 rpm. Using the paco

jet we can get the ice cream with a very small crystals, a

very similar texture as in liquid nitrogen. Except for the

sweet it is used to produce salt types of ice cream.

SOUS-VIDE WATER BATH - sous-vide technique was used

in kitchens before, but the revival it is experienced with the

development of molecular gastronomy. The technique

consists of placing vacuum food (meat) in the bath. The

specificity of this technique is that it can control the cooking

temperature and time to get better results than simple

boiling in water, the only deficiency of the method is

extremely long cooking time.

SMOKING GUN - a device that is used for processing a

variety of dishes, smoked flavors. A very simple principle

that adds a secondary smoked flavor to dishes. The process

consists of a selection of flavors, aromas of putting in a small

compartment and blowing smoke in an enclosed container or

bowl covered with foil.

GASTROVAC - is a serious professional cooking appliance

often used in kitchens of molecular gastronome. It is a kind

of combination of slow ladle so called slo-cooker, vacuum

and thermostat (but without magnetic mixer). It works by

sucking the flavor out of food and water with the help of

vacuum and leaves it completely dry like a

sponge. After that fills dry cells of food such as pre-selected

fluid wine. So we can get using gastrovaca pear with an

intense wine aroma.

MOLECULAR GASTRONOMY: A NEW EMERGING SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINE

The science of domestic and restaurant cooking has recently moved from the

playground of a few interested amateurs into the realm of serious scientific

endeavor. A number of restaurants around the world have started to adopt a

more scientific approach in their kitchens,1–3 and perhaps partly as a result,

several of these have become acclaimed as being among the best in the

world.4,5

Today, many food writers and chefs, as well as most gourmets, agree that

chemistry lies at the heart of the very finest food available in some of the

world’s finest restaurants. At least in the world of gourmet food, chemistry

has managed to replace its often tarnished image with a growing respect as

the application of basic chemistry in the kitchen has provided the starting

point for a whole new cuisine. The application of chemistry and other

sciences to restaurant and domestic cooking is thus making a positive impact

in a very public arena which inevitably gives credence to the subject as a

whole.

As yet, however, this activity has been largely in the form of small

collaborations between scientists and chefs. To date, little “new science” has

emerged, but many novel applications of existing science have been made,

assisting chefs to produce new dishes and extend the range of techniques

available in their kitchens. Little of this work has appeared in the scientific

literature,2,3,6–9 but the work has received an enormous amount of media

attention. A quick Google search will reveal thousands of news articles over

the past few years; a very few recent examples can be found in China,(10)

the United States,11,12 and Australia.(13)

In this review we bring together the many strands of chemistry that have

been and are increasingly being used in the kitchen to provide a sound basis

for further developments in the area. We also attempt throughout to show

using relevant illustrative examples how knowledge and understanding of

chemistry can be applied to good effect in the domestic and restaurant

kitchen.

Our basic premise is that the application of chemical and physical techniques

in some restaurant kitchens to produce novel textures and flavor

combinations has not only revolutionized the restaurant experience but also

led to new enjoyment and appreciation of food. Examples include El Bulli

(in Spain) and the Fat Duck (in the United Kingdom), two restaurants that

since adopting a scientific approach to cooking have become widely

regarded as among the finest in the world. All this begs the fundamental

question: why should these novel textures and flavors provide so much real

pleasure for the diners?

Such questions are at the heart of the new science of Molecular Gastronomy.

The term Molecular Gastronomy has gained a lot of publicity over the past

few years, largely because some chefs have started to label their cooking

style as Molecular Gastronomy (MG) and claimed to be bringing the use of

scientific principles into the kitchen. However, we should note that three of

the first chefs whose food was “labeled” as MG have recently written a new

manifesto protesting against this label.(14) They rightly contend that what is

important is the finest food prepared using the best available ingredients and

using the most appropriate methods (which naturally includes the use of

“new” ingredients, for example, gelling agents such as gellan or carageenan,

and processes, such as vacuum distillation, etc.).

We take a broad view of Molecular Gastronomy and argue it should be

considered as the scientific study of why some food tastes terrible, some is

mediocre, some good, and occasionally some absolutely delicious. We want

to understand what it is that makes one dish delicious and another not,

whether it be the choice of ingredients and how they were grown, the

manner in which the food was cooked and presented, or the environment in

which it was served. All will play their own roles, and there are valid

scientific enquiries to be made to elucidate the extent to which they each

affect the final result, but chemistry lies at the heart of all these diverse

disciplines.

The judgment of the quality of a dish is a highly personal matter as is the

extent to which a particular meal is enjoyed or not. Nevertheless, we

hypothesize that there are a number of conditions that must be met before

food becomes truly enjoyable. These include many aspects of the flavor.

Clearly, the food should have flavor; but what conditions are truly

important? Does it matter, for example, how much flavor a dish has; is the

concentration of the flavor molecules important? How important is the order

in which the flavor molecules are released? How does the texture affect the

flavor? The long-term aims of the science of MG are not only to provide

chefs with tools to assist them in producing the finest dishes but also to

elucidate the minimum set of conditions that are required for a dish to be

described by a representative group of individuals as enjoyable or delicious,

to find ways in which these conditions can be met (through the production of

raw materials, in the cooking process, and in the way in which the food is

presented), and hence to be able to predict reasonably well whether a

particular dish or meal would be delicious. It may even become possible to

give some quantitative measure of just how delicious a particular dish will

be to a particular individual.

Clearly, this is an immense task involving many different aspects of the

chemical sciences: from the way in which food is produced through the

harvesting, packaging, and transport to market via the processing and

cooking to the presentation on the plate and how the body and brain react to

the various stimuli presented.

MG is distinct from traditional Food Science as it is concerned principally

with the science behind any conceivable food preparation technique that

may be used in a restaurant environment or even in domestic cooking from

readily available ingredients to produce the best possible result. Conversely,

Food Science is concerned, in large measure, with food production on an

industrial scale and nutrition and food safety.

A further distinction is that although Molecular Gastronomy includes the

science behind gastronomic food, to understand gastronomy it is sometimes

also necessary to appreciate its wider background. Thus, investigations of

food history and culture may be subjects for investigation within the overall

umbrella of Molecular Gastronomy.

