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Molecular cuisine is also called creative cuisine. It is a type of kitchen that uses the scientific knowledge of cooking. In the twentieth century, physics, chemistry and gastronomy joined forces, which resulted in the avant-garde, shocking, but at the same time delightful molecular cuisine. The goal is to obtain pure flavors using unusual methods and often in very surprising combinations. In the creative kitchen we can find, for example, orange-flavored caviar, green tea pasta or chocolate fish.
Molecular gastronomy – its origins and spread
Sir Benjamin Thompson pioneered this approach to the kitchen. And the term molecular kitchen was established in 1988 as a result of collaboration between the Hungarian physicist Nicholas Kurti and the French chemist Herve This. These two outstandingly talented scientists combined a passion for learning and cooking. They investigated the interaction of chemical compounds present in food products. Thanks to this, they learned about the properties of certain substances, which in turn gave rise to a new culinary art that is gaining more and more popularity every day.
Molecular cuisine – chemical or natural cuisine?
Date molecular kitchen it is often mistakenly associated with food that has little to do with natural food. Well, nothing could be more wrong. The great advantage of this the kitchen it is precisely that it is based only on natural products that occur in nature. It uses highly purified plant products. They are the carriers of taste and aroma, and at the same time create the texture of the dish. An example of such a substance is agar, which is obtained from algae.
Molecular gastronomy – methods of food preparation
W molecular gastronomy innovative methods of food preparation are used. By adding specific natural substances, it becomes possible, for example, to fry in water, cook at 60 degrees Celsius, and the use of liquid nitrogen allows you to make your favorite ice cream in just a few seconds. Goal molecular gastronomy is to create a dish with an original, unusual taste and form. Spinach sauce in the form of foam or cherry caviar delight even the most demanding culinary critics. Preparing such dishes is not, against appearances, magic or chemistry, but using the possibilities that nature has given us. The result is healthy, very tasty and aesthetically pleasing dishes.
What is really important, everyone can cook molecularlyand knowledge about creative cuisine can be obtained at more and more often organized workshops and trainings. After exploring the secrets of this kitchen, all you need to do is buy the right accessories and ingredients. Essential products in molecular gastronomy they are affordable, but the price of the equipment itself may surprise us. Liquid nitrogen, for example, costs a few euros, but a vessel for its storage costs about 1000 euros.
Primary technique culinary in molecular gastronomy is gelling, for which natural gelling substances are used, these substances used in small amounts, i.e. in the order of 1-2 g, can turn any liquid dish into jelly. Most often they are substances derived from algae. They have unique properties, and their use allows you to make warm jelly at a temperature of 40 degrees C. A very interesting type of gelling is spherification, ie a process that allows you to obtain false caviar, eg from watermelon. The taste of such caviar can be different and depends only on the imagination of the cook. Next technique there is emulsification. It uses lecithin, which is a commonly used emulsifier, and turns the liquid into a cream, thanks to which we can prepare creams and foams with various flavors, e.g. spinach foam. Very interesting the technique of creative cuisine there is a long cooking time. It consists in cooking the dish for more than 24 hours at a temperature of about 60 degrees Celsius, which makes the taste and aroma of meat or fish dishes much more distinct than dishes prepared traditionally. Innovation there is also frying in water. Higher water temperature, around 120 degrees Celsius, is achieved by adding special sugar. Next method is the freezing of dishes with liquid nitrogen, which is used to prepare desserts and various warm-cold dishes. When it comes to extracting the pure taste of dishes, lasers come to the rescue, which, through ultrasound, transfer known flavors to other dishes. Molecular kitchen it is therefore a big challenge, but also an interesting experiment.