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Spicing up Science - Cooking in the 21st Century -
February 2010
Contents Introduction: Molecular Gastronomy is Science, Molecular Cooking is Cooking
Hervé This
“Hubris”or a Mean to Improve Our Nutrition: Molecular Cooking in the 21st Century
p. 7
p. 9
Sophie Mirow
A Short Analysis of the Development of Historical Trends in Meat Processing and Preservation
Arina Loghin
Cooking à la Moleculair: Improvement or Impoverishment of Modern Cuisines?
p. 16
p. 25
Rogier Hanselaar
Solving the Controversy: Can the Intake of Artifi-
p. 33
cial Sweeteners Have Harmful Effects?
Lieke de Boer
How Can Molecular Cooking Influence the Role Our Senses Play in Our Appreciation of Food? Can Our Senses be Tricked?
Ferdinand Graf Kesselstatt
p. 41
Molecular Gastronomy: Stimulating Senses How Triggering Senses Enhances Taste Sensation
p. 47
in Humans
Laura van de Vorst
Food in the 21st Century: is it Art? To What Extent
p. 56
Can the Preparation of Food be Seen as a Form of Art and How Does it, from this Perspective, Affect Society?
Greta Streitberger
Cooking, Science, and Technological Innovation Studying Developments from Three Different
p. 64
Restaurant Perspectives
Christiaan de Koning
Molecular Cooking as Remedy?
p. 72
An Analytical Approach to Molecular Cooking and its Applications to Solve Public Health Issues
Camiel W. Janssen
Authors, Contributors & Acknowledgments
p. 80-81
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Molecular Gastronomy is Science, Molecular Cooking is Cooking
by
Hervé This 2010/1 Cooking in the 21st century
Those days, probably because of the rapid development of Molecular Cooking, a confusion exists between science, technology and technique. It is useful to explain clearly the difference between the three fields, and also the collaboration possibilities between individual working in these fields. Technique, first, means «doing», and it is true that cooking includes a technical component. Technology is the study of technique, in view of its improvement. There can be a «local technology», when the technician asks question about his or her way of doing what he or she does. Science, finally, is the research of mechanisms of phenomena, using the «experimental method», including calculations for refuting theories. In the kitchen, the technical part is obvious. The science of it is called Molecular Gastronomy, and we lack names for the technology in between, what could be called Culinary Technology. This seems very clear, but it is true that, when Molecular Gastronomy was created by the late Pr Nicholas Kurti and me, in 1988, we confused science and its applications in Molecular Gastronomy. This is why I modified the program of Molecular Gastronomy as soon as I realized that there was a mistake. Unfortunately, the culinary trend of using results of science had so developed that it is even today a big burden to try changing ideas about all that. We have to say –as it is the truth- that there will never be science in the kitchen, because science means producing knowledge, not applying it. However, it is very encouraging that so many chefs, because of the interesting applications of Molecular Gastronomy, try to get closer to science nowadays. For education, also, Molecular Gastronomy seems to be very useful, as students consider it more pleasant to study entropy, chemical potential, diffusion, osmosis, etc. through questions surging from cooking, rather than from an abstract point of view. They see that science can be useful daily! In this regard, I have a wonderful example that we met in our laboratory: the simple determination of dry matter. This could be considered boring, because silly technique, but look at the question in the following way. If you weigh at successive times a piece of carrot that you want to dry, in the oven, you will find that the mass differences between two successive measurements is decreasing, and you would probably conclude, when the difference is lower than the balance precision, that you reached the «dry matter mass» ? This would be a mistake because mathematics can tell you that decreasing values as 1/n (n being an integer) can add to make an infinite sum! Then, how can we know the dry matter? This is the essence of the excitement of science: you begin with a simple question, and you discover
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that it is much more interesting than was thought first. Coming back to cooking, now, I have to add that it is not only technique, of course, as art is very important. When the guests say «I like this dish», it has nothing to do with technique! Can science tell something about this? Perhaps, but it would be too long to explain in some short words, and I prefer writing that cooking is also including a «social» component, as anybody knows that sharing food with friends, or cooking for the loved ones, makes food better than in poor company (it was even measured that the same dish tastes better when consumed in group, rather than alone). This has probably something to do with biology of evolution… but whatever the mechanism, science can certainly tell us something very interesting about cooking, in this regard. Is Molecular Gastronomy art? It is true that using the results of science can contribute to changing art, and it is true that Molecular Gastronomy, in this regard, is useful in kitchen where chefs are not restricted to technique, but also consider culinary art. But again, is Molecular Gastronomy an art itself? No, it is science, even if the great French mathematician Henri Poincaré said «Let us do mathematics as artists»! He wanted to say that creativity is important in science, and it is true that if you want to introduce concepts, models, theories, you need to be creative. Creative, indeed? My proposal is simply that we work hard, as said Louis Pasteur: «Always think about it».
Spicing up science
Hervé This Group of Molecular Gastronomy, UMR 1145 INRA/AgroParisTech, 16 rue Claude Bernard, F-75005 Paris, France email : herve.this@agroparistech.fr
“Hubris” or a Mean to Improve Our Nutrition: Molecular Cooking in the 21st Century
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“Hubris”or a Mean to Improve our Nutrition: Molecular Cooking in the 21st Century Sophie Mirow 2010/1
Abstract Molecular Gastronomy is a scientific discipline, which has been founded by Herve This and Nicholas Kurti in 1988. The purpose of the article “Hubris or a mean to improve our nutrition: Molecular Cooking in the 21st Century” is to define and to explain the concepts of molecular gastronomy as well as molecular cooking. Furthermore, it is analyzed whether these practices are going too far. It is assessed whether scientists “play god” when experimenting with or changing men’s most important and natural resource or whether the findings of this discipline enable us to solve problems of the 21st century, such as widespread obesity in the Western Culture. Keywords: molecular gastronomy, molecular cooking, hubris, social issues of the 21st century, the advantages of science.
Introduction issues posed by the 21st century. One of these issues is the widespread problem of obesity in the western culture, which arguably is a direct result of a lack of knowledge about the composition and importance of food, both biologically and culturally. Can the “food of tomorrow” tackle this problem? And what other benefits does it contain? Hopefully, reading this article will help you to answer these questions. What is “Molecular Gastronomy”? Molecular gastronomy is perhaps the youngest scientific discipline. It seeks to explore the chemical and physical processes and transformations of ingredients when being cooked. Both the media as well as the public have frequently failed to distinguish between the concept of molecular gastronomy and molecular cooking. As a reaction, one of the principal founders of the discipline, Herve This, clarifies the distinction in his article “Molecular gastronomy vs. Molecular Cooking” : the former involves science and science only, whilst
Cooking in the 21st century
The concept of “Molecular Cooking” has attracted a lot of media coverage in the last decade, producing much confusion and many disagreements in the public. There is nothing men depend more upon than they depend on food, it determines both our physical and mental well-being. The way we cook, what and how we prepare a meal can even indicate what culture we originate from. Food is far more than what Wikipedia defines it to be, “a substance, composed of carbohydrates, fats, proteins and water “, it keeps us alive, it can create social bonds between individuals, it involves creativity and, as many chefs argue, even art. The aim of this article is to define and explain the phenomena of molecular gastronomy in order to provide access to the topic for the public. Both the current and the original objectives of this practice will be outlined as well as a brief history of molecular gastronomy. This rather descriptive section will be followed by an analysis about whether scientists have gone too far when experimenting with or even changing some of the most important and natural substances of this planet or if the scientific approach to food will help us to solve
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the latter makes use of a new culinary trend, which involves new tools, techniques and ingredients(This, 2008). It further consists of an artistic and a social component of cooking. He defines Molecular cooking as follows “1) model “culinary definitions”; 2) collect and test “ “culinary precisions”; 3) explore (scientifically) the art component of cooking; 4) explore (scientifically) the “social link”” of cooking.” The original objectives of this scientific discipline include exploring so-called old wives tales” or traditional recipes, introducing new techniques, tools and dishes for cooking and helping the public to understand more about the food they intake. In Summary, Molecular cooking seeks to provide a better understanding of the technical, social and cultural aspects of food. (This, 2008) It is surprising that the scientific study of food has been neglected by science for so long, regarding the importance of food for the survival of mankind. However, looking back in history we realize that there have been quite early attempts to understand the chemical and physical processes catalyzed by cooking. It has been discovered that as early as in the second century BC, an unknown author of a papyrus used a balance in order to investigate the question whether fresh meat was heavier than fermented meat. The preparation of meat stock in particular, has been subject of scientific exploration for thousands of years, indicated by the appearance of recipes for meat preparation in a number of classic texts and culinary books (This, 2008). According to the authors van der Linden, McClements and Ubbink, perhaps the most famous attempt can be traced back to the 18th century, when the French chemist Antoine Laurent Lavoisier recognized the chemical importance of food properties. He analyzed different ways of stock preparation by measuring the density in order to evaluate the quality of a dish. In a report about the results of his investigation he once wrote : “Whenever one considers the most familiar objects, the simplest things, it’s impossible not to be surprised to see how our ideas are vague and uncertain, and how, as a consequence, it is important to fix them by experiments and facts.” Some fifty years later, precisely in 1825, another Frenchman, Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, originally a lawyer and politician, defined gastronomy to be “the reasoned study of all that is related to man as he nourishes himself” in his book “Physiology of Taste” (McClements et al., 2008). Herve This further adds von Liebig as well as Benjamin Thompson, who had studied culinary trans-
formations and possible improvements of it in the early 19th century (This, 2008). He argues that in fact there have been numerous scientists, who have worked on and contributed to the scientific study of food but their research was concerned with the ingredients of dishes only, rather than with culinary processes. Food science had neglected culinary processes and transformations at least until the 1980’s, observable regarding the fact that textbooks such as “Food Chemistry” discussed nothing relating to this phenomena. This is one of the reasons why This, in collaboration with Nicholas Kurti, decided to create and define the new discipline of molecular gastronomy in March 1988 (This, 2008). In his article “Food for tomorrow? How the scientific discipline of molecular gastronomy could change the way we eat”, Herve This further outlines the reasons, which inspired him and Nicholas Kurti to found a new scientific discipline. It is stated that they thought it was surprising, that despite food having such a considerable impact on everyday human life, citizens, even of developed countries, cook the same way as people did hundreds of years ago. There are not many differences observable regarding culinary books from the 17th century and books from today. Kitchens are equipped with almost the same basic gadgets as they were centuries ago, the traditional frying pan is one of many examples. The practice of cooking, to some degree, still relies on superstitious anecdotes and socalled “old wives tales”. Even in 2001, an inspector of the French department of the public education stated that her mayonnaise failed to become solid whenever she had her monthly period. Both This and Kurti were upset about the fact that people had an insufficient understanding of food and used unscientific ways to cook, reason enough for them to found a discipline, which links cooking to solid science.(This, 2008) A typical question posed by a molecular gastronomist would be, why put oil into water when cooking pasta, as it was suggested in many culinary books throughout history. If this suggestion is correct, for what reason? In order to answer such questions one can use equipment from physics and chemistry- for example a thermometer- to investigate physical transformations, which take place during cooking. In case one finds an answer to such a question, one can improve cooking techniques and eliminate mistakes done before. After having founded the discipline of molecular gastronomy, This and Kurti organized an international