Further, gastronomy is characterized by the fact that strong, even passionate

feelings can be involved. Leading chefs express their own emotions and

visions through the dishes they produce. Some chefs stick closely to

tradition, while others can be highly innovative and even provocative. In this

sense gastronomy can be considered as an art form similar to painting and

music.

In this review we begin with a short description of our senses of taste and

aroma and how we use these and other senses to provide the sensation of

flavor. We will show that flavor is not simply the sum of the individual

stimuli from the receptors in the tongue and nose but far more complex. In

fact, the best we can say is that flavor is constructed in the mind using cues

taken from all the senses including, but not limited to, the chemical senses of

taste and smell. It is necessary to bear this background in mind throughout

the whole review so we do not forget that even if we fully understand the

complete chemical composition, physical state, and morphological

complexity of a dish, this alone will not tell us whether it will provide an

enjoyable eating experience.

In subsequent sections we will take a walk through the preparation of a

meal, starting with the raw ingredients to see how the chemical make up of

even the apparently simplest ingredients such as carrots or tomatoes is

greatly affected by all the different agricultural processes they may be

subjected to before arriving in the kitchen.

Once we have ingredients in the kitchen and start to cut, mix, and cook

them, a vast range of chemical reactions come into play, destroying some

and creating new flavor compounds. We devote a considerable portion of the

review to the summary of some of these reactions. However, we must note

that complete textbooks have failed to capture the complexity of many of

these, so all we can do here is to provide a general overview of some

important aspects that commonly affect flavor in domestic and restaurant

kitchens.

In nearly all cooking, the texture of the food is as important as its flavor: the

flavor of roast chicken is pretty constant, but the texture varies from the

wonderfully tender meat that melts in the mouth to the awful rubber chicken

of so many conference dinners. Understanding and controlling texture not

only of meats but also of sauces, soufflés, breads, cakes, and pastries, etc.,

will take us on a tour through a range of chemical and physical disciplines as

we look, for example, at the spinning of glassy sugars to produce candy-

floss.

Finally, after a discussion of those factors in our food that seem to contribute

to making it delicious, we enter the world of brain chemistry, and much of

that is speculative. We will end up with a list of areas of potential new

research offering all chemists the opportunity to join us in the exciting new

adventures of Molecular Gastronomy and the possibility of collaborating

with chefs to create new and better food in their own local neighborhoods.

Who ever said there is no such thing as a free lunch?

 SENSES

Before we begin to look in any detail at the chemistry of food production

and preparation, we should take in a brief overview of the way in which we

actually sense the food we eat. Questions such as what makes us enjoy (or

not) any particular food and what it is that makes one meal better than

another are of course largely subjective. Nonetheless, we all share the same,

largely chemical based, set of senses with which to interpret the taste, aroma,

flavor, and texture of the food. In this section we will explore these senses

and note how they detect the various food molecules before, during, and

even after we have consumed them.

It is important to note at the outset that our experience of foods is mediated

through all our senses: these include all the familiar senses (pain, touch,

sight, hearing, taste, and smell) as well as the perhaps less familiar such as

chemesthesis. As we will see, our senses of sight and touch can set up

expectations of the overall flavor of food which can be very hard to ignore.

Try eating the same food using either high-quality china plates and steel or

silver cutlery or paper plates and plastic cutlery; the food seems to taste

better with the perceived quality of the utensils. Equally, the color of food

can affect our perception of the flavor; try eating a steak dyed blue!

However, among all the senses, the most significant for our appreciation of

food remain the chemical senses which encompass taste, smell, and

chemesthesis. These three distinct systems mediate information about the

presence of chemicals in the environment. Taste or gustation detects

chemical compounds dissolved in liquids using sensors mostly in the mouth.

Smell or olfaction detects air-borne chemicals, both from the external world

but also from the internalized compounds emitted from food in our oral

cavity. Chemesthesis mediates information about irritants through nerve

endings in the skin as well as other borders between us and the

environments, including the epithelia in the nose, the eyes, and in the gut.

Chemesthesis uses the same systems that inform us about touch,

temperature, and pain.

 SENSE OF TASTE

Specialized chemoreceptors on the tongue, palate, soft palate, and areas in

the upper throat (pharynx and laryngopharynx) detect sensations such as

bitter, for example, from alkaloids, salty from many ionic compounds, sour

from most acids, sweet from sugars, and umami, or savory, from some

amino acids and nucleotides. Each of these taste sensations probably

evolved to provide information about foods that are particularly desirable

(e.g., salt, sugar, amino acids) or undesirable (e.g., toxic alkaloids). The

receptors reside in taste buds mostly located in fungiform, foliate, and

circumvallate but not filiform papillae on the tongue. Taste buds, as the

name indicates, are bud-shaped groups of cells. Tastants, the molecules

being tasted, enter a small pore at the top of the taste bud and are absorbed

on microvilli at taste receptor cells.

In the past decade receptor proteins for bitter, sweet, and umami have all

been identified. All these receptors are a subclass of the super family of G-

protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and have been classified as T1R1, T1R2,

T1R3, and T2Rs. The activation of GPCRs by external stimulus is the

starting point of a succession of interactions between multiple proteins in the

cell, leading to the release of chemical substances in the cell also called

second messengers. Although the cellular signal cascade is a general pattern

of GPCRs, the very large variety of each protein involved renders these

mechanisms very complex so that they are under a good deal of ongoing

investigation.

Taste receptors share several structural homologies with the metabotropic

glutamate receptors. These receptors are composed of two main domains

linked by an extra cellular cystein-rich domain: a large extra cellular domain

(ECD) also called the “Venus Flytrap” module, due to the similarity of

mechanism by which this plant traps insects, containing the legend binding

site and a seven-Tran membrane domain region. Moreover, as in the case of

mGluRs, T1Rs assemble as dimers at the membrane and the composition of

the heterodynes has been shown to be specific to the taste recognized.

Heterodimers T1R2−T1R3 are responsible for sweet sensing, whereas

T1R1−T1R3 are responsible for umami tasting. A large number of T2Rs

have been shown to function as bitter taste receptors in heterologous

expression assays, and several have distinctive polymorphisms that are

associated with significant variations in sensitivity to selective bitter tastants

in mice, chimpanzees, and humans.

