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Perhaps the largest breakthrough in cooking in the last decade, molecular gastronomy -- or "playing with powder," as David Lebovitz puts it -- is an art form that has some diners widening their eyes in wonderment and others shaking their heads in disbelief.
Popularized by Ferran Adria's soon-to-be-shuttered El Bulli in Spain and, later by Wylie Dufresne at New York City's WD-50, the avant-garde cuisine takes the ordinary to extraordinary levels. As Frank Bruni put it in 2005, the "sci-fi cooking" has been known to "toy with unusual textures, play with wildly unlikely flavor combinations and generally venture in directions that might turn out to be silly, but then again might not." Pondered Lebovitz, "Just like Matisse was widely-panned for painting a woman's face with a green stripe down the middle, I think we're going to have to let time tell us if this is just a passing fancy or if it's something that's here to stay."
And though the still-kicking buzz of molecular cooking has died down - quite likely as a result of the prohibitively high cost of restaurants embracing it as their specialty - it may now create another stir, as it is released in a user-friendly form to the general public.
Think Geek has created a Molecular Gastronomy Starter Kit ($69.99) that offers a "brand new way to make dinner" by allowing ambitious foodies to play with food in their very own kitchens. Though the kit is admittedly basic, even somewhat reminiscent of high-school science projects, it's the first approach to making the high-end cuisine more accessible and comprehensible.
Though admittedly scientifically challenged, I managed to successfully complete two of the recipes: a Caviar of Red Fruit and the Sparkling Soft Toffees. The candies were a cinch, requiring cooks to only grind together powdered sugar, sodium bicarbonate and citric acid, and roll the soft toffees in the base -- though for someone tackling foreign chemical ingredients for the first time, the process was slightly daunting. The coating of sodium bicarbonate reacts with the acid in the presence of aqueous solution (your saliva), enlivening the candies with a nice citrus effervescence, similar to a tamer Pop Rocks tingle. What was most shocking is that the simple process took but about 10 minutes, shaking my perception of molecular gastronomy as rocket science.
Scientific, it may be. But after tackling the caviar, one might be convinced molecular gastronomy is time-consuming above all. The "caviar" recipe manipulated fruit juice into vibrant red berry bubbles in a few slow but simple steps toward "spherification." By dropping a combination of sodium alginate and juice into water with calcium salt, the droplets formed little beads in the water, due to sodium alginate's reaction with calcium ions, which form tiny liquid orbs similar to fish eggs. Although the results were marvelous as edible oddities, creating but one tablespoon was a process that took nearly 30 minutes.
The techniques used may sound more suited to science labs than kitchens, but they have the remarkable ability to toy with the chemical and physical reactions of cooking to create revolutionized versions of common cuisine. Nonetheless, molecular gastronomy is clearly not for the scientifically -- or mathematically -- challenged.
Is the kit an interesting, well-organized, easy-to-execute foray into molecular gastronomy? Absolutely -- but on a balmy afternoon in the heat of the summer, you'll probably find yourself preferring to leave the tedious task to the pros.
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6-07-2010 @4:30PM Tony Karakashian said... OTOH, it's a great tool to a) get kids involved in cooking and b) introduce them to how science "works". Most scientific effort is slow, laborious and boring repetition designed to eliminate (or at least minimize) errors. But, it's done so for a reason: the results justify it.
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6-11-2010 @2:25AM James said... I am great at makin the meat..ha!.. but never have any ideas for sides... I make these awesome ribs called "Love you Long TimePork Ribs" .. they are asian bbqstyle ribs that I braise for a few hours then throw on the grill foran hour more..got the recipe on this hilarious food site.. but it's a bit politically incorrect so I won't tell you the name.. but if you google "whipped and beaten culinary works" you will find it. the ribs are under the "Free recipe" tab.. but seriously, don't go if you don't have a goodsense of humor or if you get offeneded pretty easy.. ha!
6-11-2010 @5:36AM Al Schrader said... Alginate ? Carrageenan ? Oh, yeah, seaweed goo. Yum (not).....Al-
6-07-2010 @6:15PM Aaron said... While I think these kits are really cool and a great way to teach kids science, or even adults. Make sure what you are buying is worth the price. Much of what is included you can buy in natural food stores or specialty shops. As a Food Scientist I have access to many companies that will sell me those ingredients, but if you aren't a scientist try looking in natural food stores or specialty shops, I included some ideas below, or find a friend that is a food scientist!
