Audit Expert: Meng Meng.
Associate Professor, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Nowadays, a new way of cooking is emerging in Michelin-starred restaurants in many metropolises – molecular cuisine. It was originally born in Spain, and interestingly, the name of the dish was not proposed by a chef, but was coined by physicist Nicolas Curty and French chemist Ivy Tees.
Different from the cooking method of traditional cuisine, molecular cooking is based on experiments to analyze the chemical and physical changes that occur in the cooking process of food from a scientific point of view, and use scientific experiments to change the properties of the ingredients themselves, and study the cooking temperature and time of the ingredients that are most in line with people's daily eating habits. Because it changes the form of the substance itself, it often deceives the eyes and common sense judgment of diners, giving them a sense of novel experience and unexpected surprises.
The origin of molecular cuisine.
It has been suggested that molecular cooking is a deconstructivism that takes place in the small space of the kitchen, and that the kitchen where molecular cuisine is made is not so much a kitchen as a laboratory with many precision instruments, including droppers, infrared thermometers, siphon bottles, spoons, scales, and other instruments.
The French scientist Hervé is also the father of molecular cuisine.
*丨 Paul Cooper Rex
The creator Ivy Teese is a creative foodie, during his Ph.D., he walked the streets to collect all kinds of folk cooking secrets, and then experimented with these handed down experiences in the laboratory, and took molecular and physical cooking methods as the first theme, and successfully graduated with a doctorate. In other words, since its inception, molecular cuisine has been a scientific research and reinvention based on folk culinary experience.
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The taste of food is not presented in a macroscopic way, but is processed from its microscopic level and in molecular units, breaking the original appearance of the ingredients, rematching and shaping, and even using physical means to make up for the deficiencies and defects of the ingredients themselves to a certain extent, so that you can see that the mountains are not mountains, and the water is not water. "That's the science of molecular cooking.
For example, in molecular cuisine, it has been found that a piece of ordinary beef can be steamed at a low temperature of 59°C for 12 hours to make it sponge-soft in texture.
The main molecular cooking techniques.
The molecular cooking methods circulating in the market today mainly include low-temperature slow cooking technology, liquid nitrogen quick-freezing cooking technology, spherical cooking technology, foam cooking technology, etc.
Low-temperature slow-cooking cooking techniques.
It is a veteran molecular cooking technique, first used in French restaurants in the 70s of the 20th century. According to research, when the protein cells in the ingredients reach a certain temperature, the phenomenon of bursting will occur, and the chefs can accurately locate the cooking temperature corresponding to the best taste as long as the bursting temperature of the protein cells in different types of ingredients is analyzed and calculated.
Using the low-temperature slow-cook cooking technique, the first step is marinating; The second step is to vacuum it after placing it in a high-temperature resistant bag. Finally, place it in a thermostatic slow cooker to allow the food to cook slowly. In this way, the protein and other nutrients in the food can be retained to the greatest extent and the taste of the food can be achieved.
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Liquid nitrogen quick-freezing cooking technology.
The molecular structure of ingredients will change instantaneously at the temperature of pure liquid nitrogen-196, resulting in significant changes in the shape and taste of ingredients in a short period of time. When using liquid nitrogen quick-freezing technology to make ice cream, the taste will be smoother and more delicate, and there is no need to add unnecessary additives to it, so it is more nutritious and healthy.
Foam cooking techniques.
This is an emulsification technique that uses rapid stirring of the liquid to give it a foamy form that gives it a denser, more delicate taste. In the process, "soy lecithin" is added to soluble the oil and water to achieve a balanced state, which is often used in Western seafood dishes, such as lemon foam for deodorization, sterilization and nutrition.
Spherical cooking techniques.
Spheroidal cooking technology can be subdivided into forward spheroidization technology and reverse spheroidization technology. The principle of "forward spheroidization technology" is to add sodium alginate to liquid food, and slowly put the mixture into the calcium chloride solution, the calcium ions in the solution will "change positions" with the sodium ions of sodium alginate, and the molecular chain of sodium alginate is cross-linked with the help of calcium ions to form a hydrogel. In this way, the surface of the food can be chemically formed into a thin film, and the liquid form can still be retained inside, so as to achieve the taste of bursting pulp.
Some "flying fish roe" is made from sodium alginate.
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On the other hand, the "reverse spheroidization technology" is formed by dropping a liquid with calcium lactate added into a sodium alginate solution. In terms of food texture, food with forward spheroidization technology will be more thin and crispy.
Molecular cuisine in daily life.
Although molecular cuisine may sound like a dietary barrier, it is actually hidden in our daily life, which is affordable and ordinary. In fact, the tofu, marshmallows, and ginger milk that can be found everywhere on the street are molecular dishes.
Tofu **丨pixabay
Tofu is a delicate product born when soybean milk meets gypsum; Marshmallow is powdered sugar melted into silk at high temperature, and under the action of centrifugal force, it constantly flies out of the small hole of the container; The last ginger to hit the milk is when the ginger juice and the milk undergo a chemical change at a certain temperature, causing the protease in the milk to coagulate.
So, it may sound like a "high-mindedness", but in fact, everyone has tried the taste of molecular cuisine to a greater or lesser extent. It's just that when you taste it, you don't know how it works