Receptors for sour and salty tastes are essentially ionic channels, but the

identity of the salty receptor is still speculative and controversial. The hunt

for a sour receptor has been narrowed down to a ionic channel of the type

TRP, transient receptor potential. Undoubtedly, more receptor proteins for

other nutritionally relevant molecules will be identified. For example,

recently a specific fatty acid receptor, a multifunctional CD36 glycoprotein,

has been demonstrated in rats.

SENSE OF SMELL

While the taste receptors in the mouth detect small molecules dissolved in

liquids, the receptors of the olfactory system detect molecules in the air. The

range of receptors provides a wide sensitivity to volatile molecules. Some of

the most potent thiols can be detected in concentrations as low as 6 ×

107molecules/mL air (2-propene-1-thiol), whereas ethanol requires around 2

× 1015 molecules/mL air. Thus, there are at least 8 orders of magnitude

between our sensitivity to the most and least “smelly” molecules. The

sensitivity of the sense of smell varies quite significantly between

individuals. Not only do different people have different sensitivity to

particular aromas, some people suffer anosmia, odor blindness to specific

odorants. People can be trained to become sensitive to some odorants, such

as for the unpleasant smelling and rotenone. To complicate the picture

further, the sense of smell develops during the human lifetime; we tend to

lose sensitivity at an older age, especially after the seventh decade.

EFFECT OF MOLECULAR GASTRONOMY ON BAKERY

PRODUCT

CALCIUM SALTS

Function

Calcium is a mineral salt. In molecular gastronomy, calcium salts are

involved in the basic spherification or reverse-spherification processes in

reaction with sodium alginate. Sodium alginate indeed needs a source of

calcium to form a gel.

 

Origin

Calcium is a mineral salt that occurs naturally in many foods. Some of the

foods richest in calcium include dairy products, some fish such as sardines,

beans and watercress.

The main calcium salts used in molecular gastronomy are calcium lactate,

calcium chloride and calcium gluconate. Mixtures of gluconate and calcium

lactate can also be found under the name of calcium gluconolactate.

Calcium chloride is obtained as a byproduct of the manufacturing of

sodium carbonate. The “Solvay” process is the most common manufacturing

method used to produce sodium carbonate and calcium chloride. From a salt,

sodium chloride, and calcium carbonate, the main component of limestone

and chalk, a share of sodium carbonate on the one hand and calcium chloride

on the other are obtained.

Sodium carbonate is subsequently used in the industries of soap, glass, paper

and textiles. It is also used for cooking, in a refined form called baking soda.

Calcium lactate is a salt derived from lactic acid. Lactic acid is produced by

fermentation, that is to say by the action of micro-organisms in the absence

of oxygen. Thus, the mitochondria of human muscles, for example, produce

lactic acid when oxygen supply by blood is not sufficient during intense

efforts.

Lactic acid is also found naturally in fermented foods like cheese, wine and

sauerkraut. The bacteria responsible for fermentation is lactobacillus, hence

the name of the products of this fermentation. The commercial production of

lactic acid to extract calcium lactate is achieved by bacterial fermentation of

various plant sugars like starch, molasses or beet sugar.

Calcium lactate is the salt of lactic acid. It is obtained by the treatment of

lactic acid with a base in the presence of calcium ions. Calcium carbonate

can be used to provide the calcium ions.

Since calcium lactate comes from the fermentation of plant sugars, it is non-

allergenic for people with allergies to lactose. The word lactate refers to

the lactobacillus responsible for fermentation from which it is derived, and

not anything to do with lactose.

Calcium gluconate is a calcium salt derived from gluconic acid, treated

with a base in combination with calcium ions by a process similar to that of

lactic acid. Calcium gluconate is only used in the kitchen once it has been

mixed with calcium lactate. The mixture is called calcium gluconolactate.

 

Industry applications

Industrially-produced calcium chloride is used, for example, as road salt or

to accelerate the setting of concrete.

Calcium lactate, for its part, is mainly used in food. For example, it can be

used to regulate the acidity of certain foods in order to influence the

development of essential bacteria found there. Thus it improves the taste and

texture of these foods. It can enter into the composition of baking powders in

bakery products. It provides food for yeast in breads and beer. It is a firming

agent in processed products, like cut fruits and vegetables as well as

processed fish whose texture might otherwise be degraded by heat. Finally,

it can ensure the firmness of the curd in some cheeses.

Calcium lactate, for its part, is mainly used in food. For example, it can be

used to regulate the acidity of certain foods in order to influence the

development of essential bacteria found there. Thus it improves the taste and

texture of these foods. It can enter into the composition of baking powders in

bakery products. It provides food for yeast in breads and beer. It is a firming

agent in processed products like cut fruits and vegetables as well as

processed fish whose texture might otherwise be degraded by heat. Finally,

it can ensure the firmness of the curd in some cheeses.

The idea of the baking soda addition was not taken out of the blue but based

on something I gleaned from the chemistry of the Maillard reaction.

Popularly known as the “browning reaction,” the Maillard reaction is the

chemical interplay between a reducing sugar (a sugar that under alkaline

conditions, forms reactive ketones or aldehydes) and an amino acid (the

basic building block of all proteins). As a chemist, I have always found the

Maillard reaction to have a deceptive name, camouflaging the fact that a

surprisingly large number of reactions occur when a reducing sugar and an

amino acid are heated together. In addition to its complexity, I had noted the

pH dependency of the Maillard reaction. By increasing the pH—making the

food less acidic and more alkaline—the Maillard reaction can be sped up.

And the addition of baking soda happens to be a convenient way of doing

this. Over time, it became clear to me that the use of baking soda was only

one of many ways cooks can and do influence the speed of the Maillard

reaction in the kitchen.[1]

Ever since the French chemist Louis-Camille Maillard studied the

metabolism of urea and kidney illnesses and published his thesis on the

actions of glycerin and sugar on amino acids in 1913, the Maillard reaction

has been a hot research topic. A review on browning reactions in dehydrated

foods, which appeared in the first volume of Journal of Agricultural and

Food Chemistry, remains the most-cited paper in that journal’s history. It is

sad, yet understandable, that undesirable occurrences of the Maillard

reaction have received more attention in the scientific community than the

desirable ones. Fortunately, desirable Maillard products have been explored

for thousands of years in the kitchen and the results are well-documented in

numerous recipes.