“Hubris” or a Mean to Improve Our Nutrition: Molecular Cooking in the 21st Century
Method • Cut cauliflower in 1 cm slices. • Spread them on aluminum foil. • Sprinkle with olive oil and salt • Bake in oven at 200 °C for approx. 30 min (turning the slices after 15 min) • For the jelly, bring 1 dL of water to the boiling point. • Add 1 ts of agar-agar, 1 ts of sugar and 1 TS of cocoa powder. • Mix well, pour into a suitably sized container and leave to set. Cut jelly into pieces and serve together with caramelized cauliflower (Lersch,2009) This is only one of thousands of molecular cooking recipes listed both in the internet and modern culinary books. In fact, since 2005, numerous dishes have been created and named after scientists, who have invented them. This highlights the newly made connection between food and scientists quite clearly (This, 2008). Molecular Gastronomy: Are We Going Too Far? Having defined and explained the phenomena of molecular gastronomy, the question remains whether this is a temporary trend, making people spend money on the latest innovations of nouvelle cuisine or if it is a permanent change of our eating behavior, a revolution of cooking. Perhaps more importantly, does this particular discipline go too far? Are we playing god when knowledge enables us to change and transform the most important and natural substance we have? Or will the scientific study of food help us to improve our nutrition, create excellent dishes or even tackle social issues of the 21st century? The following section of this article will attempt to find answers to these questions. The British magazine “Restaurant” has recently published a list of the 50 best chefs in the world. The top three of them, namely Ferran Adria, Heston Blumenthal and Pierre Gagnaire, have all been inspired by the study of molecular gastronomy. In their restaurants, dishes such as fake caviar made from calcium and sodium alginate, instant ice-cream, fast frozen due to liquid nitrogen, or spaghetti made from vegetables
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Caramelized cauliflower and chocolate jelly Ingredients cauliflower olive oil
salt cocoa powder sugar agar
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workshop concerned with molecular and physical gastronomy, which was held in Italy in 1992. Amongst the guests were both chefs as well as scientists from all over the world, keen to find out more about the objectives of this new discipline and perhaps to make use of the newly acquired knowledge to improve and enhance their own practices in their particular profession. The workshop was successful enough to repeat it in two year intervals. Only three years later, in 1995, Herve This created the first group of molecular gastronomy at the College de France, in collaboration with Nobel Prize laureate Jean-Marie Lehn as well as Donald Cram and Charles Pedersen. In the following year, the very first PhD was presented at the University of Paris (This, 2008). The extent of interest and the growing intensity of interaction between scientists and chefs produced by molecular gastronomy is astonishing. As an example, the discipline quickly spread and advanced in France, as monthly seminars and courses on molecular gastronomy were held frequently. Even national congresses were concerned with the issue, which led to the establishment of the “Food Science and Culture” foundation ( This, 2008) These are only few examples of events, which indicate the contemporary importance of this field. Stunningly, new findings and insights are acquired on a regular basis. One of the world’s most famous chefs, Pierre Gagnaire, publishes new recipes and outlines new applications of molecular gastronomy every month on his personal website www.pierregagnaire.com. (Gagnaire, 2009) When typing “molecular cooking recipes” into the Google search bar, one is provided with more than 178,000 results. There are numerous websites, that show recipes for delicious dishes, which suggest cooking techniques inspired by the study of molecular gastronomy. Surprisingly, the cooking procedure is comprehensive and understandable for everyone, against the expectation of being confronted with complex scientific formulas. One example, which illustrates the simplicity of making use of molecular gastronomy techniques is given by a recipe for a dessert called “Caramelized cauliflower and chocolate jelly”, which is to be found on the website www.khymos.org :
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are being served with great success (This, 2008). Findings of food science enable us to transform an egg in a way that the yolk is at the outside with a round center of egg white. Meat and potatoes can be transformed into foam, shaped according to the chef’s preference. In 1894, the scientist Berthelot predicted that by the verge of the new millennium, men will not have to eat in any traditional way but can replace dishes with a simple tablet, containing all necessary nutrients (This, 2008). Of course he was mistaken, as he failed to consider men’s sophisticated sensory abilities and his infinite pleasure for taste. However, in theory, science would indeed be able to make this prediction reality and it has to some degree already, regarding the numerous nutritional supplement pills available at any supermarket. Public opinion is polarized by such phenomena, and it is indeed more than understandable if individuals react skeptically. When I was introduced to molecular gastronomy, the first word I could think of was “hubris”. This concept finds its origin in Greek tragedy such as Antigone by Sophocles, one of its meanings is to put oneself above the gods, an act of pride and arrogance against the gods, which was considered to be the worst crime in ancient Greece (Webster, 2009). Another meaning of the term is extreme haughtiness or an act symbolizing the overestimate of one’s capabilities and competences. And indeed, I believe the link between this term and molecular gastronomy can be made. Despite the level of sophistication our scientific knowledge has reached, even scientists themselves keep reminding us that it is far from infinite, that many of the things we believe to know for sure today, might be falsified tomorrow. What if experimenting with or changing the most precious resource we have has long-term consequences we can not predict, both for our bodies and for the environment. Naturally, the importance of science is undeniable, just like the benefits it has brought about for our society. However, the scientific and technological revolutions in the history of mankind have certainly produced damage harmful and irreversible enough to allow some space for caution in the future. Think of “the butterfly effect”, how the slightest change in our environment can destroy ecosystems we desperately depend on. Not to mention the problem of global warming we all are facing and how some centuries, even decades ago only the most fundamental idealists have warned about the consequences of men’s infinite greed for knowledge and development. Not
only the religious amongst us have understood that some things should be left as they were given to us, if it was god or just nature itself that has created them. Furthermore, regarding the issue from an ethical perspective, is it not perverse that we can turn meat into foam, but we seem to be unable to feed the 1.02 billion people in the world who still suffer from malnutrition (WFP, 2007)? It is a general phenomena that over the course of centuries, people have become increasingly alienated from the food they eat. In the early beginnings of human civilization, men and women were hunters and gatherers. The men would hunt animals for the nightly dinner whilst the women would collect vegetables and other eatable material in order to create a meal. People would know exactly what they were eating as they acquired it with their own hands. Later, when the Europeans started to explore new continents and countries, the western diet was complemented with products foreign to European soil, notably tomatoes, spices or potatoes. With the birth of the multinational food industry however, one could argue that people lost the ability to oversee what exactly they were eating and where it came from. This phenomena was heavily strengthened when the ongoing technological and scientific revolutions enabled men to influence both the aesthetic quality (e.g. the shape or the color of a certain kind of food) but in particular the quantity (through the use of chemical fertilizers) of the food we intake. Many of such man-made developments derived from the practice of genetic modification of food. Naturally, one could question whether the foundation of molecular gastronomy takes the process of alienation even one step further. If something tastes like chocolate, but is not made from cocoa beans, or if caviar is not collected from the oceans anymore, but made from sodium alginate, how do we know what we are eating? Can we be certain that “tomorrow’s food” is really as healthy as their founders claim? And has it been produced under ethical circumstances, which we can support? Will it still be possible for us to keep an oversight and to make decisions about what we want to eat and what we do not? Or are we losing control? Molecular Gastronomy: Can it Help Us? Having become familiar with the topic, not all my doubts could be eliminated, but most. It is one of men’s most natural characteristics to seek for answers
“Hubris” or a Mean to Improve Our Nutrition: Molecular Cooking in the 21st Century
Cooking in the 21st century
better, more rational choices on what they are going to eat as they lack an understanding about it. Herve This argues that this is exactly why children must gain more information about food and its preparation. He suggests to turn molecular gastronomy into a school subject, to bring it to the children’s class rooms (This, 2008). Children and teenagers could learn how to cook good food, which contains the nutrients necessary for our health. They could relearn that eating is not only a necessity but also a pleasure. Healthy food could be made more attractive using some of the new recipes of molecular gastronomy, so that ordinary individuals know how to cook “the perfect steak” and discover the superiority of freshly made food over fatty fast food dishes themselves. High school students in particular, but also society as a whole can clearly benefit from this new discipline, not only thanks to the invention of new, tasty, healthy dishes. The idea of promoting molecular gastronomy as an educational measure has been realized to some degree already. Workshops on experiments with flavors are already held in French public schools. Using the French example, Canada has adjusted their curricula for culinary schools in a way that the latest findings of molecular gastronomy are included. In many countries, universities have set up professorships for molecular gastronomy, amongst the countries are the Netherlands, Spain and Denmark. As mentioned earlier, the “Fondation Science et Culture Alimentaire (Foundation “Food Science and Culture) has been created in France and similar organizations have been established in Switzerland, Argentina and Spain. Herve This even foresees the possibility that one day a European Organization of Molecular gastronomy will be founded. The extent to which the new discipline of molecular gastronomy has spread in educational institutions so far can be further illustrated regarding that the first university of gastronomical science has opened in Madrid, Spain in October 2009. (This, 2008) It is difficult for the majority of the population to find access to and pleasure about science. Chemical and physical formulas can make life very difficult in school. There is widespread prejudice towards science, with people believing it to be purely rational and only relevant to a handful of geniuses. Molecular gastronomy serves to bridge the gap between art and science, and many individuals might find it helpful or even enjoy to experiment with something that is relevant to their every day life.
