Molecular Gastronomy. Exploring the Science of Flavor

392 Pages·2008·3.32 MB·English

by  Hervé This

Molecular Gastronomy
arts and traditions of the table
Hervé This
arts and traditions of the table:
perspectives on culinary history
Albert Sonnenfeld, series editor
Salt: Grain of Life
Pierre Laszlo, translated by Mary Beth Mader
Culture of the Fork
Giovanni Rebora, translated by Albert Sonnenfeld
French Gastronomy: The History and Geography of a Passion
Jean-Robert Pitte, translated by Jody Gladding
Pasta: The Story of a Universal Food
Silvano Serventi and Françoise Sabban, translated by Antony Shugar
Slow Food: The Case for Taste
Carlo Petrini, translated by William McCuaig
Italian Cuisine: A Cultural History
Alberto Capatti and Massimo Montanari, translated by Áine O’Healy
British Food: An Extraordinary Thousand Years of History
Colin Spencer
A Revolution in Eating: How the Quest for Food Shaped America
James E. McWilliams
Sacred Cow, Mad Cow: A History of Food Fears
Madeleine Ferrières, translated by Jody Gladding
Hervé This
Molecular Gastronomy
Exploring the Science of Flavor
translated by m.b. debevoise
columbia university press {new york}
columbia university press
Publishers Since 1893
New York Chichester, West Sussex
Copyright © Éditions Pour la Science 2002.
Translation copyright © 2006 Columbia University Press
All rights reserved
Columbia University Press gratefully acknowledges permission to reprint
excerpts from The Physiology of Taste by Jean Brillat-Savarin, translated by
M. F. K. Fisher, copyright 1949 by the George Macy Companies, Inc. Used by
permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
This, Hervé.
[Casseroles et éprouvettes. English]
Molecular gastronomy : exploring the science of flavor / Hervé This ;
translated by Malcolm DeBevoise.
p. cm. -- (Arts and traditions of the table)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 0 -231-13312-x (alk. paper)
1. Food --Sensory evaluation. 2. Flavor. 3. Gastronomy.
i. Title. ii. Series.
tx546.t5513 2005
664'.072-- dc22
20050053784
Columbia University Press books are printed on
permanent and durable acid-free paper.
Printed in the United States of America
Designed by Linda Secondari + Vin Dang. Ferdinand typeface by Isaac Tobin.
c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
It is not enough to know the principles, one needs to know how to manipulate.
—Dictionnaire de Trévoux, quoted by michael faraday
in the first edition of Chemical Manipulation (1827)