The Maillard reaction, which is also sometimes referred to as “nonenzymatic

browning,” produces volatile compounds that contribute aroma and

nonvolatile compounds that provide color, known as melanoidins. Some of

these compounds contribute to the resulting flavor as well. The Maillard

reaction imbues foods with a characteristic smell, taste, and color. High-

temperature processes in particular, such as frying, roasting, grilling, and

baking, rely heavily on the Maillard reaction for the characteristic aromas

it produces. What would the crust of a freshly baked loaf of bread be without

the Maillard reaction? What would beverages such as espresso, hot

chocolate, or Irish stout be if the coffee, chocolate beans, or barley were not

roasted to facilitate the Maillard reaction? Or the nice meat flavors of a beef

roast? Or the smell of toasted white bread? Browned onions? The list is

endless.

It is possible to speed up the Maillard reaction by choosing favorable

conditions. Chances are, you have done this without knowing or thinking

about the chemistry. One can speed up the reaction by adding protein or a

reducing sugar, increasing the temperature, using less water (or boiling off

water), and increasing the pH. In fact, when looking for examples, I was

surprised the extent to which conditions favoring the Maillard reaction had

found their way into recipes.

When I was little, I remember my mother brushing leavened yeast buns with

milk or egg yolk to give them a nice brown crust in the oven. She knew

nothing about the Maillard reaction, but she did know how to obtain the

desired color and aroma. In the glazing of baked goods, milk or eggs

provide the protein source that leads to Maillard reaction browning. In

recipes in which eggs are used because of their binding and emulsifying

properties, the role they play as a protein source for the Maillard reaction is

sometimes overlooked. An added benefit of the egg yolks when applied to

yeast buns is that the viscosity allows a thicker layer to be brushed onto the

surface, yielding a glossy finish. Milk, on the other hand, provides the

reducing-sugar lactose in addition to protein, which compensates for the

lower viscosity with regard to browning potential.

Brushing yeast buns with egg (or milk) provides the ingredients needed for a

wonderful nice browning of the surface.

Yeast buns can also be brushed with sugar water before baking. Even though

sucrose is not a reducing sugar, it easily breaks up into fructose and glucose

when heated, and these take part in the Maillard reaction. When a sugar is

applied to a surface that is exposed to heat, there will be a fine line between

caramelization, which involves only sugars, and the formation of Maillard

products. If the surface contains proteins or amino acids, both caramelization

and Maillard products will be observed. This will also be the case for the

yeast buns. Another example is glazed meat, such as ham, in which the sugar

reacts with proteins in the meat. Barbecuemarinades and sauces for

basting or brushing can contain a lot of sugar. This encourages quick

browning, but it can be a disadvantage if the meat is cooked at a high

temperature or for a long time. With plenty of sugar present, the Maillard

and caramelization reactions proceed fast but may also go too far, yielding

higher concentrations of the Maillard products and an unpleasant burned

flavor. When grilling with direct heat from hot coals, it is advisable to leave

the sugar out of the marinade and save the sugar-rich sauces for a last minute

brush.

Because both a reducing sugar and protein are required for the Maillard

reaction to occur, the preparations of butterscotch, caramel candy, and

toffee each represent a nearly perfect setup. The making of plain caramel

starts with water and sugar. The water stabilizes the temperature as it

evaporates and cools the syrup. This allows the syrup to be cooked for a

longer period of time without burning. In this process, rich caramel flavors

develop. In the making of butterscotch, caramel candy, and toffee, butter

and/or milk are added to the syrup. This provides the required proteins for

the Maillard reaction to occur alongside the caramelization.

With sugar and protein present, butterscotch is an ideal setup for the

Maillard reaction to occur (Photo: Butterscotch Candy from Bigstock).

In several countries, including Spain, Argentina, and Singapore, it is

common practice to add sugar to coffee beans in the roasting process.

The resulting coffee is known as torrefacto or torrado, not to be confused

with torrefied coffee, which refers to conventionally roasted coffee. Several

explanations exist for why this is done, including the formation of a thin

sugar film to protect the beans from oxidation as well as to compensation for

weight loss from evaporation (in some countries up to 20 percent sugar is

added, and sugar is cheaper than coffee!). Others claim that it is a simple

way of masking the flavor of inferior beans, especially cheap robusta beans.

As the sugar is heated, it caramelizes, and the sugar solution penetrates into

the coffee beans, taking part in the Maillard reaction. Despite the obvious

potential for less-honest coffee roasters, the torrefacto method is used with

success to obtain a special aroma, and it is not uncommon to find a fraction

of torrefacto beans added to conventionally roasted beans. This influences

the resulting flavor, emphasizing toasty, earthy, and musty flavors.

Apart from adding proteins and reducing sugars, there are other ways to

influence the Maillard reaction. Temperature is crucial, and the correlation

between temperature and browning is obvious. In order to obtain sufficient

Maillard products within minutes or hours, a temperature of more than

212°F (100°C) is required. This is easily achieved in processes such as

frying, roasting, grilling, toasting, flambéing, and baking. A typical

temperature range of 230 to 340°F (110–170°C) is often cited as ideal for

the Maillard reaction to proceed in the normal time frame. If the

temperature gets too high, bitter flavors develop, even before the surface

appears burned. If the temperature exceeds the typical range for the Maillard

reaction, it is common to talk about pyrolysis, which can be characterized as

heat-induced decomposition. If uncontrolled, pyrolysis of foods will

typically give rise to burned and bitter flavors. However, the desirable

smoky flavor in barbecue sauces and Scotch whisky comes from the

controlled pyrolysis of wood and peat, respectively.