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and to broaden knowledge, science has perhaps become the most useful mechanism to do so. Studying the properties of food, if done reasonably, can only help us to better understand what we eat and how we should do it in the best possible way. It is important to distinguish between molecular gastronomy and genetically engineered food, with the latter indeed containing many of the dangers mentioned above. The aim of molecular gastronomy however, is to simply understand culinary processes, not necessarily to change them. It can help us to learn how cooking methods can affect the flavor and structure of dishes. It teaches us about the influence of our senses and our environment on our enjoyment of food. By learning more about the components of the food we eat, we reverse the process of alienation from food. As proposed earlier, there are numerous problematic issues posed by the 21st century, which could possibly be solved using the knowledge gained from the study of food. Herve This points out the importance of not only the scientific but also the social and cultural aspects of our eating behavior. All of these three components are characteristics of one major problem of our time, at least for the western culture: obesity. In the United States for example, there are 58 million people overweight and an additional 40 million individuals are obese, 3 million of which are morbidly obese. Obesity related diseases include diabetes, cardio vascular diseases or breast and colon cancer. According to the World Health Organization, at least 20 million children worldwide were overweight in 2005 (WHO, 2006). And despite prejudice, obesity is not an issue relevant to the U.S. only. 8.4 percent of the citizens of the Netherlands are obese, and other European states such as England, Germany and Austria exceed this number substantially(WHO,2006). Causes of this phenomenon are numerous, but a major one, without a doubt, is posed by the growing popularity of fast food chains such as “McDonalds”, “Burger King” or “Kentucky Fried Chicken” as well as society’s attraction to soft drinks such as “Coca Cola”, “Fanta”, or “Sprite”. Apart from the biological consequences of this trend, there are social and cultural results as well. Many people in the western culture seem to have forgotten about the social importance of a family having dinner together. Inevitably, Health programmes and campaigns concerning the promotion of and education about healthier food are doomed to fail due to the fact that people and children in particular, are simply unable to make
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The benefits for chefs are the most obvious. Some scientific knowledge about the physics and chemistry behind their ingredients will help them to improve traditional recipes and make use of their creativity in an almost infinite manner. Herve This himself claims to have collected more than 25 000 culinary precisions, the number of new possibilities in the kitchen are, obviously, beyond anyone’s imagination (This, 2008). We see that many problems such as obesity might be solvable using the findings of the study of food. Going one step further, the same discipline might help to tackle the exact opposite of obesity: the problem of undernourishment in the third world. Let us get back to the paradox mentioned earlier, about the fact that we can turn meat into foam but we still can not feed the millions of people in the world, who suffer from malnutrition or undernourishment. In fact, this does not have to be as paradoxical as thought before, molecular gastronomy might even serve a solution to this problem. According to the World Food Programme, it is estimated that 684 000 child deaths could be prevented by increasing access to Vitamin A and zinc (WFP, 2009)Iron deficiency affects 2 billion people worldwide and is the most prevalent form of malnutrition worldwide (WFP, 2009). Furthermore, it causes blindness, susceptibility to disease and higher mortality rates, affecting about 25% of the preschool students in the developing world (UNICEF,2006) There are dozens of such statistics, which indicate that the number of undernourished individuals worldwide could be limited, if they gained easier access to important nutrients. In extreme cases, Berthelot’s prediction to invent tablets containing all nutrients might not be as useless as people thought. It might not even have to go that far, but molecular gastronomy indeed enables scientists to create nutrient supplements in form of tablets or to simply increase the level of one particular nutrient of a particular dish. Molecular gastronomy: indeed a way to improve our nutrition and a helpful mean for confronting many of the challenges of this century. Conclusion In Conclusion, molecular gastronomy is the scientific study of food, its aim is to investigate the chemical and physical processes and transformations food undergoes when being cooked. The term has produced
much confusion in the public, as the media often failed to distinguish between “molecular gastronomy” and “molecular cooking”. In contrast to molecular gastronomy, which is concerned with science only, molecular cooking explores the technical, social and artistic components of food. Despite early attempts to use food as a subject of study, the earliest being in the 2nd century BC, the new discipline has only been officially established by Herve This and Nicholas Kurti in 1988. Molecular gastronomy has become an issue of heated debate, some argue it is “Hubris”, as scientists “play god” when experimenting with or changing mankind’s most precious resources. A certain degree of caution is necessary without a doubt, as nobody at the moment can be fully aware of all the long-term consequences of this practice. Another problem posed by the foundation of this discipline is that it might alienate people from what they eat. Those, who do not gain access to the findings of molecular gastronomy through education or media, might become unable to identify or understand the origin and composition of the meals they take in. Criticisms and skepticism are certainly justified, and perhaps even helpful to modify and improve the scientific approach to food in a way that it is beneficial for society as a whole. However, it has been assessed that most of the concerns expressed about molecular gastronomy are unnecessary. In contrast to genetical modification of food, molecular gastronomy in combination with molecular cooking, simply seeks to provide a better public understanding not only about the biological, but the social and cultural aspects of eating. This can be very useful in tackling the widespread problem of obesity in the Western World. Due to the spread of fast food chains and societies growing attraction to hamburgers and sugary soft drinks, individuals eat too much unhealthy, fatty food which causes overweight and obesity related diseases such as diabetes. Statisitcs published by the World Health organization (WHO) state that worldwide, about 20 million children were overweight in 2005. The large majority of these children are from the United States and Europe. Statistics as such suggest that many people in the Western culture have lost the interest and skills for cooking healthy food. An introduction of molecular gastronomy as a subject in school would help to teach the young generation about the pleasure and importance of healthy food. Society can further benefit by finally finding an easy access to science and realize
“Hubris� or a Mean to Improve Our Nutrition: Molecular Cooking in the 21st Century
Lersch, Martin, (2009), Molecular Gastronomy and the Science of Cooking, retrieved from www.khymos.org McClements, Julian; van der Linden, Erik; Ubbink, Job (2008), Molecular Gastronomy: A Food Fad or an Interface for Science Based Cooking? P. 250- 254 Reuters (2009), Spain to Open Molecular Gastronomy School, p.1 This, Herve (2008), Molecular Gastronomy, A Scientific Look at Cooking, p.570-577 This, Herve (2008), Food for Tomorrow? How the Scien-
This, Herve (2009), Molecular Gastronoy vs. Molecular Cooking, p.1 UNICEF, (2006), Under Five Deaths By Cause, p.230231 UNICEF, (2007), Vitamin and Mineral Deficiency, A Global Progress Report, p.59-61 Webster, Merriam (2009), Hubris, retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/HUBRIS World Food Programme, (2009), Global Hunger retrieved from www.who.org/stats/hunger World Food Programme, (2007), Annual Report on Hunger, p.154 retrieved from www.who.org/stats/ hunger
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References
tific Discipline of Molecular Gastronomy Could Change The Way We Eat, p. 1-10
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the relevance of it, as food affects every individual in his everyday life. Additionally, molecular gastronomy provides chefs and hobby cooks with opportunities to optimize their dishes or even invent new ones, as creativity is unlimited. The number of recipes for new dishes is growing every month and as websites on the internet illustrate, using molecular gastronomical techniques is easy and manageable even for people with neither a scientific nor a gastronomical background. Finally, even deeper reaching problems such as widespread malnutrition in the third world could possibly be solved by scientific findings of the discipline, at least to some degree, as scientists nowadays are able to produce nutrient supplement tablets or to increase the level of a particular nutrient in a certain dish. Preventable diseases caused by iron deficiency or other nutrient deficiencies could therefore be eliminated one day. Having analyzed the controversial discipline of molecular gastronomy, it becomes clear that it can serve as a substantial progress for societies across the globe. Knowledge, if not abused, is always beneficial and provides many opportunities for us to improve our everyday life. The beautiful thing about this particular scientific approach is that it is useful for every individual, no matter if obese, undernourished, or simply interested in the pleasure for tasty food. Whether dishes inspired by molecular gastronomy will replace traditional dishes in the future can not be predicted, nobody knows what and how we will eat tomorrow. But the study of food will certainly not harm, but enrich and most probably even improve our eating behavior.