15 Preserves and Preserving Pans • 65
16 Saving a Crème Anglaise • 68
17 Grains of Salt • 71
18 Of Champagne and Teaspoons • 74
19 Coffee, Tea, and Milk • 76
Part Two : The Physiolo³ of Flavor
Contents 20 Food as Medicine • 83
21 Taste and Digestion • 86
22 Taste in the Brain • 88
23 Papillary Cells • 91
24 How Salt Affects Taste • 94
25 Detecting Tastes • 97
26 Bitter Tastes • 100
27 Hot Up Front • 103
series editor’s preface • ix 28 The Taste of Cold • 106
Introduction to the English- 29 Mastication • 109
Language Edition • 1 30 Tenderness and Juiciness • 112
31 Measuring Aromas • 115
Part One : Secrets of the Kitchen 32 At Table in the Nursery • 118
1 Making Stock • 23 33 Food Allergies • 121
2 Clarifying Stock • 26 34 Public Health Alerts • 124
3 Hard-Boiled Eggs • 29
4 Quiches, Quenelles, and Part Three : Investigations and Models
Puff Pastries • 32 35 The Secret of Bread • 131
5 Échaudés and Gnocchi • 35 36 Yeast and Bread • 134
6 The Well-Leavened Soufflé • 38 37 Curious Yellow • 137
7 Quenelles and Their Cousins • 41 38 Gustatory Paradoxes • 140
8 Fondue • 44 39 The Taste of Food • 143
9 Roasting Beef • 47 40 Lumps and Strings • 146
10 Seasoning Steak • 50 41 Foams • 149
11 Wine and Marinades • 53 42 Hard Sausage • 152
12 Color and Freshness • 56 43 Spanish Hams • 155
13 Softening Lentils • 59 44 Foie Gras • 158
14 Souffléed Potatoes • 62 45 Antioxidant Agents • 161
46 Trout • 164 77 Champagne and Its Foam • 257
47 Cooking Times • 167 78 Champagne in a Flute • 260
48 The Flavor of Roasted Meats • 170 79 Demi Versus Magnum • 263
49 Tenderizing Meats • 173 80 The Terroirs of Whisky • 266
50 Al Dente • 176 81 Cartagènes • 269
51 Forgotten Vegetables • 179 82 Tea • 272
52 Preserving Mushrooms • 182
53 Truffles • 185 Part Four : A Cuisine for Tomorrow
54 More Flavor • 188 83 Cooking in a Vacuum • 279
55 French Fries • 191 84 Aromas or Reactions? • 282
56 Mashed Potatoes • 194 85 Butter: A False Solid • 285
57 Algal Fibers • 197 86 Liver Mousse • 288
58 Cheeses • 200 87 In Praise of Fats • 291
59 From Grass to Cheese • 203 88 Mayonnaises • 294
60 The Tastes of Cheese • 206 89 Aioli Generalized • 297
61 Yogurt • 209 90 Orders of Magnitude • 300
62 Milk Solids • 212 91 Hundred-Year-Old Eggs • 303
63 Sabayons • 215 92 Smoking Salmon • 306
64 Fruits in Syrup • 218 93 Methods and Principles • 309
65 Fibers and Jams • 221 94 Pure Beef • 313
66 The Whitening of Chocolate • 224 95 Fortified Cheeses • 316
67 Caramel • 227 96 Chantilly Chocolate • 319
68 Bread and Crackers • 230 97 Everything Chocolate • 322
69 The Terroirs of Alsace • 233 98 Playing with Texture • 325
70 Length in the Mouth • 236 99 Christmas Recipes • 328
71 Tannins • 239 100 The Hidden Taste of Wine • 331
72 Yellow Wine • 242 101 Teleolfaction • 334
73 Wine Without Dregs • 245
74 Sulfur and Wine • 248 glossary • 337
75 Wine Glasses • 251 further reading • 35 1
76 Wine and Temperature • 254 index • 361
viii | contents
Series Editor’s Preface
“It takes a tough guy to raise a tender chicken!” the late Frank Perdue
used to proclaim in his radio and tv advertisements. Physical chemist Hervé
This (pronounced teess), the internationally controversial molecular gastro-
nome, explains to us in understandable yet precise terms the science of ten-
derness.
What defines tenderness, anyway? How does one achieve it in the farmyard
and the kitchen? What chemical interactions give a chicken the potential to be
a gourmet chicken? How is tenderness perceived by the complex nerve end-
ings and taste buds of the mouth? The current cult of “Slow Food” may have a
basis in molecular science, or it may be mere Walden Pondish Romantic Rous-
seauism. After reading this absorbing book I now know what I mean when I
sing, “Try a little tenderness!”
Hervé This combines the seriousness of purpose and acumen of a respect-
ed scientist (Collège de France) with the aura of dynamic tv personality. He
succeeds more than others in making what seems recondite to some accessible
to all. We worry about making good French fries; here we read that there is
laboratory predictability in the choice of potato variety, the slicing technique,
and the discoloration that occurs when enzymes in the air hit the uncooked
spud. Each scientific food inquiry raised in this book takes root in specific
everyday (and useful) examples, the whys and wherefores of our very real culi-
nary dilemmas as home cooks and consumers.
| ix