Even though the temperature is ideal for the Maillard reaction to proceed on

the surface of a steak, for instance, the great challenge is that the interior of

the steak should not exceed 122 to 150°F (50–65°C), depending on

consumer preference. This leaves a relatively narrow window in which the

temperature gradient through the steak is at the desired core temperature and

sufficient Maillard products have been formed on the surface. With the sous

vide (vacuum) cooking technique, this is solved by bringing the whole piece

of meat to the desired core temperature in a temperature-controlled water

bath, followed (or preceded) by a quick browning of the surface, either in a

sizzling hot pan, on a hot grill, over a gas flame or with a blowtorch.

Contrary to popular belief, the Maillard reaction will also occur at lower

temperatures. In vintage Champagne, autolyzed (inactive) yeast and sugars

react to form Maillard products that yield a characteristic flavor profile. This

reaction takes place in the cool chalk cellars of the Champagne district in

France, where the temperature remains constant at 48 to 54°F (9–12°C) year

round. Because of the low temperature, a much longer reaction time is

needed, so the characteristic Maillard-influenced flavor is found only in

aged Champagnes. If the temperature is increased, the reaction will proceed

more quickly. When liquids such as stock or demi-glace are boiled, plenty

Maillard products are formed within hours. Similarly, a roux is cooked not

only to remove the flour taste but also to allow the development of flavors.

To make dark stocks for brown sauces, the meat and bones are roasted prior

to boiling in order to create an even more intense meaty flavor.

The presence of water limits the maximum attainable temperature as it boils

off from the surface of foods, thereby slowing the Maillard reaction.

However, once water has evaporated, for example, in a bread crust or on the

surface of a french fry, the drier surface allows the temperature to exceed

212°F (100°C), which in turn drastically speeds up the Maillard reaction.

Similarly, a piece of toast browns in the outermost layer only. But less water

is not always better. There is an optimum water level required for the

Maillard reaction to proceed. If the food gets too dry, the lack of water will

actually slow down the Maillard reaction as the mobility of the reagents

decreases.

The beautiful browned surface of a traditional Bavarian pretzel is the result

of a seredipitous discovery in 1839 when a German baker by accident used

lye to glaze his pretzels (Photo:Pretzel from Bigstock).

Another way of influencing the Maillard reaction (and perhaps the least

obvious) is by adjusting the pH. The Bavarian pretzel is an extreme example

of how the Maillard reaction can be tweaked, and it seems it was

a serendipitous discovery. On February 11, 1839, the German baker Anton

Nepomuk Pfannenbrenner unintentionally used the lye (sodium hydroxide,

or caustic soda) intended for the cleaning of his baking sheets instead of

sugar water to glaze his pretzels. The customers, who were used to sweeter

pretzels, liked the new taste, and to this day, Bavarian pretzels and even the

ubiquitous pretzel sticks are sprayed with (or immersed in) a 1 to 3 percent

solution of sodium hydroxide before baking. The high pH speeds up a

bottleneck in the Maillard reaction and the result is a delicious savory snack

with a shiny brown finish.

A more common basic ingredient found in most kitchens is baking soda

(sodium bicarbonate). Its most common use is as a leavening agent, which

requires the addition of an acid to function. Since it is a weak base, it can be

used to increase pH and hence the speed of the Maillard reaction. When

making pretzels at home, baking soda can easily be substituted for

sodium hydroxide. Since baking soda is a weaker base, some recommend

using boiling water when immersing the pretzels (as opposed to cold water

when using soda lye). When baking soda is used as a leavening agent in

cookies, a side effect is more rapid browning and a more pronounced nutty

flavor.

Dulce de leche is a popular sauce and caramel candy in Latin America. It is

made by slowly boiling sweetened milk. Baking soda is not a required

ingredient but is often included. The baking soda gives dulce de leche a

darker color and contributes to the flavor by facilitating the Maillard

reaction. Similarly, it is the baking soda that gives persimmon puddings their

dark brown color and rich flavor. The kinds of chemical reactions observed

in Champagne, stocks, and caramel candies belong to the less frequently

encountered examples of Maillard reactions that occur in the interior of

foods. The reason the Maillard reaction primarily occurs on the surface of

foods is of course because of the higher heat and lower water content (from

evaporation) encountered there.

Microwavable pies with browning crusts are challenging to produce because

microwaves primarily interact with water and therefore bring the

temperature only up to the boiling point. This is the reason microwave

cooking in general does not contribute much flavor to dishes and why

microwave ovens are used mainly to reheat food. In order to get a nice

browning of a pie crust in a microwave, pH adjustment is combined with the

addition of reducing sugars and amino acids. Another example of baking

soda use on surfaces is in Chinese and Japanese tempura batters. In

addition to a leavening effect, the baking soda also gives a more rapid

browning.

Baking soda can give a tempura batter extra fluff and lightness, as well a

slightly higher pH for more rapid browning (Photo: Shrimp Tempura With

Chopsticks from Bigstock).

At the beginning of this chapter, I mentioned how a pinch of baking soda

could influence the browning of onions. The browning proceeds faster and

the result is a remarkably sweet flavor with strong caramel notes. The

alkaline baking soda increases (or at least stabilizes) the pH of the onions,

which release acidic compounds when chopped and subjected to heat. More

water is lost than without the soda, and the chopped onions collapse to a

certain degree. If too much baking soda is used, the onions turn mushy and

wet. One possible explanation for this is that the alkalinity facilitates onion

cell-wall destruction, resulting in the rapid release of the intracellular juices.

Interestingly, some recipes recommend adding salt when sautéing onions,

and salt facilitates osmosis which draws water out of the cells. The

evaporation of this water adds to the overall cooking time which may

increase the amount of Maillard products. But more importantly salt will of

course also act as a flavor enhancer.

To simultaneously compare the effect of salt and baking soda, I chopped a

couple of onions, put them in a hot frying pan with some oil, and split the

onions in four equal portions. To three of the portions, a pinch of baking

soda, salt, and a baking soda/salt mixture were added, respectively. The last

portion served as a control. The experiment revealed a significant difference

between the baking soda and salt. With the baking soda, a faster browning

was observed, and the onions came out very sweet, with caramel notes. The

salt had no significant effect on the browning but did enhance the savory

flavor. Also, the onions with salt retained a slight acidity that could not be

detected in the baking soda portion. The onions that were browned with

the baking soda and salt mixture (1:1) had the best flavor, probably due

to the enhanced savory taste from the salt combined with the rich caramel

sweetness.