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Arina Loghin
A Short Analysis of the Development of Historical Trends in Meat Processing and Preservation 2010/1
Arina Loghin
Abstract Meat processing in the scope of preservation represents one of the most important developments in the evolution of humans. A variety of processing methods have been developed in time. Many of them have been preserved since ancient times, such as curing, smoking and comminuting. There have been three stages in the evolution of meat processing which account for different approaches to meat preservation. The first stage represents the development of traditional recipes through trial and error. The second stage is related to the development of meat processing into an industry using various chemicals and modern technologies. The third stage has been the upgrading of the scientific method, in which attempts are made to decrease the use of chemicals and process meat naturally. The junctures between these stages constitute the breakthroughs achieved by people in science and their worldviews. Keywords: stages of evolution, junctures, meat processing and preservation, curing
Spicing up science
Introduction Since prehistoric times humans’ eating habits have revolved around meat. Meat helped the human species evolve by improving the effectiveness of the brain and the digestive system, and by strengthening the bones and the muscles. Due to the fact that it was an essential element in their diet, the first humans made efforts to procure it. Hunting has had a great influence on the interactions between humans and between humans and nature. People had to conceive ways and weapons to catch their prey. Moreover, hunting, as well as the domestication of animals, presupposed strategy and planning whereby human cooperation was enhanced. Also, to be able to keep their meat provisions from spoiling for long periods of time people developed methods to process meat. From an evolutionary perspective, the development of ways to process meat for preservation was a great breakthrough for mankind. It accounted for
humans’ culinary creativity, and it contributed to the diversification of eating habits through the various recipes used. The traditional processes were at first worked out by trial and error. These techniques were passed on from generation to generation, and although their success could not be fully explained, it was enough to ensure their continuation. In evolution, two junctures accounted for the start of new eras in meat processing. Numerous social, cultural and political factors modified tradition and transformed the practices of meat preservation. It is an insightful task to highlight the main junctures in the evolution of meat processing and observe what they entailed. Such an approach demonstrates the connections between essential developments for human evolution, such as the industrial revolution, and the modification of humans’ meat eating habits. For the purposes of this paper, it is first relevant to have an
A Short Analysis of the Development of Historical Trends in Meat Processing and Preservation
Meat and Meat Processing
Cooking in the 21st century
The most widely consumed types of meat include: the red meat of cattle, pigs and sheep and the white meat of poultry (chicken, turkey, duck, and goose) (Bender 1992 ). Depending on location and cultural trends the meat of various other animals has been eaten: domesticated species like horse, camel, dog , goat and llama, or wild species such as deer, buffalo, rabbit, possum, bear, polar bear, seal, walrus, rat, guinea pig, pigeon, fowl, etc. (Bender 1992). The most widely consumed parts have been the muscle and fat that cover the bones, bone-marrow, and certain organs such as: liver, brain, tongue, kidneys, etc. In this paper, when referring to meat, muscle and fat parts are taken into consideration. Meat is easily affected by microbial decomposition, thus, the purpose of meat processing has always been to prevent meat spoilage in the scope of preserving it for a long period of time (Pearson & Gillett 1996, p. 2). The main processes that people use include mechanical and chemical alteration of fresh meat. Mechanical processes are grinding, chopping, cutting and mixing. The chemical alteration of meat refers to curing, seasoning, drying, smoking, refrigerating, freezing, cooking, dehydrating, controlled fermentation, adding chemical additives and enzymes (Pearson & Gillett 1996, p. 1). Lastly, the process of packaging (plastic packaging, vacuum-packing etc.) and canning influence the degree of preservation of meat and the quality of storing. The first reasons that drove people to preserve meat was the need to keep provisions of meat over the winter, when game was scarce and thin, or throughout their journeys in search for more game to hunt, or new places to inhabit. The prehistoric preservation methods, as revealed by archeology, include: freezing, smoking, salting and drying. Also, other developments from the ancient times are comminuting and controlled fermentation. The geographical position had a
great influence on which preservation method humans adopted. For instance, humans in the subarctic regions preserved their meat by freezing it. Humans living near seas, oceans, salt springs learned to employ salt for preservation. In desert areas, or in the mountains with thin air people dried their meat. Conversely, in areas with humid atmosphere and little sunshine people smoked the meat in order to preserve it (Wentworth 1956, p. 2). These methods were not developed in only one place from where they were spread to other peoples. They may have been worked out in different places in approximately the same period of prehistory. As people depended less on their environment, methods uncommon in one location were adapted in order to suit people’s necessities. Nowadays, in most cases, there is no single process that is applied to meat in order to preserve it. Mechanical, chemical and packing processes can be applied for manufacturing a meat product. For the purposes of this paper, a special focus is put on curing because it is a complex method involving the usage of an important natural resource, salt. Furthermore, curing is included in almost all the other processes of meat preservation. It has had a long history and it is a controversial issue nowadays because of the use of nitrite as an ingredient. Other meat processing methods are defined and explained in the analysis of the contexts that affected the improvement of meat preservation techniques. Such an approach leaves out many techniques, but permits a more detailed presentation of several major ones that best illustrate the developments in meat processing throughout its evolution. By observing the evolution of curing, three main stages in the development of meat processing can be identified. The first stage corresponds to the period of time when preservation techniques were developed by trial and error and the successful methods were passed on to subsequent generations as traditions. This stage represents a “pre-scientific” stage since people had no scientific understanding of what determined their preservation technique to work. The second stage constitutes the period from the late 19th century until the middle of the 20th century. In this period, science was not complex, but there was an excessive enthusiasm about its possibilities and many recipes for meat processing included chemical ingredients that were not well understood. This stage could be considered the “overly scientific” stage in the evolution of meat preservation, in spite of the fact that
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overview of several meaningful facts about meat: what qualifies as “meat” and the importance of the methods of meat preservation. The evolution of meat curing is presented in order to illustrate a case of meat processing technique that has evolved from prehistory to the present day. This presentation is the basis for the discussion of the junctures that have occurred in the history of meat processing.
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safety measures were introduced in order to standardize meat production. The third stage began in the last two decades of the 20th century when scientific research became more effective and was aimed at studying in depth the chemistry of meat and meat products and diversify the choice range. Moreover, more rigorous measures were introduced with regard to consumption safety. A great emphasis has been put since then on the development of healthy and nutritious meat products by eliminating potential harmful chemicals from processing and substituting them with natural ingredients. This stage constitutes the “critical” stage of meat processing. Meat Curing There is archeological evidence that salting, the initial form of curing, was practiced from prehistoric times. Excavations from the beginning of the 21st century at Zhongba, one of the most important sites in Central China, revealed important finds preserved from the late Neolithic up to the Bronze Age (2500 to 200 B.C.) (Flad 2005, p. 231). Retrievals of animal bones, with clear marks of cuts from butchery, and also of certain types of pottery employed in salt production provided good evidence of prehistoric salting of meat. Moreover, historical evidence in texts written on bamboo canes discovered in a tomb from 316 B.C. accounted for the processing of meat by salting. Other similar texts suggest that the salted meat produced at Zhongba was one of the market goods exchanged in the interregional trade that took place in the area. Salting was a common method in ancient Egypt and Greece. The practice was also utilized in Britain more than 2000 years ago. Up until the Middle Ages salting was improved and the new techniques spread not only on the whole European continent, but also in the Americas. Curing developed from salting and has salt and nitrite as its main ingredients. Two traditional recipes were popular in Europe and America from the beginning of the modern era until the 19th century: “the brine method” and the “dry salting method” (Marshall 1979, p. 402). The first method involved soaking large chunks of meat in brine prepared with salt, sugar and saltpeter in which the meat was kept for a few weeks. The second method implied packing in a large container chunks of meat in layers with “cure” made
from salt, sugar, saltpeter and black pepper (Marshall 1979, p. 402). These recipes were mostly applied to pig meat. Pigs were slaughtered in late autumn or winter, when they had gotten fat enough. The meat preserved through curing would last for a whole year. From late 19th century the developments in chemistry permitted for curing to be evaluated scientifically. Knowing what made this method efficient was essential for its further development. Nitrate had been used in curing for centuries either as a contaminant of salt or in the form of saltpeter (potassium nitrate). In the 1890s the chemistry of nitrate was studied and it was discovered that during curing it converted into nitrite through bacterial action. Thus, it was shown that nitrite was the main curing factor (Sebranek & Bacus 2007, p. 138). Also, in 1902 in Germany, Dr. A Pettersen conducted experiments to test the properties of salt. They proved that salt prevents the proliferation of anaerobic bacteria. The first conclusive studies about the safe usage of nitrite for meat preservation were conducted in 1925 by Lewis et al. and in 1926 by Kerr et al.. Subsequent to their studies the American Bureau of Animal Industry authorized the use of nitrite for meat processing in production plants. However, according to research in the 1960s nitrite is a toxic chemical for humans if a lethal dose (estimated at 1 gram) is ingested (Cassens, Ito, Lee & Buege 1978, p. 633). Nitrate, however, is found in leafy or root vegetables, and also in water (Cassens, Ito, Lee & Buege 1978, p. 633). Research in the 1970s raised concerns with regard to the safety of nitrite usage in meat processing. It was shown that nitrite can react with amines in the stomach and form nitrosamines (carcinogenic compounds). Also, studies in the 1990s associated leukemia and brain cancer with the consumption of cured meat (Sebranek & Bacus 2007, p.140). These issues are still debated upon, although research in the past four decades demonstrated that only 5% of the nitrite ingested comes from cured meat, the rest comes from vegetables and the saliva (Sebranek & Bacus 2007, p.140). Nevertheless, to ensure consumption safety, production practices have decreased the levels of nitrite in processed meat. Safety regulations have been introduced in the past years which require that certain quantities of nitrite are not exceeded in meat products. Moreover, many scientific studies now attempt to find natural substitutes for nitrite. Nitrite is still considered an instrumental in-
A Short Analysis of the Development of Historical Trends in Meat Processing and Preservation
Cooking in the 21st century
Stages of Evolution and Junctures To better illustrate the distinctions between the three stages, each of them has to be analyzed in relation to other developments in meat processing. The “pre-scientific” stage lasted from prehistory to the middle of the 19th century. During this stage drying was among the most important methods of preservation and was in many cases associated with curing. Archeological evidence of meat drying has been found in prehistoric Sumerian sites, in Egyptian sites along the lower Nile and in Mongolia. In Europe, in late Middle Ages, drying was documented among the Celts, populations in the Alps, the Pyrenees and the Balkans (Wentworth 1956, p.2). Drying was an essential meat preservation technique for the indigenes in North America. The techniques the Indians employed for millennia were quite homogeneous among the various tribes, thus pointing to the fact that they may have originated from the same source, most probably in Asia, before prehistoric bands crossed the Bering Strait (Friesen 2001, p. 318). Indians generally used buffalo meat for drying. However, in Arctic and sub-Arctic regions the caribou and the musk ox were hunted, and on the present territory of Canada Indians dried the meat of deer and moose (Wentworth 1956, p. 3). The common recipe among the Indians on the North-American continent was jerky. Drying was a complicate, but very useful process, as the dried meat occupied less space and was more convenient for transportation. Successful natural meat drying required that a maximum surface was exposed to air in order to insure a complete removal of moisture from the tissue; thus, thin strips of meat had to be cut (Friesen 2001, p. 317). Oftentimes, if the process was not done in the right conditions the meat would spoil. Thus, meat drying required a special technique and proper conditions of air dryness, and it took time and many trials before people gained the knowhow to apply this process. Once the strips were dry they would get so hard that they had to be pounded into small pieces for easier mastication, but also for convenient storage. Meat drying was a very common practice on the North American territory up to the 19th century, not only among Indians, but also among European travelers (Wentworth 1956, p. 4). In the “pre-scientific” stage traditional curing was also associated with smoking, which is actually a
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gredient of curing because it annihilates Clostridium botulinum, a bacteria which grows on meat and can produce a disease named botulism. Moreover, nitrite catalyzes the penetration of salt in the meat and produces a stable pink color (Davidson 1999, p. 491). For color stabilization ascorbic acid is also sometimes used in modern curing. Sugar and sometimes spices are added to modify the flavor, and polyphosphates (salts of polyphosphoric acid) are used to modify the texture and reduce muscle shrinkage. They also allow for lower concentrations of salt to be used ( Sebranek 2003, pp. 3789-3790). Since the beginning of the 20th century the two traditional techniques using brine and dry-curing have mostly been altered in terms of scale of production. Mechanized processes in large, specialized production units have been developed to render the methods more efficient. However, the application of the traditional recipes is time consuming. Industrialized dry-curing is done by rubbing dry-curing agents on the surface of the meat. Afterwards the meat is left to cure on a shelf or in a box. Sometimes the procedure has to be repeated for up to 80 days for uniform distribution (Ledward 2003, p. 3775). As far as the brine method is concerned, the old technique of immersing meat in concentrated brine has been preserved, but it tends to be substituted by two new, rapid methods of curing: injection and “tumbling” (Ledward 2003, p. 3775). They both ensure the uniform distribution of the cure in the meat. There are three main methods of injection. The first is artery pumping through which the brine is introduced in the vascular system. The second involves stitch pumping, or the injection of brine through a hollow needle in different parts of the meat. The third is done through automatic multiple injection of brine in meat through several hollow needles. The “tumbling” method involves the “massaging” of meat with brine in rotating drums (Ledward 2003, p. 3775). Meat curing has made great progress since prehistory. From salting using raw salt to curing using a combination of salt and saltpeter the progress lasted several millennia. However, the true impact on curing came at the end of the 19th century when curing was evaluated scientifically. It took more than half a century to gain more knowledge on the true implications of using nitrite in curing. However, knowing that nitrite can be harmful may open the way for new developments in curing.
