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Molecular Gastronomy

1. Molecular gastronomy is an art science of cooking that investigate the physical and chemistry transformations of ingredients’ taste and textures that occur in cooking.  It was coined in 1988 by late Oxford physicist Nicholas Kurti and the French INRA chemist Herve This. But the term molecular gastoronmy was born in 1992 when an English teacher of cookery, Elizabeth Cawdry Thomas, proposed a workshop in which professional cooks for discussions about the science behind traditional cooking preparations. This first workshop of what ended up being a series of events until 2004 was called “Workshp on Molecular and Physical Gastronomy”.

- The focus of the workshops each year were as follows:

*1992- First meeting.

*1995- Sauces, or dishes made from them.

*1997- Heat in cooking.

*1999- Food flavours- how to get them, how to distribute them, how to keep them.

*2001- Textures of Food: How to create them?

*2004- Interactions of food and liquids.

2. Some of the modern chefs don’t like the way that molecular gastronomy ot express or present their  food but prefer” modern cuisine”, “modernist cuisine”, “experimental cuisine” or “avant-garde cuisine”. Molecular gastronomy research starts in the kitchen where chefs study how food tastes and behaves under different temperatures, pressures and other scientific conditions.

3. Molecular gastronomy experiments have resulted in new innovative dishes like hot gelatins, airs, faux caviar, spherical ravioli, crab ice cream and olive oil spiral. 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. 

4. The name of the Molecular gastronomy was used to designate the application of techniques developed in the physical sciences to investigate life processes and to study the structures, functions, and genesis of biological molecules. And we can use it to:

1) understand culinary phenomena

2) collect and test culinary old wives’ tales

3)  invent new dishes based on these phenomena and old wives’ tales

4) introduce into the kitchen “new” tools, ingredients, and methods

5) use all of this to demonstrate to a large audience how wonderful science is

- It’s an important process that human can explore foods in the new ways, and as a style of cooking. 

5. These equipments  help you with the molecular gastronomy processes:

Molecular siphon set Molecul-r

Rapid Caviar Maker

- Here have some videos can show how to make molecular gastronomy:

Powdered Ice Cream inside Candy Strawberry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X11GbEwxDQc

Mojito Molecular Gastronomy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X11GbEwxDQc

- This is a simple recipe for making molecular gastronomy:

Vegan Scallops with Carrot Ginger Caviar

Ingredients:

2 large carrots, peeled and chopped

1-inch long piece of ginger, peeled and chopped

1 1/2 cup cold water

2 cups cold water

1/2 tsp sodium alginate

1/2 tsp calcium chloride

Methods:

a. Puree carrots and ginger in a blender. Add enough water to puree, so that the mixture equal 1 cup. Blend a second time and strain out pulp. Place mixture into refrigerator for one hour. Then slowly whisk sodium alginate into mixture.

b. Pour into squeeze bottle. Pour 2 cups of water into shallow bowl and add calcium chloride to it. Using the squeeze bottle, let droplets of mixture fall from the bottle, one at a time, into the water. The caviar spheres will form on contact with the water. After you are done making the caviar, strain the caviar and dry them on paper towels.

I am very interested in these processes of making art of food, even it’s different with food science, it more about analyzing the chemical makeup of food and developing methods of the process food on an industrial scale. Create foods in different ways and different textures or looks, giving people new ideas and surprises, that’s another fun for a chef. Chefs are the most talented people in the world and the world is created by chefs. I really want to learn about it. Want to explore another world of food:)

Also this cooking method is becoming popular now, people love to try something new, so it’s a good opportunity to show. 

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7-day Vegan Diet

In the past one week, I tried a vegan diet which is a totally animal-free diet.

Basically, my diet was basing on vegetables, grains, fruits and legumes. The reason why I chose this diet is because vegan diet has many benefits which decrease the risks of obesity, cancer, high blood pressure and so on. Nowadays, people are taking more care personal health, starting to calculate the calories, or selective food with purposes.

I have done some researches on how should I take this vegan diet, on my research, it advises eat at least 5 portions of a variety of fruits and vegetables every day; base meals on potatoes, bread, rice, pasta or other starchy carbohydrates; have some dairy alternatives like soya drinks and yoghurts; choose unsaturated oils and spreads with a small amount; and drink plenty of fluids.

