The scientific discipline concerned with the physical and chemical transformations that occur during cooking. The name is sometimes mistakenly given to the application of scientific knowledge to the creation of new dishes and culinary techniques.

 HISTORY OF MOLECULAR GASTRONOMY

The scientific discipline—which was introduced under the name molecular and physical gastronomy and later shortened to molecular gastronomy—was established in 1988 by Hervé This, a physical chemist, and Nicholas Kurti, a former professor of physics at the University of Oxford

Molecular gastronomy, on the other hand, focuses on the mechanisms of transformation that occur during culinary processes at the level of domestic and restaurant cooking, an area that had historically tended to rely heavily on tradition and anecdotal information. Molecular gastronomy seeks to generate new knowledge on the basis of the chemistry and physics behind culinary processes—for example, why mayonnaise becomes firm or why a soufflé swells. One side goal is to develop new ways of cooking that are rooted in science. These techniques are called molecular cooking, whereas the new culinary style based on such techniques is called molecular cuisine.

Beginning in 1988, research teams were established in the field of molecular gastronomy at universities in several countries—including France, the NetherlandsIrelandDenmarkItalySpain, and the United States—and the number of such nations continued to increase, reaching more than 30 in the early 21st century. New research laboratories were being created often for scientific research or for university education.

Molecular gastronomy developed very quickly after its creation in 1988, but about 1999 it was determined that different names had to be applied to distinguish the scientific activity on the one hand from the culinary enterprise on the other. The name molecular cooking (and its variations molecular cookery) was introduced to refer to the kind of technologically oriented way of cooking that was developed by some of the world’s top chefs. Proposed just before 2000, this new terminology gained momentum, and by 2010 it was established that the term molecular gastronomy should only be used to designate the scientific discipline that investigates the mechanisms of phenomena that occur during culinary transformation, whereas the term molecular cooking and its variations should be used to describe the culinary trend in which chefs use “new” tools, ingredients, and methods developed through research in molecular gastronomy. Molecular cuisine is used for designating a culinary style using the new techniques.

Tools such as laboratory filters (for clarification), decanting bulbs (used in skimming stocks), vacuum evaporators (for making extracts), siphons (for producing foams), and ultrasonic probes (for emulsions) were not new in chemistry laboratories. Gelling agents such as carrageenan, sodium alginate, and agar were certainly not entirely new in the food industry. Liquid nitrogen (used to make sherbets and to flash freeze almost anything) had been proposed for use in the kitchen as early as 1907. None of those tools or ingredients, however, was present in cookbooks as recently as the 1980s. Indeed, it was an objective of Kurti and This to rationalize culinary activity as well as to modernize it (for example, to improve the efficiency of some traditional heating systems, in which the energy loss regularly reached 80 percent).

Molecular cooking was perfected by such noted chefs as Adrià and Andoni Luis Aduriz in Spain, Denis Martin in Switzerland, Ettore Bocchia in Italy, Alex Atala in BrazilRené Redzepi in Denmark, Sang-Hoon Degeimbre in Belgium, Heston Blumenthal in the United Kingdom, and, much later, Thierry Marx in France.

Adrià, Ferran
Ferran Adrià in his research kitchen in Barcelona, 2003.
Bernat Armangue/AP

DEVELOPMENT OF MOLECULAR GASTRONOMY

A program was proposed for molecular gastronomy that took into account the fundamentally important artistic and social components of cooking as well as the technical element.

A distinction was also made between the parts of recipes: “culinary definitions”—descriptions of the objective of recipes—and “culinary precisions”—the technical details of a recipe.

Thus, a program for molecular gastronomy emerged:

  • first, to model recipes, or culinary definitions;
  • second, to collect and test culinary precisions;
  • third, to scientifically explore the artistic component of cooking; and,
  • finally, to scientifically explore the social aspects of cooking.

Chefs adopting this new approach to cooking and food disapproved of the label “molecular gastronomists.” (A term preferable to many of them is “Modernist.”) Similarly, the perception of them as “mad scientists” wielding beakers of mysterious chemicals provoked hostile reactions from some diners, who felt alienated by the idea of science’s being applied too blatantly in the kitchen. As William Grimes wrote in The New York Times in 2000,

CHEMICAL STRUCTURE OF PROPRIETARY FOOD

FOOD MOLECULES

Food is any substance normally eaten or drunk by living things. The term food also includes liquid drinks. Food is the main source of energy and of nutrition for animals, and is usually of animal or plant origin. There are 4 (four) basic food energy sources: fats, proteins, carbohydrates and alcohol.

  1. Fats

In biochemistry, fat is a generic term for a class of lipids. Fats are produced by organic processes in animals and plants. All fats are insoluble in water and have a density significantly below that of water (i.e. they float on water.) Fats that are liquid at room temperature are often referred to as oil. Most fats are composed primarily of triglycerides; some monoglycerides and diglycerides are mixed in, produced by incomplete esterification. These are extracted and used as an ingredient.Products with a lot of saturated fats tend to be solid at room temperature, while products containing unsaturated fats, which include monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats, tend to be liquid at room temperature. Predominantly saturated fats (solid at room temperature) include all animal fats (e.g. milk fat, lard, tallow), as well as palm oil, coconut oil, cocoa fat and hydrogenated vegetable oil (shortening). All other vegetable fats, such as those coming from olive, peanut, maize (corn oil), cottonseed, sunflower, safflower, and soybean, are predominantly unsaturated and remain liquid at room temperature. However, both vegetable and animal fats contain saturated and unsaturated fats. Some oils (such as olive oil) contain in majority monounsaturated fats, while others present quite a high percentage of polyunsaturated fats (sunflower, rape).