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form of drying from prehistoric times. In some areas in colonized North America or in medieval Europe, dry salted meat was smoked in specially built smokehouses. These smokehouses had to be perfectly sealed except for a vent in the ceiling through which the smoke could get out. The meat was hung from the crossbeams of the smokehouse by hooks or wire, and left for about a week above smoking charcoal from hickory or oak wood. The smoke would penetrate the meat and partially dry it; meat processed in this way had an aged taste and could last a year (Marshall 1979, p. 409-410). The main interruption in the “pre-scientific” stage was the development of canning by Frenchman Nicholas Appert at the beginning of the 19th century. There was a period of about fifty years in which the traditional methods were used alongside canning. Although the method of preserving foods in hermetically sealed containers was claimed to have been developed as early as the 15th century, Appert was the first to test this method and make experiments on different foods and observe their reaction (Graham 1981, p. 376). Moreover, he published a book in 1810 in which he described the process involving taking air out of the glass container in which food was placed, sealing it and then boiling it in a water bath. In 1812 in England, the usage of tin containers was patented by Donkin, Hall and Gamble. The first exclusive meat-canning endeavors were made in 1847 by Henry Dangars from New South Wales in Australia. Meat canning in Australia had become a prominent business by the 1880s. It was also popular in the United States and South America. In spite of the great praise of the canning method, it took years of experimentation before it was perfected. Food stored in cans would often spoil due to the fact that air was not completely eliminated or that sterilization (boiling) was not properly done. After the bacteriological studies conducted by Pasteur in the 1860s, it was understood that the spoilage of canned food was due to the proliferation of “microbes” in the presence of oxygen in the can. Canning was at first developed like the traditional methods through trial and error, and it was popularized almost all over the world although its success was not fully understood. However, it was perfected in only several decades due to the fact there were people who specialized in testing it. Also, biology and chemistry were emerging and contributed a great deal to the understanding of the science behind canning. Referring back to curing, a similar progress can be observed.
In the late 19th century the chemical action of nitrate and salt was studied and the science of curing became less of a mystery. Thus, the actual juncture between the “pre-scientific” stage and the following stage was around the time when the sciences and the trial and error processes merged, and meat preservation could be explained in scientific language. The “overly scientific” stage was characterized by an extreme trust in science. The fascination of adding chemicals to meat in order to preserve it gave rise to a wave of unorthodox (from a contemporary perspective) experiments and processing methods. Some of these were described in the British Medical Journal from the late 1800s as promising ways to process meat in the future. For example, an issue from 1870 described the experiment of a Mr. John Gamgee, who replaced the oxygen in the blood with carbonic oxide and then impregnated the meat with sulphurous acid gas. This process was said to preserve the meat in the open air for three months (*** 1870, p. 65). In another issue from 1871 a recipe recommended by a Mr. Pelouze, described how medium size pieces of meat were kept “in an atmosphere of carbonic oxide gas under pressure” (*** 1871, p. 537) and then exposed to air in order to dry. Afterwards, the meat was treated with an “anti-septic solution” (brine or saltpeter) and packed hermetically in sealed containers (*** 1871, p. 537). An issue from 1872 presented a method to preserve meat developed by a Mr. Sacca from the Academy of Sciences. He used acetate of soda to preserve meat and then treated it in “hydrochlorite of ammonia” in order to render it edible (*** 1872, p. 171). All these methods would be severely condemned by present standards. The chemical substances used most probably eliminated all traces of micro-organisms that contribute to the putrefaction of meat. However, the meat resulting from such a process would not be safe for consumption due to the negative effect on human health of the chemicals used. The “overly scientific” stage can be related to the encouragement of the use of nitrite for meat processing after studies that only tested the safe conditions for using nitrite in curing. As in the case of the aforementioned recipes, the main issue was that not enough was known about the chemicals used. Moreover, the technology employed was not yet complex and trusty enough to provide scientists with advanced results. Nevertheless, the results obtained, if convenient, were generally judged as applicable.
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purposes, for the navy, the army and astronauts. Thus, the juncture between the “overly scientific” and the “critical” stage can be placed at about the middle of the 20th century. The intensification of scientific studies and the critical view on previous methods of meat processing ensured that more qualitative products would be produced. It is important to mention that the change did not occur suddenly. The transition to the “critical” stage lasted for about three decades. The progress can be pointed out in relation to the evolution of curing. In the 1960s it was shown that there is a danger if too much nitrite is ingested, and only in the 1980s (after nitrite was proved to cause cancer) were measures taken to reduce the amount of nitrite in meat products. The “critical” stage has not yet produced radical changes in meat processing. This stage mostly accounts for the awareness that certain chemicals used for meat processing are not healthy. As a result of studies conducted on various meat products authorities in charge of consumer safety have introduced regulations limiting the amounts of chemicals used in meat processing. In the Western world the most important institutions to impose such regulations are the European Union and the United States Department of Agriculture. However, the processes used have mostly remained the same as in the 20th century. One very important line of meat products illustrating the developments of the “critical” stage is represented by comminuted products. Comminuting presupposes that meat is chopped, grinded or flaked and reshaped into a new product. There is a variety of products made through comminuting, such as sausages, salami, hamburgers and meatballs. The meat used for this type of meat processing can come from multiple sources: poultry, cattle, or pigs; but also horses, camels, dogs in the countries where these meats are consumed. The body parts taken for processing are mainly muscle and fat, but they can also include grinded organs and skin. Comminuting involves curing and the usage of various additives and seasoning. Enhancing meat products with soy proteins was a praised method in the 20th century, and it is still used today because it is cost-effective. Soy proteins enhance the flavor and appearance of meat products. They have an essential role in forming the texture of the new meat product by binding meat proteins, emulsifying, retaining moisture and stabilizing the consistency of meat (Rakosky 1970,
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Later developments from the “overly scientific” stage included the new techniques of meat dehydration introduced during World War II. At the beginning of the 1940s industrialized dehydration was regarded as a practical way to produce meat for the army that was nutritious, convenient to ship and to store, and did not require refrigeration. Intensive studies were conducted in order to find the most efficient solution for dehydration. The various equipments tested included: warm air driers, vacuum driers, drum driers, gas driers, and for large-scale operations, the continuous system of drying, including the rotary type drier and tunnel type drier, which proved the most cost-efficient (Kraybill 1943, p. 46). Although these systems differed from one another they all involved three basic steps: chopping the meat, precooking it and then drying it in their characteristic ways. The difference between the last two systems and the rest was that they performed all three steps mechanically. Therefore, the first two steps were not performed separately and then transferred to the drier manually, like for the first three systems. Precooking was a prerequisite, as only this process could ensure that no water remained in the meat that would allow for bacteria to grow (Kraybill 1943, p. 47). The process of dehydration as described above seems like an efficient way to process meat. However, according to studies from 1953, the process applied several years earlier affected the properties of the meat, reducing the content of thiamine, a protein, and of pantothenic acid (a vitamin of the B complex ) (Doty, Wang, & Auerbach 1953, p. 665). Furthermore, the storage in airtight containers determined the appearance of unpleasant flavors. One important issue about meat dehydration during the war was posed by the need of rehydration. The adding of water was recommended for rehydration, and then cooking. However, meat thus rehydrated did not have a satisfactory consistency, according to subsequent studies. The problem lied in the recipe for dehydration. Thus, after the war, a new recipe was developed: freeze-drying, involving freezing meat at -80° C and then vacuum-drying at 45° C (Doty et al. 1953, pp. 666-667). Meat processed in this way, when rehydrated, preserved almost all properties of fresh meat. In conclusion, the scientists from the University of Chicago performing this experiment, recommended freeze-drying to be done on an industrial scale. Although it has not become a household commodity, freeze-dried meat is still produced and used especially for emergency situations, for travelling
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p. 1005). Moreover, they permit the reduction of animal fat usage in processing; thus, products obtained contain less fat and more protein. For this reason in the last century soy proteins were considered to contribute to the nutrition of meat products. As a matter of fact, in the 20th century the industry went as far as promoting soy products simulating meat products. However, in the 21st century quality control measures have imposed maximum levels of soy protein that can be added to meat products. Furthermore, a proper labeling of the products on the market has been required (Castro-Rubio, Garcia, Rodriguez & Marina 2005, p. 220). There have been attempts especially in the last decade to find alternative healthy solutions to the use of additives in meat processing. Some of the most controversial studies have involved the elimination of the direct addition of nitrite from curing in order to produce naturally cured products. A study from 2006 used naturally cured products including ham, bacon and salami to demonstrate that they presented the typical characteristics of cured products. The alternative ingredients used instead of nitrite in the naturally cured products were: sea salt, evaporated cane juice, raw sugar, lactic acid starter culture, natural spices, and celery juice (Sebranek & Bacus 2007, p. 141). These ingredients were demonstrated to have something important in common: a high concentration of nitrate. The nitrate has to be converted into nitrite through the reaction with micro-organisms, such as a nitrate reductase enzyme (Sebranek & Bacus 2007, p. 143). Apart from this, the processes applied for ordinary curing can be applied for natural curing. However, meat products containing nitrite from natural sources may not be as safe for consumption as the typical nitrite-cured products because they lack preservatives such as: phosphates, lactate and curing accelerators (Sebranek & Bacus 2007, p. 143). Instead, other natural preservatives have been used to replace the usual preservatives: vinegar, lemon juice solids and cherry powder (Sebranek & Bacus 2007, p. 143), and have so far produced satisfactory results. Nevertheless, more research is required before naturally cured products can be commercialized. The reactions of nitrite are unpredictable, thus the amount of nitrite naturally formed in meat products cannot be clearly determined. It may happen that in the end the quantity may be either to low or too high, both cases posing threats for consumer health.
