Kitchen as Laboratory

AcknowledgmentsIntroduction: The Case for Science Inspired by the Kitchen, by Cesar Vega, Job Ubbink, and Erik van der Linden 1. The Science of a Grilled Cheese Sandwich, by Jennifer Kimmel2. Sound Appeal, by Malcolm Povey3. Mediterranean Sponge Cake, by Cristina de Lorenzo and Sergio Laguarda 4. Spherification: Faux Caviar and Skinless Ravioli, by Cesar Vega and Pere Castells5. Konjac Dondurma: Designing a Sustainable and Stretchable "Fox Testicle" Ice Cream, by Arielle Johnson, Kent Kirshenbaum, and Anne E. McBride 6. Stretchy Textures in the Kitchen: Insights from Salep Dondurma, by Tim J. Foster7. Moussaka as an Introduction to Food Chemistry, by Christos Ritzoulis8. The Sticky Science of Malaysian Dodol, by Alias A. Karim and Rajeev Bhat9. The Perfect Cookie Dough, by Aki Kamozawa and H. Alexander Talbot10. To Bloom or Not to Bloom, by Amelia Frazier and Richard Hartel11. Bacon: The Slice of Life, by Timothy Knight12. Scandinavian "Sushi": The Raw Story, by Pia Snitkjaer and Louise M. Mortensen 13. Maximizing Food Flavor by Speeding Up the Maillard Reaction, by Martin Lersch14. Lighten Up! The Role of Gases in the Culinary Experience, by Matt Golding15. The Meringue Concept and Its Variations, by Peter Wierenga, Helen Hofstede, Erik van der Linden, Sidney Schutte, and Jonnie Boer16. Why Does Cold Milk Foam Better? Into the Nature of Milk Foam, by Julia Maldonado-Valderrama, Peter J. Wilde, and Maria J. Galvez-Ruiz17. Ice Cream Unlimited: The Possibilities of Ingredient Pairing, by Elke Scholten and Miriam Peters18. Egg Yolk: A Library of Textures, by Cesar Vega19. Ketchup as Tasty Soft Matter: The Case of Xanthan Gum, by Thomas Vilgis20. Taste and Mouthfeel of Soups and Sauces, by John R. Mitchell21. Playing with Sound: Crispy Crusts, by Paula Varela and Susana Fiszman22. Baked Alaska and Frozen Florida: On the Physics of Heat Transfer, by Adam Burbidge23. On Superb Crackling Duck Skin: An Homage to Nicholas Kurti, by Christopher Young and Nathan Myhrvold24.

Cesar Vega holds a Ph.D. in food science, a culinary degree from Le Cordon Bleu, and is a senior scientist at Mars Botanical, a division of Mars, Inc. He has consulted with several avant-garde restaurants on aspects relating to science-based cooking. He also regularly teaches seminars on the relation between science and cooking. Job Ubbink is a senior consultant at Food Concept and Physical Design in Flüh, Switzerland. Trained as a physical chemist and biophysicist, he holds more than twelve years of R&D experience in the food industry, and along with his research on food material science and food biophysics, he is a passionate cook devoted to developing sustainable food practices and culture. Erik van der Linden is professor of physics and the physical chemistry of foods at Wageningen University. From 1991 to 1997, he worked at the interface of science and industry at Unilever Research in the Netherlands and in the United States, leading innovation projects on structural and sensory aspects of detergents, cosmetics, and foods. He earned his M.Sc. degree in theoretical physics and his Ph.D. at Leiden University and was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship at Emory University, where he focused on the stability of oil in water emulsions.

Behind today's celebrity chefs and starred restaurants is a mostly unsung army of dedicated food and science lovers working to uncover the scientific principles that make our modern gastronomical marvels possible. In offering thirty-three highly readable and often amusing essays by warriors in this multinational kitchen army, the editors of this anthology have accomplished the great service of filling a much-needed gap in the public's understanding and appreciation of twenty-first-century culinary 'magic.' Where else can one have fun pondering the acoustics of crunchy foods or the texture of an ice cream that stretches like a rubber band? -- Robert Wolke, former Washington Post food columnist and author of What Einstein Told His Cook: Kitchen Science Explained The editors of The Kitchen as Laboratory provide not just intimate and fascinating anecdotal insights but also the scientific principles that inspired them. They have created a new altar for chefs and gourmands to worship: the poetry of science. -- Will Goldfarb, creator of Willpowder, Experimental Cuisine Collective The Kitchen as Laboratory provides good perspective on the scientific approach to cooking while reflecting the interests and passions of each essay's author. Readers are likely to come away with a lot of new ideas to use in the kitchen, as well as some recognition of the breadth of contemporary applications of science in the kitchen. -- Peter Barham, author of The Science of Cooking The Kitchen as Laboratory is not only an in-depth study of many areas of food science, but also an entertaining read. For someone like me, who relishes understanding more about cooking from the inside out, it's heartening to see this area of literature expanded. -- Chef Wylie Dufresne, wd 50 Nothing is more difficult to master in the world than science itself. The Kitchen as Laboratory creates a beautiful synergy between food and science while amazingly representing difficult concepts in colloquial language. It is a