Investigating the effect of salt and baking soda when sautéing onions. From

top left, clockwise: reference (no salt, no baking soda), baking soda, baking

soda and salt, only salt.

Apart from the effect on the overall speed of the reaction, changing the

cooking conditions also favors other reaction pathways, which in turn result

in different flavors. For instance, in a model study, it was found that the

formation of 2-furaldehyde (almondy, woody, sweet aroma) was favored at a

low pH, whereas furanone (caramel-like aroma) was favored at a higher

pH. The latter fits well with the observations from the onion experiment.

But because of the complexity of the Maillard reaction in real food systems,

there is reason to believe that much remains to be discovered about how pH

affects flavor.

So far, I have discussed how the Maillard can be made to proceed faster, but

sometimes the opposite is desired, especially in industrial-food preparation.

In dehydrated products, such as instant potatoes, milk powder, egg powder,

corn starch, cereals, and fruit, the Maillard reaction causes deterioration of

the food colors and decreases the nutritional value. And ever since

thediscovery of high levels of acrylamide in fried and baked foods in 2002, a

real effort has been made to reduce these levels. In home cooking, a

motivation for slowing down the Maillard reaction could be a desire to

emphasize the intrinsic flavors of the ingredients used.

Table 1 Conditions That Speed Up or Slow Down the Maillard Reaction

Speed up Maillard

reaction

Slow down Maillard

reaction

Protein More Less

Reducing sugar More Less

Temperature Higher Lower

Water Less More

Cooking time Longer Shorter

pH Higher Lower

The conditions that speed up the Maillard reaction can be reversed

to achieve the opposite result (table 1). Using a lower temperature and a

shorter cooking time is so obvious that one would not even think of it as a

way of reducing the amount of browning. When cooking jam, the cooking

time is kept short in order to reduce the decomposition of pectins and the

formation of unwanted Maillard products. Similarly, removal of milk solids

is what allows clarified butter to be heated at higher temperatures than

normal butter. When making ghee (India’s clarified butter), however, these

milk solids are allowed to react for some time before they are removed,

giving ghee its characteristic nutty flavor. The addition of water can help to

lower the temperature and halt the Maillard reaction, which is what happens

when a pan is deglazed with water, stock, or wine. The water stops the

reactions and helps collect the flavor molecules. Excessive browning in

cookies can be avoided by the addition of an acid that lowers the pH.

To conclude, it is fascinating to consider how well the Maillard reaction—in

many cases, without knowledge of the basic science behind it—has been

manipulated by home cooks everywhere. By adjusting simple parameters,

such as sugar, water and protein content, temperature, and pH, the Maillard

reaction can be made to proceed faster or slower and therefore influence the

reaction pathway and the relative concentrations of the resulting flavor

compounds. In an educational setting, this can be used to illustrate basic

chemical reactions. For home cooks, it demonstrates that they may know

more chemistry than they are aware of. And for the scientist, it may serve as

inspiration for further study of the Maillard reaction in gastronomy. But,

most important, in the everyday kitchen, this knowledge can be used by

the creative cook to improve old dishes and invent new ones.

Cooking is the process of preparing food, by the analog skills, often with the

use of heat. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely across the

world, reflecting unique environmental, economic, and cultural traditions.

Cooks themselves also vary widely in skill and training. Cooking can also

occur through chemical reactions without the presence of heat, most notably

as in Ceviche, a traditional South American dish where fish is cooked with

the acids in lemon or lime juice. Sushi also utilizes a similar chemical

reaction between fish and the acidic content of rice glazed with vinegar.

Chicken, pork and bacon-wrapped corn cooked in a barbecue smoker

Preparing food with heat or fire is an activity unique to humans, and some

scientists believe the advent of cooking played an important role in human

evolution.[1] Most anthropologists believe that cooking fires first developed

around 250,000 years ago. The development of agriculture, commerce and

transportation between civilizations in different regions offered cooks many

new ingredients. New inventions and technologies, such as pottery for

holding and boiling water, expanded cooking techniques. Some modern

cooks apply advanced scientific techniques to food preparation

Yeasts are eukaryotic microorganisms classified in the kingdom Fungi, with

1,500species currently described[1] (estimated to be 1% of all fungal species).[2] Yeasts areunicellular, although some species with yeast forms may

become multicellular through the formation of a string of connected budding

cells known as pseudohyphae, or false hyphae, as seen in most molds.[3] Yeast size can vary greatly depending on the species, typically measuring

3–4 µm in diameter, although some yeasts can reach over 40 µm.[4] Most

yeasts reproduce asexually by mitosis, and many do so by an asymmetric

division process called budding.

By fermentation, the yeast species Saccharomyces

cerevisiae converts carbohydratesto carbon dioxide and alcohols – for

thousands of years the carbon dioxide has been used in baking and the

alcohol in alcoholic beverages.[5] It is also a centrally importantmodel

organism in modern cell biology research, and is one of the most thoroughly

researched eukaryotic microorganisms. Researchers have used it to gather

information about the biology of the eukaryotic cell and ultimately human

biology.[6] Other species of yeast, such as Candida albicans,

are opportunistic pathogens and can causeinfections in humans. Yeasts have

recently been used to generate electricity inmicrobial fuel cells,[7] and

produce ethanol for the biofuel industry.