Other endeavors to introduce natural ingredients in processed meat were made through experiments from last century using garlic. People have used the beneficial properties of garlic for medicinal purposes for millennia. However, scientists started to explore garlic to its full potential only recently. Commercialized fresh chicken meat has to be washed and treated with bactericides before it is refrigerated, but instead of various chemicals, garlic could be used as a natural bactericide. Experiments showed that garlic extract was extremely efficient in ceasing the proliferation of many types of bacteria including: Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli. An experiment from 2004, however, pointed out that the garlic solution is not effective against Salmonella (Alves de Moura Oliviera et. al. 2005, p. 98). Thus, using garlic alone does not produce safe meat products, but it is a healthy addition to the science of meat processing. The 2004 experiment concluded that chicken processing facilities should add garlic extract to the tank water in which chicken is washed (Alves de Moura Oliviera et. al. 2005, p. 107). Conclusion Meat processing was a necessity for early humans since survival depended on the meat provisions they had. Natural resources such as salt, or wood were used for meat preservation. The traditional techniques were developed by trial and error and they were preserved for millennia until science emerged and changed the linear course of meat preservation. The development of chemistry and biology to explain the changes occurring in processed meat introduced a new era in meat preservation based on scientific knowledge. Moreover, the scale of production grew and meat products were developed in specialized manufacturing plants. At first, the aim of scientists was to provide solutions for meat preservation using chemicals, which were in fact dangerous for consumer health. Throughout the 20th century due to regulations with regard to consumption safety scientists became more critical with their results. The development of the technology used contributed extensively to the employment of better processing methods, although many traditional recipes were preserved, such as curing, drying or comminuting. Since the end of last century great emphasis has been put on the development of naturally preserved products. However, even recent experiments are not conclusive and better technology
A Short Analysis of the Development of Historical Trends in Meat Processing and Preservation
References Alves de Moura Oliviera, K. et. al. (2005). Aqueous Garlic Extract and Microbiological Quality of Refrigerated Poultry Meat. Journal of Food Processing and Preservation, 29, 98-108. Retrieved from http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/118694655/PDFSTART Barkema,A., Drabenstott,M.,& Novack, N. (2001). The New U.S. Meat Industry. Economic Review (Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City), Q II. 33-56. Retrieved from http://www.kc.frb.org/PUBLICAT/ECONREV/ PDF/2q01bark.pdf
Castro-Rubio, F., Garcia, C., Rodriguez, R., & Marina, L. (2005). Simple and Inexpensive method for the Reliable Determination of Additions of Soybean Proteins in Heat-Processed Meat Products: An Alternative to the AOAC Offical Method. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 53, 220-226. Retrieved from www.sciencedirect.com Davidson, A. (Ed.). (1999). The Oxford Companion to Food. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.thefreedictionary. com/
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or additional solutions are required to render the natural ingredients proposed reliable and fully efficient. The presentation of the evolution of curing in this paper was meant to provide an example of the development of one of the most important meat processing methods throughout all the three stages. In order to point out the characteristics of the stages in the evolution of meat processing several other methods were explained. Indeed, there is a variety of developments from all stages that have been left aside. However, more examples would have not allowed for a good understanding of what each process involved. Moreover, the most illustrative processes for each of the stages were chosen. Through the examples given, the junctures between the three stages were clearly highlighted.
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Doty, D. M., Wang, H., & Auerbach, E. (1953). Chemical and Histological Properties of Dehydrated Meat. Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 10(5), 664-668. doi: 10.1021/jf60010a003 Flad, R. K. (2005). Evaluating Fish and Meat Salting at Prehistoric Zhongba, China. Journal of Field Archaeology, 30(3), 231-253. Retrieved from http://www.jstor. org/stable/40026010?origin=JSTOR-pdf Friesen, T. M. (2001). A Zooarcheological Signature for Meat Storage: Re-Thinking the Drying Utility Index. American Antiquity, 6(2), 315-331. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/2694611?origin=JSTORpdf
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Graham, J. C. (1981). The French Connection in the Bender, A. (1992). Meat and Meat Products in Human Early History of Canning. Journal of the Royal Society Nutrition in Developing Countries. Food and Agricul- of Medicine, 74, 374-381. Retrieved from http://www. ture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1438835/pdf/jrfrom http://www.fao.org/docrep/t0562e/T0562E02. socmed00261-0062.pdf htm#Meat%20quality Kraybill, H. R. (1943). Dehydration of Meat. Industrial Bernues, A., Olaizola, A., & Corcoran, K. (2003). Label- and Engineering Chemistry, 35(1), 46-50. doi: 10.1021/ ling information demanded by European consumers ie50397a012 and relationships with purchasing motives, quality and safety of meat. Meat Science, 65, 1095-1106. Retrieved Ledward, D. A. (2003). Preservation. In Encyclopedia from http://www.elsevier.com/locate/meatsci/a4.3d of Food Sciences and Nutrition 2nd Edition (Vol. 6, pp. 3772- 3777). Oxford: Elsevier Science. Cassens, A. G., Ito, T., Lee, M., & Buege, D. (1978). The Use of Nitrite in Meat. BioScience, 28 (10), Marshall, H. W. (1979). Meat Preservation on the Farm 633-637. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/ in Missouri’s “Little Dixie”. The Journal of American stable/1307393?origin=JSTOR-pdf Folklore, 92(366), 400-417. Retrieved from http:// www.jstor.org/stable/540509
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Naylor, S. (2000). Spacing the Can: Empire, Modernity and the Globalization of Food. Environment and Planning A , 32, 1625-1639. doi:10.1068/a32166
Peace, A. (2008). Meat in the Genes. Anthropology *** (1872). Preservation of Meat and Vegetables. The Today, 24(3), 5-10. Retrieved from http://www3.in- British Medical Journal, 2(606). Retrieved from: http:// terscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/120084733/PDF- www.jstor.org/stable/25232692?origin=JSTOR-pdf START Pearson, A. M. & Gillett, T. A. (1996). Processed Meats 3rd Ed. Retrieved from http://books.google.nl/books ?hl=nl&lr=&id=SJhrqEuJoRIC&oi=fnd&pg=PR11&dq=P rocessed+meats++By+Albert+Marchant+Pearson,+Ted ford+A.+Gillett&ots=GKa4x35PW9&sig=RkH0NmdMW HctmeNBntoSfsnDObc#v=onepage&q=&f=false Rakosky, J. (1970). Soy Products for the Meat Industry. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 18(6), 1005-1009. doi: 10.1021/jf60172a032 Sebranek, J. G. (2003). Sausages and Comminuted Products. In Encyclopedia of Food Sciences and Nutrition 2nd Edition (Vol. 6, pp. 3785- 3791). Oxford: Elsevier Science. Sebranek, J. G. & Bacus, J. N. (2007). Cured Meat Products without the Direct Addition of Nitrate or Nitrite: What are the Issues?. Meat Science, 77, 136-147. Retrieved from www.sciencedirect.com Smil, V. (2002). Eating Meat: Evolution, Patterns, and Consequences. Population and Development Review, 28(4). 599-639. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/ stable/3092782?origin=JSTOR-pdf
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*** (1871). Preservation of Meat. The British Medical Journal, 1(542). Retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org/ stable/25229600?origin=JSTOR-pdf
Vandendriessche, F. (2008). Meat Products in the Past, Today and in the Future. Meat Science, 78. 104-113. Retrieved from www.sciencedirect.com Wentworth, E. N. (1956). Dried Meat – Early Man’s Travel Ration. Agricultural History, 30(1), 2-10. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3739965?origin=JSTORpdf *** (1870). The Preservation of Meat without Cooking or Salting. The British Medical Journal, 1(472). Retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org/ stable/25218143?origin=JSTOR-pdf
Cooking a là Moleculair: Improvement or Impoverishment of Modern Cuisines?
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Cooking à la Moleculair: Improvement or Impoverishment of Modern Cuisines? Rogier Hanselaar 2010/1
Abstract The last decade molecular gastronomy has gained increasing popularity by trying to find the delicate balance between science and the art of cooking. This paper aims at testing whether molecular prepared steak trully is superior to traditionally baked steak. This was done by using a 2x2 factorial double-blinded design. All participants (n=20) were divided over four groups and provided with either traditional or molecular steak (first independent variable) and with information which of the two steaks they received, which could be either true or false (second independent variable). After the steak consumption the general appreciation was measured. The researcher expected that molecular would be prefered over traditional steak, furthermore that molecular information would result in more appreciation than traditional information, and that there would be no interaction effects. However, non of the hypothesis was supported due to a possible surprise effect. Keywords: molecular cooking, steak, cuisine, food appreciation, taste.
Introduction Within this new discipline various scientist have defined this cooking tradition. An example is This (2009), who defines molecular gastronomy as a scientific program aiming: firstly, to model “culinary definitions” (p.5), meaning creating objectives; secondly, to collect and test “culinary precisions”, implying to gather cooking instructions, methods, etcetera, and test their worth; thirdly, to investigate scientifically the art of cooking, denoting to look into flavours, scents, structure, etcetera; and fourthly, to scientifically explore the “social link”(p.5) of cooking, signifying to inquire into the social interaction that occurs when food is served. Another instance is Linden, McClements and Ubbink, who define molecular gastronomy as “the scientific discipline that deals with the development, creation, and properties of foods normally prepared in a kitchen” (2008, p.7). They emphasise, very similarly to
Cooking in the 21st century
The ‘perfect’ steak, which cook has not dreamed of making it? From early history people have been concerned about preparing their food as well as possible. With the rise of science, Lavoisier stated in the 18th century that the scientific method would be able to grant insight into food properties, which was taken further by Brillat-Savarin in the 19th century by defining the specific goal of gastronomy and the purpose to which the scientific method should be used as “to keep human kind alive with the best possible food” (Linden, McClements, & Ubbink, 2008, p.3). Attempts at improving the preparation of food via the use of science have, however, been steady until the end of the 20th century, when a new discipline arose called molecular gastronomy, implementing new insights of science in the preparation of food, accelerating this pace (This, 2009).
