In the past few years, molecular gastronomy, a modern method of cooking that alters food chemically and physically, has blown up in restaurants across the world. Advocates for the method, like Modernist Cuisine author Nathan Myhrvold, are seeking to make these complex methods more approachable for the home cook. If you know someone who's a huge food science nerd, then take a look at these 15 gifts that'll help any cook get his or her molecular gastronomy on at home.
These days, Marcel Vigneron — of Top Chef and Marcel's Quantum Kitchen — isn't just playing with molecules. He's also playing with words, as demonstrated by the tako taco he was demonstrating at LA's Taste event. In between plating his signature dish, Marcel took the time to chat about molecular gastronomy and why you shouldn't be afraid to toy around with it at home.
Before his demo at the Food & Wine and Rum Festival in Barbados, the likable chef Ming Tsai sat down for a quick one-on-one interview. Although Tsai was at the tail end of a whirlwind book tour promoting his first cookbook in five years, Simply Ming One-Pot Meals, he wasn't tired of talking about the important message in what he considers his "most timely of all books." To see what Tsai had to say about One-Pot Meals, The Next Iron Chef, and more, keep reading.
The world can finally stop trying to get into El Bulli. No amount of patience, luck, or connections will get anyone a reservation. Last week, Catalan chef Ferran Adrià confirmed that he would be closing down his Michelin three-starred restaurant for good.
Last month, Adrià made the most elusive restaurant seat infinitely harder to get when he announced he'd be temporarily shuttering El Bulli in 2012, and reopening it in 2014. But in an interview on Friday, the chef said the closure would be permanent because he and his business partner, Juli Soler, had been losing a half million Euros a year on the venture. Rather than funding the restaurant, they will now use that money to establish a new El Bulli academy that will promote contemporary ideas in food.
News of the eatery, which is considered one of, if not the, most avant-garde in the world, will disappoint the 3,000 people on the restaurant waiting list. I'm certain this news has crushed the hope of thousands of culinary cognoscenti — no doubt it has quashed mine. Was El Bulli on your list of places to visit?
Update: Apparently the New York Times misquoted the Spaniard. Earlier today Adria told a Spanish newspaper that the restaurant will close only for the aforementioned two years.
If you are interested in learning more about molecular gastronomy — cooking with scientific processes — check out Spanish chef Jose Andres' explanation of spherification. It's the process of reshaping liquids into edible spheres that burst when you bite into them. — Star Chefs
To my surprise, I was riveted by last night's episode of The Next Iron Chef. In week two, the first challenge focused on simplicity — creating a single bite of food — while the other involved innovation in the form of so-called molecular gastronomy. This science-inspired form of cooking, practiced by Wylie Dufresne of WD-50, involves strange equipment and chemical ingredients such as xanthan gum. The challenge was so bizarre it was fascinating, and the chefs performed well in very unfamiliar territory.
The more I watch The Next Iron Chef, though, I'm struck by how similar the format is to Top Chef — from the frantic kitchen scenes with a big red digital timer to the familiar feel of the judges' table. But I still like Iron Chef, even if it feels like a slight ripoff. How about you?
Xanthan Gum
A stabilizer that is produced from fermented corn sugar. It's used as a thickener for things such as salad dressings or dairy products and is a key ingredient in molecular gastronomy (think of all of the foams you're seeing on menus).
Xanthan gum is also often used as a substitute for wheat gluten in order to add volume to bread and other gluten-free baked goods.