Yeasts do not form a single taxonomic or phylogenetic grouping. The

term yeast is often taken as a synonym for Saccharomyces cerevisiae,[8] but

the phylogenetic diversity of yeasts is shown by their placement in two

separate phyla: the Ascomycotaand the Basidiomycota. The budding yeasts

("true yeasts") are classified in the order Saccharomycetales

USE OF MECULLAR GASTRONOMY IN BAKERY

THE INGREDIENTS OF SCIENTIFIC COOKING

Molecular Gastronomy Ingredients

For the raspberry symphony plate containing raspberry pearls:

800

grams Raspberries to make 450g raspberry coulis

100

grams

Stock Sugar (equal quantities of sugar and water, 100g each and heat

until sugar dissolved)

15 grams Calcium Lactate

3 grams Xanthum gum

For Alginate bath:

50 grams Golden Caster Sugar (Billington's)

8 grams Sodium Alginate

1 l Water

10 drops raspberry flavouring

Additional Ingredients

For the Cherry Foam:

250 ml cherry juice (this can be bought from supermarkets)

2.50 grams hy-foamer

2.50 grams Xanthum gum

5 drops cherry flavouring

For the Mini Raspberry Tarts:

Ready-made mini sweet pastry cases

250 grams Mascarpone cheese

400 grams Raspberries fresh

1 tsp Vanilla Sugar

To assemble the plate:

Edible flowers

Violet flavouring spray

Bee pollen

 

Further Additional Ingredients

For the apple sorbet:

350 ml Apple Juice

1 Lemon juice of

100 grams Golden Caster Sugar (Billington's)

2.50 grams Silk Gel

5 grams Gellan Gum

1 drop green performance food colouring

For the apple tart:

Ready made all butter puff pastry

2 Granny Smith apples

Flour for dusting

1 Free Range Eggs (Happy Eggs) yolk

50 grams Butter unsalted and melted

25 grams Golden Caster Sugar (Billington's)

1 tsp Cinnamon

For the Rhubarb fool with rhubarb caviar:

750 grams Rhubarb Pink

150 grams Golden Caster Sugar (Billington's)

2 tbsp Water

500 ml Double Cream

1 tsp vanilla seed

1 tsp vanilla powder

1.50 tbsp Agar Flakes

3 drops rhubarb flavouring

1 l chilled sunflower oil

 

How to make Molecular Gastronomy

Click on the text to highlight the different stages as you go along, 

or click the button below to enlarge all text

To make the raspberry symphony plate containing raspberry pearls and

Alginate bath : Make a coulis by blitzing the raspberries in a food processer

and then passing through a sieve to remove seeds.

Place the coulis in a pan and add stock syrup, calcium lactate and xanthum

gum. Mix and heat to boiling point, then remove from heat and pass mix

through a sieve into bowl. Place to one side and leave to cool.

Prep the aliginate bath by placing water in pan and heating. Place sugar and

sodium alginate in a separate bowl and place to one side.

Once water is hot, add the sugar mix and whisk until sugar dissolved, then

remove from heat. Finally add raspberry flavouring to this mixture and place

to one side to cool.

Once both mixtures are completely cold (don’t put in fridge though as

mixtures may set), take the raspberry coulis mixture and scoop one tsp of

mixture and carefully place this into the alginate bath. Leave the raspberry

pearls in the alginate bath for 10mins to set. Once set, remove and carefully

rinse them in cold water. These are now ready to eat!

To make the Cherry Foam: Place the cherry juice in a bowl, add Xanthum

gum and hy-foamer and whisk with electric mix, finally add the cherry

flavouring.

To make the Mini Raspberry Tarts: Place mascarpone in a bowl and add

vanilla sugar. Mix until you achieve a smooth mixture.

Place the mascarpone in the bottom of your sweet pastry tart cases and

decorate with lines of fresh raspberries.

To assemble the plate: Place a raspberry tart on the plate and add raspberry

pearls to the side and some fresh raspberries if you have some left over from

tarts. Decorate the plate with a ‘line’ of cherry foam.

Place some colourful edible flowers on the plate and sprinkle with bee

pollen and a spritz of violet flavouring. Finally dust over some icing sugar.

To make the apple sorbet: Place apple juice, lemon juice and silk gel in a

pan and heat.

In bowl blend sugar, gellan gum and add to juice mixture and heat to

boiling. Once boiling, remove from heat and leave to cool slightly before

adding food colouring.

Blend the mixture and allow to cool to below 39°C. Once below this temp,

place in ice cream maker and churn to produce sorbet. This will take around

25mins.

To make the apple tart: Preheat oven to 200°C. Roll your pastry out thinly

and using a 10cm cutter or a small plate, cut out a disc which will form your

tart base

Brush the edge of the pastry disc with beaten egg yolk and brush the centre

of the pastry with melted butter.

Peel and core the apples and slice thinly. Cover the pastry base with

overlapping slices of apple, leaving a 0.5cm border around the edge.

Sprinkle the top of the tart with sugar and dust with cinnamon.

Place the tart on a piece of silicone paper and place the paper directly on the

oven shelf – this will ensure the pastry cooks evenly and the tart is crisp.

Cook for 12-15 mins or until the apple is starting to colour and the pastry is

golden.

To serve, place a scoop of sorbet on top of the tart, using your favourite

spirit – brandy or calvados works well - serve flaming to impress your

guests.

To make the rhubarb fool with rhubarb caviar: Place your sunflower oil in a

jug and put into the fridge to chill.

Cut your rhubarb into even size pieces, about 1.5cm in length. Mix with

caster sugar and tbsp water and stew over gentle heat until beautiful pink

rhubarb juices have been released and rhubarb is very soft, almost like a

puree. Strain the rhubarb in a sieve and reserve the juice. Set both aside to

cool.

Whisk the vanilla powder and seed into the cream and place in a bowl, beat

to soft peak stage and chill.

Take 200ml of your reserved rhubarb juice and place in a pan with agar

flakes, heat gently to melt the flakes, this will take around 3-4mins.

Once flakes dissolved, remove from the heat and add the rhubarb flavouring.

Leave to chill for 10 minutes. Remove the chilled oil from the fridge. Take a

syringe and fill it with the rhubarb juice and agar mixture. Hold the syringe

about 6 inches above the jug of oil and drop the rhubarb mixture in so it falls

into the oil and creates tiny pearls. Leave in the oil for a couple of minutes,

then remove and gently rinse under cold water. These are now ready to

serve.

To assemble the fool, take some shot glasses and place 3-4 tsp of stewed

rhubarb in the bottom of the shot glass. Top with the vanilla cream and to

finish, decorate the top with some rhubarb pearls.

Though many disparate examples of the scientific investigation of cooking

exist throughout history, the creation of the discipline of molecular

gastronomy was intended to bring together what had previously been

fragmented and isolated investigation into the chemical and physical

processes of cooking into an organized discipline within food science to

address what the other disciplines within food science either do not cover, or

cover in a manner intended for scientists rather than cooks. These mere

investigations into the scientific process of cooking have unintentionally

evolved into a revolutionary practice that is now prominent in today's

culinary world.