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This, the concern of the subject area with the scientific exploration of the “quality and overall sensory experience of foods” (2008, p.7). While each scholar has his or her own specific view, what can be distilled from their different approaches of molecular gastronomy is the wish for improving the quality of food by using science as a guide. Have they succeeded in this? Have they managed to improve the modern cuisines by unleashing science on traditional recipes? Or is cooking more of an art, impossible to capture in a scientific framework and illusive like the art of painting beautiful pictures, or of composing beautiful music? The popularity certain molecular restaurants possess, and the high prices they ask (rest-beluga.com, retrieved 12-01-10), suggest that these restaurants have succeeded and found ways to improve their food. Next to that, molecular gastronomy builds on scientific theories as it aims to improve the quality of food preparation. Science has already provided the fundaments for many different improvements in many different areas. Such a solid foundation may also be expected to yield positive results in the area of cooking. Interestingly enough, little experimental research has been done to find answers to these questions so far. In the case of the creation of the ‘perfect’ steak, science argues for radical departures from traditional preparation methods with the creation of interesting alternative recipes, in the pursuance of the ideal of improving the cuisine. Following the path Molecular gastronomy suggests, heating a steak at temperatures around 55 degrees Celsius for a longer period of time, would provide higher levels of tenderness and juiciness than could be achieved with a traditional recipe. This in turn would result in a higher appreciation by the consumer of the steak. The rationale behind this claim goes as follow: meat consists mainly of muscle fibre, connective tissue and lipids. After slaughter, the muscle fibres contract making the meat dense and tough, because of lack of oxygen in the muscle creating the protein called actomyosin. This is one of the reasons why raw meat can be difficult to chew. With cooking, myosin and actin start to denature. This results in the meat becoming firmer and more rigid, and therefore much easier to chew, because the hardening allows the structure to be broken more easily (Blumenthal, 2008). Until 55 degrees Celsius most water will be contained within the meat, above this temperature
the denaturing of the above mentioned proteins will have finished, and the risiduals of this process will start to group together. On the bigger scale, the meat will shrink and harden, forcing water out. Moreover, above this temperature the connective tissues called collagen sheaths, which are wrapped around muscle fibres, will begin to contract as well, forcing even more moisture out via the ends of the muscle fibres. This process is completed around 65 degrees Celsius. However, if the collagen is heated at not too high a temperature, with water still present, it forms gelatine. This functions as a net that traps water as it cools down (Blumenthal, 2008). This knowledge is, as mentioned before, important with respect to tenderness and juiciness, two important qualities of meat. Tenderness includes amongst others how much effort is required to chew on the meat, how easily the teeth can cut through, and how squashy it becomes after a lot of chewing. Meat being squashy is a common problem of raw or undercooked meat, it occurs in ‘rare’ steak and signifies a loss of tenderness. A lot of tenderness is also lost if the steak loses a lot of water during cooking: the accompanying contracting of muscle fibre will make a steak denser and tougher. Juiciness is similarly influenced by how much water the steak has been able to detain during the cooking. When one is chewing on a piece of meat, the water is released with the different flavours in the meat, stimulating saliva production and in general enhancing the eating experience. When a lot of water is forced out during cooking, these effects will be much smaller. Thus, to cook a more tender, juicy, and, in general, better steak than could be done with a traditional recipe, it is important to cook the steak at temperatures around 55 degrees Celsius (Blumenthal, 2009). The claim that meat is more appreciated when prepared in the above mentioned way, as scientists in the area of molecular gastronomy suggest, was the first aspect this research investigated. An experiment was created to establish a causal relation between preparation of steak in this molecular way, and levels of appreciation of the meat by its consumers. The independent variable (IV) used here to establish this relationship, was how the meat was prepared: traditionally or via the way molecular gastronomy dictates. The second aspect this research investigated, was whether information about preparation methods influenced appreciation. This was done to account
Cooking a là Moleculair: Improvement or Impoverishment of Modern Cuisines?
Participants A total of 35 students from Maastricht University College were selected to participate in the experiment via a post on the social network site Facebook. No prizes, money or rewards were given away, because of lack of funding. Thus, participants showed up on a voluntary basis. Of these 35 students 20 showed up. They were between the ages of 18 and 25, and had the average age of 21. Of the 20 students that showed up, 8 were men and 12 were women. They came from 6 different nationalities ranging from Dutch to Liechtensteiner. No participant was interviewed beforehand in order to exclude him or her on some criteria, though the nature of the experiment automatically excluded vegetarians. Materials Personal information survey. A survey designed specifically for this study, aimed at measuring individual characteristics of each participant that might have played a role in the appreciation of the steak and thus could have been a possible confounder. The first data obtained were: sex, age and nationality. This was to see whether there were correlations to be found between these data and the dependent variable. Subsequently it asked questions specifically oriented at factors that might be expected to have influenced the participant’s appreciation of the steak he or she ate. To see the whole survey, please find it enclosed in the appendices [Appendix 2]. Post test survey. A survey that was intended to get information on the appreciation of the steak eaten, the dependent variable. It started with a short text, explaining the purpose of the survey, stating that there are no right or wrong answers, and asking to fill out the form truthfully and completely. Consequently it followed with statements about the steak’s qualities combined with scoring possibilities from 1 to 7, with 1 representing strongly disagree and 7 representing strongly agree. It ended with a question to give the steak a general rating. To see the whole survey, please find it enclosed in the appendices [Appendix 3]. Apparatus Student kitchen. A room with a stove, oven,
Cooking in the 21st century
Design A randomized 4 group factorial double-blind design was used. 5 Subjects were randomly allocated to each group to distribute individual differences across the four groups. The first group received a traditional steak, and was told to have received a traditional steak; the second group received a traditional steak, and was told to have received a steak a là moleculair; the third group received a steak a là moleculair, and was told to have received a traditional steak; and the fourth group received a steak a là molecair, and was told to have received a steak a là moleculair. This design allowed for the mapping of both the effect of information suppliance about cooking methods and the
effect of different cooking methods on appreciation of the steak.
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for confounding by participants giving socially desirable answers. According to Tan & Hall (2005), participants might influence the results of a study through self-deception, unconsciously trying to put oneself in a favourable light, and impression management, consciously presenting oneself in a way one expects to fit an external audience. Molecular gastronomy has the aura of being very fancy and nice to eat, thus it could be expected that participants value, or feel expected to value, a molecular steak more highly than a traditional one, irrespective of its taste, looks, etcetera. Even in the case that participants in an experiment as this one would not be told what they would receive, they could start guessing and looking for clues with regards to what kind of preparation their steak went through. By creating the second IV, informing participants falsily or truthfully about preparation methods, this potential confounding was eliminated and the social desirability bias mapped. Next to the effect of different cooking methods and the effect of information suppliance about the cooking methods, the interaction effect between these two independent variables was investigated. There was no reason to expect a significant interaction. This led to the following three hypotheses: “A steak prepared via a molecular gastronomical recipe is more appreciated than a steak prepared in a traditional way”, “A steak that is told to have been made in a molecular way is more appreciated than a steak that is told to have been made in a traditional way”, and “There is no interaction effect between the way a steak is prepared and the information the participant is given about the way of preparation.”
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sink, cupboard, table and central heating installation, that functions as the heart of the student house. All those necessary housekeeping tasks like cooking, doing dishes and storing food originate from here. The space necessary for the experiment was cleared and cleaned thoroughly before the experiment started. The door between the kitchen and hallway was kept close to avoid participants getting a peak into the preparations for the experiment. Student room. A room opposite the kitchen, across the hallway, measuring approximately 30 square meters. The room was equipped with standard furniture such as a couch, chairs, a table, etc. For this occasion many extra chairs were arranged to accommodate the 20 persons. Refreshments such as chips, nuts, beer and wine were provided. Knife. A standard cutting device originating from IKEA that was modified to serve as a measuring instrument. It was modified by putting tape around the blade half a centimetre from the tip. This allowed for repetitively rationings of the amount of pepper and salt put on the different steaks, by putting as much salt or pepper on the tip without it going over the taped line. As such, it was not meant nor used for any cutting. Pan. A regular medium-sized cooking pan that is normally used for cooking the ingredients of many different types of dishes. The cooking surface has a layer preventing food to stick to the pan when there is too much heat. The pan has been regularly used to the extent that it is indeterminable of which brand it is and what type it is. It is a standard pan to cook steak in. Oven/stove combination. An often used cooking combination, consisting of one electrical oven and 4 gas burning stoves. The oven is capable of heating food to 250 degrees, but is difficult to get at exactly a certain temperature. A pilot study has been done to find the right settings for the experiment, in combination with the acquisition of an oven thermometer. One stove of the combination will be used, the one capable of producing the biggest flame. Meat thermometer. A pen like thermometer that is designed to measure the interior of a piece of meat. It has a temperature range of 0 to 100 degrees Celsius and it takes only 15 to 20 seconds to give you a precise reading. It is produced by the firm WMF. Oven thermometer. A round thermometer designed to measure the internal heat of an oven. It is made to be placed inside the oven next to where the meat would lie. It has a temperature range of 40 de-
grees Celsius to 250 degrees Celsius. It is produced by the firm WMF. Steak. Jumbo Budget rump steak bought at the Jumbo supermarket at the Mosae Forum in Maastricht. It was kept refrigerated for half a day. It came in chunks of more or less 0.1 kilograms. Butter. ‘Ongezouten Roomboter’ made by the firm Melkan in the gold wrapping. Bought at the supermarket Jumbo at Mosae Forum in Maastricht. Salt and Pepper. Fine iodized sea salt won by the firm La Baleine and black pepper supplied by the firm Verstegen, both of which are bought again at the Jumbo at Mosae Forum in Maastricht. Procedure When participants entered the house, they were randomly assigned a sticker from a bowl with numbered stickers. This number on their sticker put them into one of the four groups. In this way it was assured that the participants were assigned randomly over the four groups, knowing that having order of appearance or singing up as a randomization factor alone would not be enough randomization. Next to that, this assured anonimity of the participants Each participant was asked to come to the student room at 5 pm 21 January, where they were given a personal information survey, an informed consent form, and a post test survey. Subsequently they were asked to fill out the personal information survey and the informed consent form, hand them back in, and make themselves comfortable. They were provided with some refreshments and were told how the test would proceed by an independent research assistant. Naturally, they were not informed that they might eat a different steak than the one they were told to be receiving. Subsequently, the pieces of steak were handed out according to the numbered stickers participants wore. After having finished the steak the participants filled out the post test surveys and handed them back in. They were debriefed when all the participants had finished their post test surveys and had handed them back in,. The molecular steaks were prepared via a protocolled and standardized molecular recipe selected on the basis of the information found in the introduction, while the traditional steaks were prepared via a basic traditional recipe from an internet site specialised in meat. For the molecular steak, the oven was
Cooking a lĂ Moleculair: Improvement or Impoverishment of Modern Cuisines?
