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Science Principles in Cooking (November 22, 2002, Two)

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Program Summary

What does baking soda do? Why does bread have to be kneaded? Why does turkey breast always seem dry? Most of us have no idea, nor have we ever really thought about it. The average cook follows the recipe, using the ingredients and amounts indicated because thats what it says to do! We never realize that cooking involves myriad chemical and physical reactions without which the dish would fail miserably. Ira's guests are molecular gastronomists; they study the science of cooking, breaking recipes down into a collection of individual processes. We dont have to be scientists, but understanding these processes enables a good cook to tell at a glance if a recipe is going to work and, if not, what changes to make.

Cooking can also be an excellent method of teaching kids math and chemistry; a caller explained how he dissected a chocolate chip recipe for a class, writing out the chemical formulas for each ingredient and discussing volume, temperature, and mixing order. Learn the basics, and well never be afraid of the kitchen again.

Guests

Harold McGee from Palo Alto, California, and author of On Food and Cooking (Scribners, 1984) and The Curious Cook (North Point Press, 1990)

Peter Barham, reader in physics at the University of Bristol, England, and author of The Science of Cooking (Springer, 2001)

Related Links and Resources

American Institute of Physics, Inside Science News Service, December 4, 2001: Science Gets Fruitcake Off The Shelf This Holiday Season

BBC Radio 4: Kitchen Cornucopia

For Discussion:

• Have you ever made something that came out terrible? What do you think went wrong?
• Making bread uses chemistry, physics, and biology. What are the different processes that fall into these categories?
• What are the types of heat used in cooking? How does each one work?
• In ceviche, a Spanish dish, fish is not heated, but yet it gets cooked. How is that possible?

Activities

Egg-citing food facts. The Exploratoriums Science of Cooking <http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/index.html> presentation is an entertaining, colorful and thorough explanation of cooking chemistry basics, covering pickles, eggs, bread, meat, and candy. Recipes, activities and Web casts add flavor, and students can spice things up by writing in with questions. Visit the BBCs Hot Topics: Cooking <http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/hottopics/cooking> for even more information, animations, and a couple of fun quizzes. Write up a simple recipe and have students explain the scientific processes in it.

Dont be sad! America's Test Kitchen: Science Desk <http://www.americastestkitchen.com/sciencedesk/default.htm> answers many common (and not-so-common) questions, including why onions make you cry. Try the two proven anti-crying methods in the classroom.

Picture it! Molecular Expressions Photo Gallery: The Flavor Collection <http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/micro/gallery/flavors/flavor.html> lets students see what different flavor molecules look like under a powerful microscope and invites them to send requests.

Prove it. Here's a graphic demonstration of cooking science. Give pairs of students recipes to make at home (with their parents assistance). In each pair, have one student make the recipe correctly and the other student make it incorrectly by leaving something out or using too much of something. Then compare and taste the results in class. Some suggestions:

Jell-O and pineapple-one uses fresh, one uses canned

Bread-one leaves out the yeast or other leavening agent such as baking powder

Cookies-one leaves out the baking soda or uses too much of something

Beyond the food frontier. Different foods taste good together because they have certain molecules in common. But sometimes theres just no accounting for taste. Ask students to prepare their favorite weird food combinations at home and bring them in for taste-testing. Nothing painful (hot peppers) or unsafe (raw eggs or meat) allowed.

Use the search box below to perform a Google search within any of the specifc sites or general domains mentioned in this Activities section.

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