Mix mix, swirl, mix

Good day dear readers, the topic of discussion today will be mixing as the title suggests. However, it isn't your ordinary form of mixing but rather applying a scientific method to mixing your beverages! Yes, that's right molecular mixology deals with finding different ways in order to create new flavours, textures, unique presentations and can enhance the overall drinking experience. This is why bartenders and mixologists are able to create various numbers of cocktails and make the drinking experience all the more enjoyable. The creativity which one can make use of is near unlimited as there have been cocktails with cigars, cocktails that resemble lava lamps and various other forms which are tantalizing to the eye.

This form of molecular gastronomy was first created by Ferran Adria, Heston Blumenthal and Grant Atchatz but the trend was adopted by many other molecular gastronomy chefs in today's world. Chef Ferran Adria created the spherification process which allows spherical gels to be created which can be added to caviar, champagne and margaritas and other traditional cocktails to make the drink stand out.

Some interesting examples which make use of molecular mixology are jell-o-shots, cocktail marshmallows, cocktail ice pops, cocktail gums, frozen nitro cocktails, suspending solid elements in liquid in order for superb visual presentation, serving cocktails in hollowed food and vegetables, foams and air bubbles, layered cocktails, and even cotton candy. Molecular mixology today, is mostly looking at the physical properties of the drink and finding ways to work with it using vaporization, the appropriate glass, making foams, gels and mists.

References:
Images from:
http://www.slashfood.com/2010/05/28/molecular-mixology-lenell-it-all/
http://runninginheels.co.uk/articles/molecular-cocktails/

Molecular Mixology. (n.d.). Retrieved from Molecular Recipes.com: http://www.molecularrecipes.com/molecular-mixology/molecular-mixology/

O'Neil, D. (2010, December). Introduction to Molecular Mixology. Retrieved from Art of Drink: http://www.artofdrink.com/archive/research/introduction-to-molecular-mixology/

Vapor and its various uses

In order to complement dishes which we have made, we can disperse aroma in the atmosphere. This technique has been used by various well-known chefs all around the world in order to make their food taste better. This is because some believe that most of what we taste when we consume our food is actually the aroma itself. Molecular Gastronomy chefs make use of smoking, vaporization, direct burning of an element such as rosemary or a cinnamon stick using either a simple atomizer or dry ice "vapor".

Using this particular technique, chefs add a mixture of desired oils or aromatic ingredients over dry ice in a container at the table. Since dry ice is merely carbon dioxide, when we heat the ice, it will evaporate back into its gaseous form and then disperse the aroma contained within it on the food itself.

Some examples of the use of this interesting technique is in Heston's Flaming Sorbet where the waiter pours a mixture of oak moss essential oil, hot water, and alcohol which carries the aroma of damp wood to complement the dish itself.

Vaporization on the other hand, is much simpler and uses a simple vaporizer which is an appliance used by many molecular gastronomy chefs in order to bring out the desired aroma. However, vaporizers may also be used to infuse flavour into liquids and not just solid food itself and filling bubbles with aroma as well thus, making it a very handy appliance for any creative chef!

Images from:
http://www.molecularrecipes.com/molecular-gastronomy/vaporization-flavoring-food-pure-aromatic-vapor/
http://www.vaporizersftw.com/why-a-vaporizer-and-vaporizer-reviews-are-important/

References:

Dispersing Aromas with Dry Ice Vapor. (n.d.). Retrieved from Molecular Recipes: http://www.molecularrecipes.com/techniques/dispersing-aromas-dry-ice-vapor/

Vaporization: Flavoring Food with Pure Aromatic Flavor. (n.d.). Retrieved from Molecular Recipes: http://www.molecularrecipes.com/molecular-gastronomy/vaporization-flavoring-food-pure-aromatic-vapor/

Meat... and the science behind it

Hello dear readers! Welcome to another entry on Food Tech and this time around we will be talking about one of our favourite and most popular food sources, meat! Meat is one of the main components of our daily diet (excluding vegetarians of course) and hundreds of dishes all around the world are based around it as the main star of a dish or a supporting ingredient for another dish. However, most people don't really know what it really is. Meat is mostly the muscle tissue of an animal which is made up of mostly water, protein, fat, carbohydrates and assorted proteins.