Here are my daily menus:

Breakfast:

2 pcs toasted brown breads

Green apple quinoa salad

Orange juice

Lunch:

Spanish pasta

Greek-style Baby tomatoes

Dinner:

Vegetables soup

Chinese-style spicy tofu

 One of my favorite meal and I strongly recommend and want to share is the green apple quinoa salad, here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

3 cups cooked quinoa

1/4 red onions, diced

1/4 yellow bell pepper, diced

1/2 green apple, sliced

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup vinaigrette

Methods:

1.     Place quinoa, onions, bell pepper in a big bowl, mix well with vinaigrette.

2.     Place the green apple slices on top of it.

3.     Garnish with the cranberries.

 My daily log documenting:

First day- Felt hungry all the time than usual, need to take extra snacks, like nuts or energy bars. I wanted to have some meat but I did not.

Second day- Always felt hungry, ate a banana and a coffee.

Third day- Still felt hungry, but better than before. My body start to get use this mode.

Fourth day- Felt hungry at 4:30pm, ate an energy bar.

Fifth day- Did not feel hungry all day, so happy with it. And did not take any extra food.

Sixty day- Totally got use to this vegan diet, and enjoyed, my weight was loss a little bit.

Seventh day- Started love this diet, woke up with comfortable conditions.

 In the past seven days, I was so enjoyable, and it’s an amazing experience I never have before.

Although I wanted to have meat so bad, but I still finished my goals. But I must say that is very hard for me because I am meat person, I love meat, and I was taking some courses which are consuming a lot of energy of me. It may be hard at the beginning, I have to took extra food to keep myself stay away from the meat. I love it, it helps me maintain my weight, even loss some. I would try this vegan diet again and again, it’s so good, good for our health and decrease the risks. People in this century should take care about ourselves more. Let’s try this diet~

  References:

http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Vegetarianhealth/Pages/Vegandiets.aspx

http://www.primaverakitchen.com/cranberry-apple-quinoa-salad/

https://www.dietitians.ca/Your-Health/Nutrition-A-Z/Vegetarian-Diets/Eating-Guidelines-for-Vegans.aspx

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       The butcher shop I went to is called Wholefoods Market. They butcher fish, poultry, pork, beef and lamp here. The name of the cut that I chose call Pasture Raised Beef Shank, so it’s beef shank. For shank, the best way moist heat cooking method; and as the butcher recommendations, slow cook or braise are the good ways to cook with it. 

       So I went to school library and found the book cal “Good Meat” and it’s written by Deborah Krasner. It’s a guide to sourcing and cooking.

      For shank, i would love to braise them. 

      1 1/2 pound beef shanks

      1 teaspoon olive oil

      2 onions, cut into wedges

      1 tomato, chopped

      4 cloves garlic

      1 teaspoon Yemeni spice

      1 small chile such as jalapeflo, halved and seeded

      salt and pepper

      3 or 4 pieces of flatbread, torn into smaller pieces

      1. Turn on the oven and set the temperature to 275 degree.

       2. Bring the shanks to room temperature and blot them with a paper towel.

       3. Use a braising pot, heat the olive oil over low heat until it is thinned and fragrant. Brown the shanks on all sides, move them to the plate, pour off the fat, and wipe out the pot.

      4. Put the shanks back into the pot and fill it with cold water to cover the meat. Bring the water slowly to a boil, and skim off any residue that forms in the first 15mins of slow-boiling. When the liquid is clear, add the onions, tomato, garlic, the spice blend, jalapeno, and salt and pepper to taste. 

     5. Transfer to the pot to the over to simmer for 4 hours, or until the meat is completely tender. Remove the meat from the pot, and if the sauce is thin, deduce it on top of the stove, uncovered, until it thickens

     6. Serve on top of flatbread to sop up the gravy.

     For the shanks, I would like to charge $10.99/serving. 

     There is no need for any special cooking methods, this is simple and everyone can do it by themselves. Also, this shanks are good for those fast- paced restaurants. The chefs could prepare them earlier, like morning or the day before, and keep it warm. When customers come, serve.