TV chefs the world over tantalise us with perfect-looking dishes, while their books adorn homes from Bangalore to Bethesda. But for all their flash and dash, what do they know about the physics, chemistry and biology of cooking?
Not enough, says Herv茅 This. With a lot more science, he reckons, these celeb chefs might develop the new techniques, methods 鈥� even ingredients 鈥� that will keep the art of cooking alive.
Who is This? He鈥檚 the man who, with Oxford physicist and cooking fan Nicholas Kurti, coined the term 鈥渕olecular gastronomy鈥�. He鈥檚 the only person in the world with a PhD in the field.
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And molecular gastronomy? That鈥檚 the application of physics, chemistry and biology to all things culinary. In short: the science of cooking as opposed to the science of food. That makes it good for inspiring novelty and great at exploding myths.
Try this. Traditional wisdom says green vegetables should be cooked in boiling salted water to keep their colour, speed up the cooking time and prevent sogginess. Science says the opposite: adding salt has no effect on the colour of the vegetables as colour is determined by the pH of the water, and it doesn鈥檛 increase the boiling point significantly or prevent sogginess 鈥� unless the salt concentration is unappetisingly high. Time to lose the salt.
In a paper published this year in Angewandte Chemie (vol 41, p 83) This has plenty of great tips. Suppose you forget the wild mushrooms for a supper dish. It helps if you know that the right amount of 1-octen-3-ol or benzyl trans-2-methylbutenoate produce a wonderful mushroom or 鈥渇orest鈥� taste. And if you can鈥檛 afford a good whisky, buy a cheap brand and add vanillin solution to create the right 鈥渞oundness鈥�.
This鈥檚 paper also has some fabulous new recipes that only science could have created. One that sounds particularly delicious is for a cake/dessert which he calls 鈥渃hocolate dispersion鈥�. The ingredients are flavoured water, gelatin and chocolate 鈥� and the novelty lies in modifying the principles behind making mayonnaise. Instead of trapping an emulsion in a gel that has been formed physically, try forming it chemically. (For the recipe see: www.newscientist.com/flat/pages/2370_theword.jsp)
Science that tastes so good must have something going for it. Heston Blumenthal certainly thinks so. He is the chef-proprietor of one of Britain鈥檚 top restaurants, and in his new book, Family Food, published next week, he says he has based some of the recipes on This鈥檚 work.
And there鈥檚 also a busy research group run by physicist Peter Barham at Bristol University.
So what鈥檚 next? One way to find out is to head for the 2003 International Workshop on Molecular Gastronomy at the Ettore Majorana Centre in Erice, Sicily, at the beginning of May. Who knows what gorgeous creations science will cook up for you?