When an animal is slaughtered, blood circulation will stop and the muscles will use up the oxygen supply of the animal's body. After death, it is imperative not to freeze the animal's carcass immediately as it will bunch up all the proteins together making the meat itself tough. However, if one allows the carcass to age a little, it will allow the enzymes in the muscle cells to break down the overlapping proteins to make the meat tender.

The muscles of the animal are made up of actysin and myosin which are fibres. For example, when cooking a steak we need to look at the tissues at certain temperatures. Between 130 - 155 F, the myosin fibre within the steak will begin to unfold itself. Thea Actin however, has not begun to unfold just yet making this a rare medium steak. If a steak is cooked, some of the protein in it is denatured or has unfolded itself which makes it less chewy or contains less texture. If the steak is cooked till it is well done, some people will complain that it is too dry and tough which suggests that it has reached the stage where almost all of the protein has been denatured in the cooking process and become insoluble which makes it unable to retain its moisture. Therefore, achieving a state whereby some of the protein is denatured is more suitable as compared to having it being completely denatured. So remember, dear readers, never overcook your steak!

References:
Images from:
 http://foodsafety-ta03grp2.blogspot.com/2011/03/think-that-medium-rare-steak-is-nice-it.html
http://foodslashscience.blogspot.com/2010/11/cooking-meat-thermodynamics-and.html

Priest, C. (2010, November 3). Cooking Meat: Thermodynamics and Biochemistry. Retrieved from Food/Science Better cooking through chemistry (and biology, and physics...): http://foodslashscience.blogspot.com/2010/11/cooking-meat-thermodynamics-and.html

Science of Meat. (n.d.). Retrieved from The Accidental Food Scientist: Science of Cooking: http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/meat/kitchenlab.html

Food Science Mysteries!

Dear Fellow Readers, Check out this video relating to food science which shows a nifty creative way of cooking! Enjoy!

Eggs, eggs, eggs

Hello fellow readers and welcome to another entry of Food Science where I, your host, shall be accompanying you on a tour of several interesting new ideas which you can incorporate into your cooking (including some recipes which I have found). One of such things involves one of  our most simplest ingredients, namely eggs. Yes, eggs. Almost nothing can go wrong with cooking an egg, however, for those who find the task of merely boiling or frying an egg you could step outside that comfort zone and try something a little more interesting. One of such things being firstly, the technique of preparing the egg. In order to cook, one must first learn how to prepare the ingredients necessary for a dish. Eggs are well known for having high amounts of protein and thus, the proteins contained within them will change when you beat them, heat them or mix them with other ingredients such as onions and pepper.

One must first take note that when heating the egg, the egg-white proteins are being agitated and tend to bounce around. The movement itself causes the proteins to loosen allowing the proteins to bond with new chemical forms. However, if heated at high temperatures for too long, the egg will become rubbery because too many new chemical bonds are being formed thus, not making it as appetizing.

Another thing to note while preparing eggs is the beating process. While beating the eggs, we are actually causing air bubbles to form in the egg-white and causes the same reaction in loosening the proteins as when you heat them. When these air bubbles are against the egg-white proteins the proteins uncurl so that the its parts which require water can be immersed in water itself and those parts which require air is able to stick to the air instead. The proteins will then uncurl, bonding with each other and trapping the air bubbles. When the egg is then heated, the structure of the egg will not collapse when the bubbles burst.

Lastly, we come full circle to mixing eggs. Some ingredients may be harder to mix than others, but as with most recipes, oil and water-based liquids are required to be mixed and stuck together. How to overcome this barrier? It is the egg-yolk itself which will aid in the mixing of the liquids. This is because egg yolks contain plenty of emulsifiers as they have some amino acids which repel water and some amino acids which attract it.

Now dear readers, without further ado here is one such recipe one can try at home. Enjoy!

Flan also known as creme caramel.

References:

Beating Egg Whites. (n.d.). Retrieved from Good Housekeeping: http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/recipes/cooking-tips/beating-egg-whites#slide-1

Debbie. Eggs brioche.