* 20g sodium alginate(salt of a acid seaweed extract) * 20g carrageenan (extract of seaweed)
-(about the only two you probably can't buy at a grocery store)
*20g calcium salt (calcium chloride(calcium salt) is often used in pickle making or home
brewing so check specialty shops)
* 20g agar-agar(check Asian markets, will come in a long block form often, from algae)
* 20g ascorbic acid (Vitanin C, can be bought in powder form in Natural food stores)
* 20g citric acid (acid from lemons/limes, bought in natural food stores/in baking aisle)
* 20g sodium bicarbonate (Baking Soda)
* 20g xanthan gum(also found in many natural food stores near the flavorings/baking)
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6-08-2010 @1:51PM ADD said... Thanks for the suggestions on where to get the ingredients. As with many kits, the instructions may be as valuable as the parts. Does anyone know where to find molecular gastronomy recipes? The one source that I've heard of is the Alinea cookbook. There is a blog dedicated to cooking from it (http://alineaathome.typepad.com/).
6-08-2010 @2:03PM Aaron said... Sorry I forgot to include that in my comment, I think this is a huge free resource for a lot of Molecular Gastronomy Techniques.
http://khymos.org/hydrocolloid-recipe-collection-v2.pdf
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6-10-2010 @8:25PM Maine said... that picture is a horrible depiction of the food. I actually thought all the food looked like that before I read what it was...I was immediately disgusted at first but then it seemed pretty cool when I read it...I'll probably never ever use this method...but it was cool to read about.
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6-11-2010 @12:52AM Sue said... what?
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6-10-2010 @10:43PM Yvonne said... BARF ME WITH A SPOON!! I WOULD NOT EVEN WANT TO TRY THIS OUTLANDISH STUPID STUFF. STICK TO REAL FOOD, WITH REAL RECIPES. GIVE ME A BREAK!!! I THINK THIS DOESN'T EVEN WARRANT A PAGE ON THE INTERNET!!!
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6-12-2010 @11:12AM Lynn said... I enjoy cooking and eating, and I do like food, but the other day as I was grocery shopping it dawned on me what a hassle it is to have to eat to survive. It took me about an hour to complete my shopping, drive home and put the food away. Then I had to start cooking dinner, which took another 35 minutes. The fun part (eating) took about another 20-30 miutes. Then I had to clean up, which took another 15 minutes. I was thinking how easy it would be if there was some type of pill or tablet I could swallow that would provide all the nourishment and tast of a good, home-cooked meal . . . without all the hassle. I probably wouldn't take those pills every day because I do like to cook. But it would be nice to have this option in the summertime, when I'd rather be hiking or fishing or anything other than cooking and washing dishes. Even barbecuing can be a hassle when the fish are biting or the Rocky Mountains are beckoning. I've also always wished I could have one of those food machines like George Jetson had: just tell it what you want and it presents the dish in seconds. Now that would be a good contribution from science!
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6-10-2010 @11:41PM Rob Carter said... Well Doctor chasing girls with candy. Try mixing Copha (coconut butter) with a nice block of cadbury chocolate in a double saucepan best. Dip nice tasting rose petals in the chocolate and place them on individual greaseproof pattypans (paper cake shells) on a freezer tray and refrigerate to serve her as an after dinner treat. As a doctor you would know roses go directly to a girls heart and touch their baby nerve, the Rosehip and vitamin C majic pill. Get started and make some yourself, chocolate rose petals for the baby gal, not the babies that comes later. If she swoons as most do. Otherwise try liquor in the chocalate.
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6-11-2010 @12:03AM Rob carter said... Well Doctor chasing girls with candy. Try mixing Copha (coconut butter) with a nice block of cadbury chocolate in a double saucepan best. Dip nice tasting rose petals in the chocolate and place them on individual greaseproof pattypans (paper cake shells) on a freezer tray and refrigerate to serve her as an after dinner treat. As a doctor you would know roses go directly to a girls heart and touch their baby nerve, the Rosehip and vitamin C majic pill. Get started and make some yourself, chocolate rose petals for the baby gal, not the babies that comes later. If she swoons as most do. Otherwise try liquor in the chocalate.
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6-11-2010 @1:40AM curlsnsuch said... While the Gastronomy kit sounds cool... The Author of this article is WAYYYYYYY too wordy for me (just my own opinion, not forcing it on anyone) could have been said in much simpler terms :)
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6-11-2010 @2:46AM dnsh said... What a load of crap. It is simply a way for so called wannabe "chefs" to hide the fact that they haven't mastered the basics of fine cooking. It's simply a technique stolen from magicians to distract the ovserver from what is actually happening. Do you think a culinary master such as Paul Prudhomme would embrace this smoke and mirrors type of cooking? Nothing trumps the basic abilities of a quality chef. Gimmicks are only intereting for a few moments. Classic skills are forever.
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6-11-2010 @4:04AM bellagrlxitalia@aol.com said... it looks like its kitchen mistakes lol like lumpy gravy lol... it doesnt seem appitizing to me.. lol
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