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Culture Documents
By Anita George
December 5, 2014 | 11:11am
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Its time to play with your food again. Except this time around, as an adult, you actually have
access to the chemicals and tools youll need to create some really awesome culinary special
effects. And its all because of molecular gastronomy.
Molecular gastronomy is a branch of food science that utilizes the principles of chemistry,
physics and biology to develop delicious food that can be presented in new and interesting ways
solid cocktails, fruit jelly caviar, or vegetable foams and bubbles. Its basically the science of
food you thought could only exist in Willy Wonkas chocolate factory.
But with a grasp on some of the basic concepts of molecular gastronomy, youre actually much
closer to those fantasy recipes than you think.
This summer, go ahead and experiment. Be a mad scientist in the kitchen and class up a romantic
dinner with see-through ravioli, enjoy a piece of exploding chocolate this Fourth of July or even
munch on a crunchy cocktail or two with our list of ten easy molecular gastronomy recipes.
Alcohol
1. White Russian Krispies
Yes, The Dude would approve. You can now have your cult classic cocktail and eat it too. Whats
great about mixologist Eben Freemans recipe is that its not just some cereal drowned in two
kinds of liquor and milk. Instead, the flavor of Kahlua is infused into the Rice Krispies cereal via
dehydration. The moisture disappears and youre left with a coffee-flavored cereal. So now you
can snap, crackle, pop and buzz your way to happy this morning in more ways than one.
2. Smoked Beer
Its summer and sometimes even the best barbecue isnt enough to sate some peoples cravings
for smoke. Well, maybe instead of just firing up the grill again on an already sweltering day why
not get your fix in a more refreshing way? Why not add smoke to your favorite beers? You could
brew your own beer with smoked malts. But in the interest of saving time, why not go the
molecular gastronomy route and use a handheld food smoking device known as a smoking gun.
Itll add the flavor of smoke to your store-bought beer without the heat or having to brew your
own beer.
The Science Behind It: A molecular gastronomy gadget called The Smoking Gun. The
Smoking Gun coats your food with a surface-level infusion of smoky flavor. The way it works is
you load the gun up with your favorite flavored wood chip or aromatic herb and you light it.
Once the the chips burn, the gun creates and releases a cooled smoke that can infuse foods
without heating or overcooking them. This is ideal for food and beverages you normally want to
keep cold like beer or butter.
Ingredients/Materials:
A bottle of your favorite beer
Smoking Gun device
Mesquite wood chips
How to Make It: Pour your beer into a glass. Load the wood chips into the smoking chamber of
Smoking gun. Insert the guns tube/hose into the glass. Cover the glass with plastic wrap. Turn
on the guns fan and light the chips with a lighter. As the smoke fills the glass, shake the glass
gently. Turn off the gun, remove the wrap and enjoy your smoked beer.
Savory Dishes
3. Arugula Spaghetti
Now youre really transforming foods like a mad scientist. Arugula aint just for salads anymore.
Theyre noodles. Tell your kids theyre gummy veggies. Or not, and keep them for yourself and
pretend youre at a super-classy, highly-exclusive modernist cuisine restaurant in New York with
your significant other. Or just slurp them in your sweatpants. We dont care. And we wont tell.
The Science Behind It: Agar Agar and Gelification. Agar-agar is a substance derived from red
algae that when used in recipes acts as a stabilizing and thickening agent due to its ability to
create gel shapes (like caviar and spaghetti) out of the liquefied versions of the foods its mixed
in, according to Molecule-R. Like gelatin, gelling only occurs with agar-agar when a solution
containing it has cooled after being boiled. Unlike the animal-based gelatin (Jello), however, an
agar-agar based gel is pretty heat resistant once the gel forms. Agar gels will stay solid even after
reaching 185 degrees Fahrenheit, while solid pieces of Jello melt at 99 degrees. Gelification is
the molecular change of a liquid food to a solid, jelly-like food.
Ingredients:
2 cups of Arugula
3/4 cups of water
1/2 tsp. of Agar Agar powder
Plastic syringe and tube
How to Make It: Watch the following demonstration by MOLECULE-R Flavors to see how to
prepare Arugula Spaghetti.
.
When youre ready to top your oysters with the caviar, simply take them out of the water and
place them on a paper towel. Pat them dry and top your oysters.
that occurs with sodium alginate happens only in cold conditions. As Molecule-R points out, in
tandem with calcium chloride, sodium alginate is able to acheive a unique form of gelling that
involves forming a a thin membrane around a tiny sphere of liquid, so as to create a type of
caviar that bursts with liquid in your mouth as it is consumed.
Calcium chloride is a byproduct of the production of sodium carbonate (washing soda).
Ingredients for Erin Wysos Carrot Ginger Caviar
2 large carrots, peeled and chopped
One inch-long piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
1/2 -1 cup cold water
1/2 tsp. sodium alginate
2 cups cold water
1/2 tsp. calcium chloride
How to Make It: 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 1/2 tsp. of sodium alginate into mixture. 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 youre done making the caviar, strain the caviar and dry
them on paper towels.
To see how to make the scallops go here. Top vegan scallops with the caviar and enjoy.
Desserts
7. Chocolate-covered Strawberries Dipped in Pop Rocks
The Fourth of July is coming up soon. Youve got less than a month left to figure out food, fun
and fireworks. What if we told you we had a super-easy recipe that could cover all three? Think
about it, with these chocolate and pop rock-covered strawberries, you could be watching
fireworks and enjoying fun sugar explosions in. your. mouth. All you need are strawberries and
the ability to dip them twice: once in chocolate and once in pop rocks. And there you have it: an
awesome Fourth of July.
The Science Behind It: Popping Sugar and effervescence. Effervescence is a chemical reaction
that results in the release of gas and the formation of foam, fizz and bubbles.
Besides drinking soda, you can get an effervescent effect on your own in your desserts using
popping sugar (Pop Rocks). Popping sugar is essentially sugar that contains carbon dioxide.
Once this type of sugar melts, usually as a result of contact with moisture, the carbon dioxide gas
is released, resulting in a popping sensation that is felt in your mouth as you eat it. Fortunately,
mixing it with melted chocolate alone (like in the recipe below) will not melt it, as the oils and
fats normally found in chocolate dont trigger the melting process.
Ingredients:
Strawberries
Chocolate (Milk, Dark or White)
Popping sugar (like Pop Rocks)
How to Make It: Melt chocolate, dip strawberries into the chocolate and then dip them into the
popping sugar. Let the chocolate and popping sugar-covered strawberries cool and then eat them.
8. Powdered Nutella
Yes, Nutella is already perfect on its own, straight out of the jar. But now weve gone and found
you another way to gorge on its hazelnut-y goodness thanks to maltodextrin powder. Bonus?
Once it hits your tongue, it doesnt stay powdered: it reverts back to that gooey-smooth spread
texture we all know and love.
9. Rainbow Foam
Sometimes you feel fancy and you just want a mousse. A foam. Something light and airy with
tons of flavor but not so heavy that you feel like a sleepy slob after consuming it. But a
traditional mousse takes practice to perfect and sometimes just knowing that you have to fuss
with raw eggs, makes it unappetizing. No worries: weve got a foam for that. Its just a whipped
Jello gelatin dessert, with six different flavors layered on top of each other. Its light, refreshing
and fruity. All the bubbles you want and none of the fuss. Or the eggs.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup of Plain yogurt
1/2 cup of cream cheese
1/5 cup of maple syrup
2/5 cup of water
1.5 tablespoons of sugar
~1.5 teaspoons of Methyl cellulose powder