Flan Recipe. (n.d.). Retrieved from The Accidental Scientist: Food Science: http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/eggs/recipe-flan.html

Low, B. Y. Flan (Caramel Custard). California.

Patricia. (2009, November 10). ButterYum: Baby Chocolates. Retrieved from ButterYum: http://butteryum.blogspot.com/2009/11/baby-chocolate-oblivions-wow.html

Science of Eggs: Egg Science. (n.d.). Retrieved from The Accidental Scientist: Science of Cooking: http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/eggs/eggscience.html

Stratley, L. (n.d.). Eggs - How to Cook Eggs. Retrieved from What's Cooking America: http://whatscookingamerica.net/eggs.htm

Food Science: A History

Hello fellow food enthusiasts! As the name of my blog implies, the main topic which shall be discussed about in this and further posts will be regarding Food Science which is essentially including basic science, "soft" science, the culinary arts and techniques, gastronomy, agronomics, economics. microbiology and engineering. The main aim of food science is to turn regular, traditional forms of cooking into somewhat of a specialty product that renders them safe to consume, delicious, readily available and convenient. Food Science was considered an oddity back in the day when it had first started as it involves various disciplines of science and puts what you have learnt into a more practical use.

From the 1900s to our present time, it has provided some parts of the world with food that are safe, relatively cheap and very high in terms of supply. From the years 1900 to 1929, food was an important factor during the World War 1 and the United States of America had been conducting research on developing its food systems which brought up three major problems: preserving of food during the various seasons, dealing with concerns regarding economic problems, building an agronomic system which could provide food supply to various countries including the United States herself.

The years 1925 to 1945 brought about a new age of innovation in the food industry. The Second World War and the Great Depression made the citizens of America want more than what they had which led to fat-reduced food which created a variety of new recipes such as meatloafs and new forms of baking cake. Food during this period was scarce and had to be rationed thereby, leading to substitute ingredients to make up for the change during this period of time.

Then there was the inclusion of convenience and new forms of products during the years 1945 to 1965 when people wanted new products and there was a greater emphasis on food quality which led to technology having to keep up in order to match what people wanted during that time period. Food scientists suddenly, shot up  in demand especially those dealing in nutrition.

The years 1965 to 1980 saw many changes in the demand for nutrition and food safety as people started to look for ways to understand how they would play a part in the food sector. Government agencies then tried to control food quality and content to a higher level. The White House Conference in December 1969 paved the way for good food for its people and changing the emphasis on nutrition which led to nutrition labelling, a change in standard, and a new presumption on what good food was all about.

From 1980 to the year 2000, food preference started to branch out internationally and imported food became increasingly popular as people demanded seasonal food all year around. Buying fresher forms of food became rampant and the food sector made use of new technology to create more forms of safe and fresh food. Food Science included two new concepts which were: biotechnology and nutraceuticals.

In the present day, consumer demand has changed drastically which led to various forms of new products being introduced to the market. As greater understanding between food choices and health continue to emerge, people will change their eating patterns in order to lead longer and healthier lives.

References:

1. Force, Research Report Task. "A Century of Food Science." IFT's 50th Anniversary Issue, 1989: 2-4.

2. Galt, Alex. 10 Stubborn Food Myths That Just Won’t Die, Debunked by Science.

3. Voelker, Rebecaa. "FDA tries to catch up on food safety." The Journal of American Media Association. May 12, 2010. http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/303/18/1797.extract (accessed April 19, 2012).

Welcome!

Hello fellow readers! I am the proud owner of this blog who aspires to further enhance myself in the area of food science. The inspiration for creating this particular blog came from the tender age of eight, when I was first brought into the kitchen by my mother who showed me creative and unusual ways of cooking! As such, I have been an enthusiast of food science which mainly uses various unusual but effective techniques to produce fine quality dishes.

 Every week I shall be posting regular topics regarding some cooking tips along with interesting scientific information regarding our food sources and maybe even videos which may serve to inspire you, my fellow readers, to apply in your everyday cooking as well! Now without further ado, let us continue on this adventure into the most unsual but enjoyable aspect of science!


This blog is solely for the purpose of my Web Communications 101 Class