Molecular Gastronomy

[Ophere No.4856615]

Welp /ck/ i havent not seen anything about molecular gastronomy on this board.

So lets have one.

What do you think about it?

How do you think the will change the food industry in years to come.

Have you tried food that involves this?

[Anonymous No.4856621]

gimmick shit not to be taken seriously or awarded merit

[Anonymous No.4856622]

Depends on what you mean exactly.

I've experimented with some things like the mojito spheres you posted--they're even better when you carbonate them and put them in a glass of clear liquid and watch them fizz. But frankly, it's an awful lot of work for something that's really just a novelty. I don't see that being a big deal.

That being said, a lot of molecular gastronomy has nothing to do with silly tricks and effects, it's about cooking the food the best way possible. A lot of those things are becoming more mainstream and are honestly quite practical for some applications. Sous vide, for example.

[Ophere No.4856639]

>>4856622
I guess i would be talking about the practical use of it in more and more modern places.

this being said i would say more like high end places adapting to things like this to please their guests with a decently looking food and a pleasing taste when they eat it.

More or less about the weirdness of excitement when they look at it. How is it effecting our current food industries and if it even good effect the lower end restraunts.

Along with that will it also effect how we normally eat something.

Lets say a pineapple. Deconstruct the flavor and make it in something that you normally wouldn't have pineapple in and make it work.

Like sushi with the lightest form of cotton candy on top.

[Anonymous No.4856640]

this may be fun for creations

but I consider most of it inedible an likely cancer causing

[Ophere No.4856644]

>>4856640
>http://www.molecularrecipes.com/molecular-gastronomy/

[Anonymous No.4856646]

I've used spherification techniques and chemical reactions (like sodium citrate, etc), but a lot of it is a little too hooky to do on a regular basis.

[Anonymous No.4856658]

>>4856615
It's not molecular gastronomy, is Modern Cuisine, because you don't manipulate the molecules.-

El Celler de Can Roca... Awesome, those spanish guys are awesome.

I love Joan.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNnxbWaITwM

[Anonymous No.4856662]

>>4856615
>How do you think the will change the food industry in years to come.

They won't. Molecular gastronomy doesn't exist, and if it did, the term would be the worst possible choice to describe what those who use it are trying to describe.

[Anonymous No.4856704]

>>4856658
Imo there are some absolutely amazing things you can do with modernist cuisine, but some of it is pretty gimmicky and a lot of modernist chefs put way too much emphasis on cramming as many weird techniques and components into a dish as possible, while losing track of the other aspects of their dish. Personally I tend to prefer the physical methods used in modernist cuisine (sous vide, centrifuging, rapid freezing, cavitation etc) over the chemical methods like those involved in spherification, but that's just personal preference.

[Anonymous No.4856744]

Pretty neat. Pictures are cool. I'd never pay for it.

[Anonymous No.4856765]

I took a class and I loved it. I don't really use spherification or chemical reactions when I'm cooking, but it's pretty easy and fun. I do use soy lecithin (foams), maltodextrin (crumbles), xanthan gum (thicken) and agar agar (like gelatin) from time to time. My favorite's maltodextrin: with it, you can take pretty much any fluid that's high in fat (e.g. peanut butter, fat chocolate), mix it up, and it makes a crumble. Nice trick to know, especially for desserts, or let's say if you're making pad thai and you don't have fresh peanuts, but you have peanut butter.

I don't think it'll change anything in the industry in the years to come. It was a fad a few years ago with the rise of El Bulli, but it has pretty much died down since. These days, fashionable food is "farm to table" in most places. I tried a bit of food involving these techniques, but I'm not a huge fan. I mean, it's cool as hell, but I'd rather eat a brilliant and original mix of well prepared fresh ingredients than a plate of blobs, espumas and jellies. In my opinion, these techniques would deserve way more attention in cocktail bars than in restaurants.

[Anonymous No.4856788]

http://www.molecularrecipes.com/surprises/clear-canape-asparagus-miso-foam-malt-crumble/

Molecular gastronomy is basically just food science applied by chefs striving for artistry instead of corporations looking to cut costs. None of the techniques are especially new, they just haven't typically been applied in house. It's also basically the antithesis of the "let these farm fresh ingredients speak for themselves" movement. All in all, the effort required doesn't have enough payoff to be sustainable I don't think. It's wonderful, don't get me wrong, but it'll never really become a big thing.

[Anonymous No.4857481]

>>4856615
I use to be fascinated about Molecular Mixology. It seemed cool to me so I looked into it. Meh it is more like a fad. I don't see it blowing up but there will be some places that do it just to have it there because it is different.