The term "Molecular and Physical Gastronomy" was coined in 1992 by

Hungarian physicist Nicholas Kurti and French physical chemist Hervé This.

It became the title for a set of workshops held in Erice, Italy (originally titled

"Science and Gastronomy") that brought together scientists and professional

cooks for discussions on the science behind traditional cooking preparations.

Eventually, the shortened term "Molecular Gastronomy" also became the

name of the scientific discipline co-created by Kurti and This to be based on

exploring the science behind traditional cooking methods.[5][9][10]

This had been the co-directors of the "Molecular and Physical Gastronomy"

meetings in Erice, along with the American food science writerHarold

McGee, and had considered the creation of a formal discipline around the

subjects discussed in the meetings. University of Oxford physicist Nicholas

Kurti was an enthusiastic advocate of applying scientific knowledge to

culinary problems. He was one of the first television cooks in the UK,

hosting a black and white television show in 1969 entitled "The Physicist in

the Kitchen" where he demonstrated techniques such as using a syringe to

inject hot mince pies with brandy in order to avoid disturbing the crust.[11] That same year, he held a presentation for the Royal Society of

London (also entitled "The Physicist in the Kitchen") in which he is often

quoted to have stated:

During the presentation Kurti demonstrated making meringue in a vacuum

chamber, the cooking of sausages by connecting them across a car battery,

the digestion of protein by fresh pineapple juice, and a reverse baked

alaska - hot inside, cold outside - cooked in a microwave oven. Kurti was

also an advocate of low temperature cooking, repeating 18th century

experiments by the English scientist Benjamin Thompson by leaving a 2 kg

lamb joint in an oven at 80 °C (176 °F). After 8.5 hours, both the inside and

outside temperature of the lamb joint were around 75 °C (167 °F), and the

meat was tender and juicy. Together with his wife, Giana Kurti, Nicholas

Kurti edited an anthology on food and science by fellows and foreign

members of the Royal Society.

Hervé This started collecting "culinary precisions" (old kitchen wives' tales

and cooking tricks) in the early 1980s and started testing these precisions to

see which ones held up; his collection now numbers some 25,000. He also

has received a PhD in Physical Chemistry of Materials for which he wrote

his thesis on molecular and physical gastronomy, served as an adviser to the

French minister of education, lectured internationally, and was invited to

join the lab of Nobel Prize winning molecular chemist Jean-Marie Lehn.[14]

[15] This has published several books in French, four of which have been

translated into English, including Molecular Gastronomy: Exploring the

Science of Flavor, Kitchen Mysteries: Revealing the Science of

Cooking, Cooking: The Quintessential Art, and Building a Meal: From

Molecular Gastronomy to Culinary Constructivism. He currently publishes a

series of essays in French and hosts free monthly seminars on molecular

gastronomy at the INRA in France. He gives free and public seminars on

molecular gastronomy any month, and once a year, he gives a public and

free course on molecular gastronomy. Hervé also authors a website and a

pair of blogs on the subject in French and publishes monthly collaborations

with French chef Pierre Gagnaire on Gagnaire's website.[16][17][18]

Though she is rarely credited, the origins of the Erice workshops (originally

entitled "Science and Gastronomy") can be traced back to the cooking

teacher Elizabeth Cawdry Thomas who studied at Le Cordon Bleu in

London and ran a cooking school in Berkeley, CA. The one-time wife of

aphysicist, Thomas had many friends in the scientific community and an

interest in the science of cooking. In 1988 while attending a meeting at the

Ettore Majorana Center for Scientific Culture in Erice, Thomas had a

conversation with Professor Ugo Valdrè of the University of Bologna who

agreed with her that the science of cooking was an undervalued subject and

encouraged her to organize a workshop at the Ettore Majorana Center.

Thomas eventually approached the director of the Ettore Majorana center,

physicist Antonino Zichichi who liked the idea. Thomas and Valdrè

approached Kurti to be the director of the workshop. By Kurti's invitation,

noted food science writer Harold McGee and French Physical ChemistHervé

This became the co-organizers of the workshops, though McGee stepped

down after the first meeting in 1992.

Up until 2001, The International Workshop on Molecular Gastronomy "N.

Kurti" (IWMG) was named the "International Workshops of Molecular and

Physical Gastronomy" (IWMPG). The first meeting was held in 1992 and

the meetings have continued every few years thereafter until the most recent

in 2004. Each meeting encompassed an overall theme broken down into

multiple sessions over the course of a few days

.

CONCLUSION

Molecular gastronomy is a new gourmet direction connecting the catering

kitchen and laboratory, and thus creates new flavors, forms of

unprecedented. It can be, of course, understood as a process of application of

science in everyday cooking. Methods and means for obtaining the final

products in the molecular gastronomy request the knowledge of the chemical

and physical processes. Of course, the introduction of molecular gastronomy

requests, too, and some modifications in the approach to guests, number of

courses of which every dish is extremely small - the art on a plate, losing the

concept of menus and menu, while the duration of a meal takes several times

longer. Certainly, this approach also affects the habits of the people towards

healthy eating, where it is no longer considered to be a meal consumed in a

shorter time, but the opposite, and making sure the food is consumed, and

thus affects the reduction of today's problems related to overweight-obese

population. Modern molecular gastronomy shows the tendency toward

further progress and popularization, but a noticeable impact on the so-called

''Molecular mixology'', and molecular approach to the preparation of

cocktails, where just as in the case of food, it is changing the physical state

of food and it is searching the limits of each food. The future is

unpredictable, and in which direction to go to molecular gastronomy remains

to be seen. Ivanovic, Slobodan, Kresimir Mikinac, and Luka Perman. 2011.

Taste, nutrition, medicine, food, chemistry, gastronomy and molecular

gastronomy all intermingle. They are part of a science of many sciences

enrolled in the act of eating. They represent human history and evolution!

Therefore, it’s extremely difficult to separate them from this intricate web,

into science or art erhaps, they shall be the two! Somehow, similar to

health and disease, which are also two complete opposing words, although

almost paradoxically similar as they are side by side in the reality of life. So

should be taste, medicine, nutrition and molecular gastronomy

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