  1. Proteins

A protein is a complex, high molecular weight organic compound that consists of amino acids joined by peptide bonds. Protein is essential to the structure and function of all living cells and viruses. Many proteins are enzymes or subunits of enzymes. Other proteins play structural or mechanical roles, such as those that form the struts and joints of the “cytoskeleton.” Proteins are also nutrient sources for organisms that do not produce their own energy from sunlight. Proteins differ from carbohydrates chiefly in that they contain much nitrogen and a little bit of sulfur, besides carbon, oxygen and hydrogen. Proteins are a primary constituent of living things.

In carnivores protein is one of the largest component of the diet. The metabolism of proteins by the body releases ammonia, an extremely toxic substance. It is then converted in the liver into urea, a much less toxic chemical, which is excreted in urine. Some animals convert it into uric acid instead.

Protein nutrition in humans
In terms of human nutritional needs, proteins come in two forms: complete proteins contain all eight of the amino acids that humans cannot produce themselves, while incomplete proteins lack or contain only a very small proportion of one or more. Humans’ bodies can make use of all the amino acids they extract from food for synthesizing new proteins, but the inessential ones themselves need not be supplied by the diet, because our cells can make them ourselves. When protein is listed on a nutrition label it only refers to the amount of complete proteins in the food, though the food may be very strong in a subset of the essential amino acids. Animal-derived foods contain all of those amino acids, while plants are typically stronger in some acids than others. Complete proteins can be made in an all vegan diet by eating a sufficient variety of foods and by getting enough calories. It was once thought that in order to get the complete proteins vegans needed to do protein combining by getting all amino acids in the same meal (the most common example is eating beans with rice) but nutritionists now know that the benefits of protein combining can be achieved over the longer period of the day. Ovo-lacto vegetarians usually do not have this problem, since egg’s white and cow’s milk contain all essential amino acids. Peanuts, soy milk, nuts, seeds, green peas, Legumes, the alga spirulina and some grains are some of the richest sources of plant protein.

All eight essential amino acids must be part of one diet in order to survive and are needed in a fixed ratio. A shortage on any one of these amino acids will constrain the body’s ability to make the proteins it needs to function.

Different foods contain different ratios of the essential amino acids. By mixing foods that are rich in some amino acids with foods that are rich in others, one can acquire all the needed amino acids in sufficient quantities. Omnivores typically eat a sufficient variety of foods that this is not an issue, however, vegetarians and especially vegans should be careful to eat appropriate combinations of foods (e.g. nuts and green vegetables) so as to get all the essential amino acids in sufficient quantities that the body may produce all the proteins that it needs.

Protein deficiency can lead to symptoms such as fatigue, insulin resistance, hair loss, loss of hair pigment (hair that should be black becomes reddish), loss of muscle mass (proteins repair muscle tissue), low body temperature, and hormonal irregularities. Severe protein deficiency is fatal.

Excess protein can cause problems as well, such as causing the immune system to overreact, liver dysfunction from increased toxic residues, possibly bone loss due to increased acidity in the blood, and foundering (foot problems) in horses.

Proteins can often figure in allergies and allergic reactions to certain foods. This is because the structure of each form of protein is slightly different, and some may trigger a response from the immune system while others are perfectly safe. Many people are allergic to casein, the protein in milk; gluten, the protein in wheat and other grains; the particular proteins found in peanuts; or those in shellfish or other seafoods. It is extremely unusual for the same person to adversely react to more than two different types of proteins.

  1. Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates (literally hydrates of carbon) are chemical compounds which act as the primary biological means of storing or consuming energy; other forms being via fat and protein. Relatively complex carbohydrates are known as polysaccharides. The simplest carbohydrates are monosaccharides, which are small straight-chain aldehydes and ketones with many hydroxyl groups added, usually one on each carbon except the functional group. Other carbohydrates are composed of monosaccharide units, and break down under hydrolysis. These may be classified as disaccharides, oligosaccharides, or polysaccharides, depending on whether they have two, several, or many monosaccharide units.

  1. Food Phenolics

Phenolic food compounds (also known as aromatic food compounds) occur naturally in all foods: they give the food colour and flavour and help to prevent premature decomposition. While phenolic compounds have shown high anti-oxidant properties, in some individuals they are problematic. High levels of phenols in certain foods seem to affect children with autism and individuals with sensitive digestive and/or immune systems.

7 Common Molecular Gastronomy Terms and Techniques

  1. Sous-Vide:Translated as “under vacuum,” this French term means that the food (usually meat or vegetables) has been cooked in an airtight plastic bag submerged in a temperature-controlled water bath for a very long time. Food prepared this way is always cooked evenly, with both the inside and outside equally tender.
  2. Flash Frozen:With this molecular gastronomy technique, food is frozen almost immediately often by using liquid nitrogen. This allows the water inside fruits, vegetables and other fruits to freeze without creating large crystals or damaging the cell membranes, thus preserving the texture of frozen foods (which would otherwise be mushy when defrosted).
  3. Faux Caviar:Using a process known as spherification, liquid food like olive oil, tea and fruit juice can be turned into tiny little balls that look like caviar(see top image). The liquid is held in its shape by a thin gel membrane and enjoyed as a solid.
  4. Deconstructed:If you deconstruct a sand castle, you knock it down. This same idea applies to deconstructed dishes, which feature separate building blocks instead of having everything combined. Deconstructed dishes allow the diner to construct a customized experience in his or her mouth.
  5. Edible Paper:Made with potato starch and soybeans, these tasty sheets of paper are often printed with edible fruit inks from a laser printer.
  6. Powdered Food:Chefs use maltodextrin, a starch-like substance, to turn a high-fat liquid like olive oil into a powder.
  7. Foams:the best example of foam is meringue. Chefs are now turning fruits, vegetables and cheese into foams using food stabilizers and thickening agents.