I ordered the molecular mixology kit online once. It was interesting.

The drinks were cool but they took a lot of time to make.

[Anonymous No.4857750]

>>4856704
>>4856765
>>4856788
I agree, for example some of the hot gels, that melt when cold, the way to use sodium citrate to melt cheese, lecithin, albumin, msg, small scale carbonation, spherification, sous vide, are here to stay and will find their way in to many restaurant and amateur kitchens

The excessive pushing of boundaries will remain in few high class restaurants but as always, some people must design the new styles and push them to the limit, many more will just keep what works.

humanity stepped on the moon but has not done so again in 30some years, but we do have a very nice and serviceable space station where people go to all the time.
boundaries were pushed, the usefulness remained.

[Anonymous No.4857758]

I cooked a steak sous vide with a beer cooler once. then blowtorched it. not bad at all.

on a srs note, I think the scientific yet open minded methods that some modern chefs are taking (I.e. the guy at noma or that one Spanish chef) are long overdue. many styles of cooking are not 'rustic' but simply archaic. of course, traditional methods are still the best in some cases. just nice to see people who appreciate the art of cooking while being motivated to push traditional boundaries I guess.

[Anonymous No.4857762]

>>4857758
the kitchen needed fucking engineers since at least 1980, and finally they've come out of the factories and brought their techniques and know how with them

[Anonymous No.4857767]

>>4856615
>How do you think the will change the food industry in years to come.

They've been saying it will change gastronomy for 10 years plus. Never seen it on a regular menu, and my guess is that it's not because of conservatism

[Anonymous No.4857768]

>>4857758
also, (again paying tribute to the noma chef whose name I don't remember) I have the utmost respect for modern chefs who don't use new techniques for show, but actually use them to make edible (and delicious) those ingredients we used to ignore, or invent an entirely new foodstuff from traditional ingredients.

[Anonymous No.4857770]

>>4857762
very true. most of modernist cuisine is really just engineering applied to the kitchen.

[Anonymous No.4857776]

>>4857770
I actually got my dirty paws on a physical copy of the modernist, it's great in many ways but as my father said, most of the data about vegetables, temperatures, animals etc, we already knew, the techniques with dealing with all the thickeners etc. is what's new.

I'm a chemical engineer and my father is a ethnobiologist. Many things were already known and published but someone, modernist cuisine, had to compound it. And they did a great job.

[Anonymous No.4857777]

It's mostly gimmicky but war over hyped by the industry because it conforted people into thinking all the chemicals they put in their trash are actually good and hip

[Anonymous No.4857779]

>>4857777
hehehe good bait, but carrageenan, soy lecithin, methylcellulose, and many others are all vegan, gluten free, so they're all right by me

[Anonymous No.4857783]

>>4857776
It's truly a brilliant read, especially some of the history aspects of it I found particularaly interesting!

[Anonymous No.4857784]

>>4857776
most chefs who actually know what they're doing with "modernist" cuisine also will tell you flat out that they aren't doing anything new most of the time. often they are simply applying old techniques in different ways. the other night at work we deep fried fresh Basil leaves for garnish on a special. not really molecular gastronomy but they turned out pretty awesome, like leaves of glass that still taste like Basil.

>only sold 3 of those specials all night

[Anonymous No.4857789]

>>4856615
>i havent not seen anything about molecular gastronomy on this board
Yeah, you're right you haven't not (double negative). It was the subject of a thread just last week on /ck/

[Anonymous No.4857794]

>>4857779
Cyanide is vegan. You should drink some.

[Anonymous No.4857800]

>>4857767
Because most chefs are poorly educated and haven't got a clue how to do something more complicated that frying something.

[Anonymous No.4857802]

>>4857783
>>4857784
yeah it's a great book, and a good guide for temperatures, and other tables.
the pictures are great, and their recipes are very detailed, I also like how they describe things in percentages, that's a really good idea.
Fried basil tastes good.

[Anonymous No.4857814]

>>4857794
I was just testing you, and you have passed!
fuck all veganism, vegetarians I can stand not vegans.

[Anonymous No.4857817]

lot of energy and ingredients to make a small, but potent and flavorful result.
Interesting, if a little gimmicky, I can see it in a select few restaurants, and maybe some techniques can be adopted by others but in the long run it'll have a small change in the food industry.

[Anonymous No.4860622]

Pretentious shit that always reminds me of those horrible old jello ads