molecular gastronomy
Molecular gastronomy is the application of science to culinary practice and more generally gastronomical phenomena.
The term was coined by the French scientist Hervé This and by the Hungarian physicist Nicholas Kurti. Both had investigated food preparation scientifically: Nicholas Kurti had given a presentation in 1969 at the Royal Institution called "The physicist in the kitchen"), and This had been testing culinary old wives's tales since March 1980.
The idea of using techniques developed in chemistry to study food was not a new one: it has a history back to the 18th century [1]. This and Kurti decided that a new, specific discipline should be created within that of food science, and looked for a name. The initial proposal by This was "Molecular Gastronomy", but Kurti, being a physicist, insisted on adding "and physical". This is why the discipline was at first called "Molecular and Physical Gastronomy" (also the title of This's Ph.D.).
When Kurti died, This dropped the "and physical" to arrive at "Molecular Gastronomy", but Kurti's name was given to the continuing series of workshops that Kurti and This had directed every two years in Erice, at the Majorana Centre for Scientific Culture.
The fundamental objectives of molecular gastronomy were defined by This in his Ph.D. thesis as:
* Investigating culinary and gastronomical proverbs, sayings, old wives tales
* Exploring existing recipes
* Introducing new tools, ingredients and methods into the kitchen
* Inventing new dishes
* Using molecular gastronomy to help the general public understand the contribution of science to society
The term was coined by the French scientist Hervé This and by the Hungarian physicist Nicholas Kurti. Both had investigated food preparation scientifically: Nicholas Kurti had given a presentation in 1969 at the Royal Institution called "The physicist in the kitchen"), and This had been testing culinary old wives's tales since March 1980.
The idea of using techniques developed in chemistry to study food was not a new one: it has a history back to the 18th century [1]. This and Kurti decided that a new, specific discipline should be created within that of food science, and looked for a name. The initial proposal by This was "Molecular Gastronomy", but Kurti, being a physicist, insisted on adding "and physical". This is why the discipline was at first called "Molecular and Physical Gastronomy" (also the title of This's Ph.D.).
When Kurti died, This dropped the "and physical" to arrive at "Molecular Gastronomy", but Kurti's name was given to the continuing series of workshops that Kurti and This had directed every two years in Erice, at the Majorana Centre for Scientific Culture.
The fundamental objectives of molecular gastronomy were defined by This in his Ph.D. thesis as:
* Investigating culinary and gastronomical proverbs, sayings, old wives tales
* Exploring existing recipes
* Introducing new tools, ingredients and methods into the kitchen
* Inventing new dishes
* Using molecular gastronomy to help the general public understand the contribution of science to society
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