I miss my lab.
For years, I had a 10,000 square foot facility just for my own studies. Sure, there were other labs at my disposal, but this one was mine. To do with what I wanted. (OK. My clients would often want me to use the lab for their benefit, but it was still mine and for my ideas.)
Now, my only lab is my kitchen. And I cook as if I am a chemist, working in a lab. More and more folks are seeing that a scientific approach to kitchen cooking makes sense. After all, foods are simply mixtures of different chemical compounds.
Yes, heating, freezing, mixing, blending are all unit operations of chemical engineering. All we do when we cook is to effect physical and chemical processes to transform ingredients into a finished product.
Consider these facts. Browning meat? That’s just the Maillard reaction. (That is the reaction between amino acids [proteins] and reducing sugars.) Or, how many folks (wrongly) told you to never press down on your burger while cooking it? (Sorry, Charlie- pressing down on the burger augments the surface area in contact with the hot metal, thereby increasing the flavor of the patty. ) Or, this idea? Stop boiling water and then adding pasta and cooking it for 10 minutes. Nope. Not I. I pour hot water (from my electric tea kettle) over the pasta, add a dollop of salt (to stop the pasta from sticking to each other) and then bring the water to boil plus 1 minute.
After all, isn’t science simply a process of wondering why the heck we do what we do? Doesn’t that make us all better cooks? Figuring out how to do what we do better, to augment the flavors we present to our guests?
Decades ago, folks would argue with me that cooking isn’t science. But, go to any high end restaurant nowadays and you will hear about the science of bearnaise sauce, the souffle, chocolate mouse, custard- and a slew of other dishes. Molecular gastronomy is now the ‘in’ thinking.
I’m sure the guests I entertain each week are glad that I use science to prepare our dinners.
Ah a blog right up my alley, or should I say kitchen! I’m glad it’s okay to smash the burgers when cooking because I’ve always done it that way. Definitely going to change the way I cook pasta!
Glad to share a suggestion, Martha!
Is that an invitation? If only you lived closer! I’m always interested in kitchen science. Shabbat shalom.
Holly recently posted..Culmination of the Quest (Part One)
Always invited, Holly. Just give me at least an hours notice!
definitely cooking is a science and an art 🙂
vidya recently posted..On Keeping a Notebook
You got it right, Vidya!
I love this! Have you read WHAT EINSTEIN TOLD HIS COOK? It’s a book exploring some of the science of cooking. 🙂
Marian Allen recently posted..Sunday Snapshot – Streaking Snow
No, but I will check it out at the library right away. Thanks for the suggestion, Marian!
When I went to Bronx Science, I took a ‘science of cooking’ course and loved it. You can teach your young children elementary math, while they cook with you.
Alana recently posted..The Blurry Metro Mantra Goodbye #MusicMovesMe
Love the idea of teaching math and science simultaneously, Alana!
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