Results
wrong, making the post test survey very reliable. Looking at the spread of different ages and gender across the four groups, the randomization appeared to have worked well. The average age in each group varied only by a little around 21. Next to that, the male and female subgroups where well spread out across the four groups with no significance deviation. There was only a small variation in distribution of both age and gender. The General Rating mean of the first group was 7,55 (sd 0,57); of the second it was 8,5 (sd 1,581); of the third group it was 7,7, (sd 0,671); and of the fourth group it was 6,6 (sd 1,14). Furthermore, all ratings were normally distributed within groups, no significant skewness or kurtosis was found. Lastly, there were no outliers or extreme values. Next, the five assumptions required for hypothesis testing were checked and met. First, the data was normally distributed as indicated by the KolmogorovSmirnov test (P>0,05). Second, the P-P plots supported the linearity assumption. Third, there was homogeneity of variance as shown by the Levene test (P>0,05). Fourth, the dependent variable General Rating was measured at the interval level, as can be seen in the post test survey in the appendix. Fifth and finally, the independence assumption was met because a between subject design was used. Moreover, the sample characteristics sex and age were checked against correlation with the dependent variable. This was done by plotting sex and age Overall Grade Out of 100
,790(**) ,000 187,730 9,881 20 1 2059,767 108,409 20
Figure 1. Pearson Correlation between General Rating and OverallGradeOutof100.
Cooking in the 21st century
The reliability of the post test survey was tested, using a Pearson Correlation between the General Rating, used as the General main dependent variable, and OverallRating GradeOutof100. This last term was creGeneral Rating Pearson Correlation 1 ated by adding up the scores of the difSig. (2-tailed) ferent parts out of which the General Sum of Squares and Rating was expected to be comprised: 27,409 Cross-products looks, taste, tenderness, temperature, 1,443 Covariance smell, and juiciness. This score was then 20 N divided by the maximum score on each Overall Pearson Correlation ,790(**) part, 7, divided by the amount of parts, Grade Out of 100 Sig. (2-tailed) ,000 also 6, and multiplied by a 100, to get a Sum of Squares and score out of 100. The result was a cor187,730 Cross-products relation of 79,0 percent with a two tailed 9,881 Covariance significance level smaller than 0,000. 20 N This means that there was a 79,0 percent overlap between the General Rating and the OverallGradeOutof100 with a chance ** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). smaller than 0,05 percent of this being
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pre-heated at 60 degrees. Subsequently, the steaks that were to become molecular steaks were put in the pre-heated oven for an hour. At regular intervals of 15 minutes the meat thermometer was put in a steak to make sure that the internal temperature of the steak was not exceeding 50 degrees Celsius. After the hour was over, the steaks were cooked in the pan for 15 seconds on full flame on each side, with 15 gram of butter per steak pre-melted in the pan. When they came out of the pan they were seasoned. This was done with the help of the knife with tape wrapped around it, making each knifepoint generally the same. Two knife points of salt and one knife point of black pepper were put on each side of each steak. After the seasoning the steaks were cut in pieces of equal size and served to the participants entitled to them. The steaks that were to become traditional steaks were put in the pan on full flame for 1 minute for each side while continuously being moved around, with 15 gram of butter per steak pre-melted in the pan. After these two minutes, each side received another minute but now on a low flame. When these four minutes were over, these traditional steaks were seasoned and cut up in a similar way as the molecular steaks and subsequently served to the participants entitled to them.
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Figure 3. Spread of sex across groups.
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Figure 2. Distribution of age across groups.
Spicing up science
against General Grade. There was hardly any correlation (R sq linear = 0,041 & 0,036). Subsequently, the hypothesis testing was done by performing an ANOVA with planned contrast for each hypothesis. An F-statistic of 2.655 with 3 degrees of freedom was found with a significance level of P<0,1 (F3(2,655;p<0,1)). To test the first hypothesis, “A
positive value of contrast of 1,7500 showed up with a two tailed significance level of p<0,1. This means that, with 90% certainty, a traditional steak receives on average a 1,7500 points higher General Rating when compared to a molecular steak. Thus there was a trend in the opposite direction of what the hypothesis predicted, proving the first hypothesis to have been false. To test the second hypothesis, “A steak that is told to have been made in a molecular way is more appreciated than a steak that is told to have been made in a traditional way”, group one and three were contrasted against group two and four [1,-1,1,-1]. This resulted in an unexpected very small value of contrast of 0,1500 with a significance level of 0,877 (p>0,1), showing no signs of any causality between information given and General Rating. Thus, the second hypothesis was also proven to have been false. To test the third hypothesis, “There is no interaction effect between the way a steak is prepared and the information the participant is given about the way of preparation”, group one and four were contrasted against group two and three [1,1,-1,1]. This contrast showed the most interesting and suprising result of the entire experiment. It Figure 4. Boxplots of the four groups, showing means, spread and stanyielded a very negative value of contrast of -2,0500, dard deviations. with a significance level of 0,048 (p<0,05). This is very steak prepared via a molecular gastronomical recipe is intriguing, since this means that when participants eat more appreciated than a steak prepared in a tradition- what they have been told to be eating, they give a Genal way”, group one and two were contrasted against eral Rating that is on average 2,0500 points lower than group three and four [1,1,-1,-1]. Looking at results of when they eat something different than what they the first contrast, a very interesting trend was found: a have been told to be eating! Thus a significant interac-
Cooking a là Moleculair: Improvement or Impoverishment of Modern Cuisines?
Discussion
References Bastienne Wentzel. Hoe bak ik een moleculair biefstuk? Retrieved januari 8, 2009, from the World Wide Web at www.hoedoe.nl
Cooking in the 21st century
Altough non of the original hypotheses were met, the amazing findings have illuminated what goes on inside that mysterious kitchen that constitutes the human food appreciation process. When one is told truthfully what one eats, one will like it much less than when one is told to be eating something different from what is really on the plate. This unexpected conclusion is the main finding of the experiment. While not anticipated, it points to interesting implications. It suggests the existence of something like a surprise effect that is positively appreciated when eating food. In other words, when food suprises its eater, the food seems to be much more liked. Much of the popularity contemporary restaurants serving molecular food enjoy, seems to be based on exactly this element of surprise. They create dishes that are not what they seem, for instance peanuts that are comprised of potatoes and meat, or kaviar that is made of Coca-Cola. While potatoes, meat and CocaCola are not that special when served normally, they can become so when put into an unexpected form. The additional appreciation these dishes harvest comes from the surprise they give to their consumers. The experiment also had some limitations.
Firstly, the experiment may have suffered from selection bias. The participants were selected out of the author´s group of friends on the basis of his expectation of their probability of showing up, due to lack of funding to arrange participant selection otherwise. This might have influenced the results of the experiment, for instance if the author´s group of friends had a strong preference for traditional cooking methods (which was not expected though). Randomization would not have been able to solve this issue. Secondly, the temperature of the steaks may have differed a bit, because some steaks were served longer after they were finished than others. The process of cooking the steaks was fully standardized, but the serving time was not. While the differences in serving time were small and measurable in seconds instead of minutes, these could have influenced the results. Especially since a significant correlation was found between temperature of the steak and General Rating when controlling for steak preference. Thirdly, the results of this experiment were based on a sample of a small size, meaning less power. While significant results were already found, a bigger sample size could have uncovered additional less pronounced significant results. These could grant additional insight into factors influencing steak appreciation. Fourthly, the molecular steak recipe that was used in this experiment is a rather basic one. While it is solidly based upon the latest scientific insights of molecular gastronomy, there are recipes that go a lot further in their adaptations of regular traditional recipes. The basicness of this recipe could have cloaked a potentially even bigger difference in appreciation between traditional and molecular recipes. Further research in the area of molecular gastronomy should be directed into understanding the surprise effect that seems to be prevalent here. It would be interesting to know how this effect works and how the conflicting information received is transformed to higher levels of food appreciation. Next to that, it would be useful to see if this effect is universally present when eating different types of molecular food, if this effect is also present in some traditional dishes, and if it is always interpreted in a positive way.
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tion effect took place, proving the third hypothesis to have been false as well. Afterwards, the various qualities of the different participants were screened for correlation with the independent variable. None proved to be significant, except the participants’ preferences of how they liked their meat to be cooked: raw, medium, or well done. This variable showed a significance of 0,011 (P<0,05), meaning that the steak preference of each person provides extra evidence for an interaction effect when kept constant. Finally, correlations were looked up between different qualities of the steak (looks, smell, tenderness, etcetera) and General Rating, while controlling for steak preferences. This showed very nicely which aspects of the steak influenced overal appreciation of the steak significantly (P<0,05) and which are thus most important for chef cooks to get right. The four qualities that significantly influenced General Rating were taste, tenderness, temperature and juiciness. The looks or smell of the steak showed to be non-significant with regards to overall appreciation.
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Blumenthal, H. (2008). The Big Fat Duck Cookbook. London, New York, Berlin: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
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Bordens, K.S., & Abbott, B.B. (2005). Research Design and Methods: A Process Approach. New York: McGraw-Hill. Field, A. (2009). Discovering Statistics Using Spss. London: Sage Publications Ltd. Linden, E. van der, McClements, D.J., & Ubbink, J. (2008). Molecular Gastronomy: A Food Fad or an Interface for Science-based Cooking? Food Biophysics, 3,246-254. Tan, J.A., & Hall, R.J. (2005). The effect of social desirability on applied measures of goal orientation. Personality and Individual Differences, 3, 1891-1902. This, H. (2009). Molecular Gastronomy, a Scientific Look at Cooking. Accounts of chemical research, 42, 5, 575-583. Recipe Molecular steak. Retrieved at 13-01-10 from the World Wide Web Www.hoedoe.nl. Price information. Retrieved at 12-01-10 from the World Wide Web at Www.rest-beluga.com.
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Recipe Traditional steak. Retrieved at 13-01-10 from the World Wide Web www.vlees.nl.
Solving the Controversy: Can the Intake of Artificial Sweeteners Have Harmful Effects?
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Solving the Controversy: Can the Intake of Artificial Sweeteners Have Harmful Effects? 2010/1
Lieke de Boer
Abstract
The world’s diet is sweetening due to an increased use of caloric sweeteners. Artificial sweeteners are substances that can make food and beverages as sweet tasting as sugar, without providing the calories that sugar provides. Ever since artificial sweeteners emerged in so called ‘diet’ products, scholars have debated about the potential harmful health effects of these compounds. One of the possible harmful health effects is that artificial sweeteners enhance energy intake, which would cause excessive weight and obesity. Another possible harmful effect is an increased risk of bladder cancer and brain tumors for excessive users. Researches on these suggested risks have yielded contradicting results, which are summarized in this paper. The reviewed researches imply that artificial sweeteners do not enhance energy intake. On the field of cancer risk, more research is necessary to draw conclusions. Keywords: artificial sweeteners, sugar, diet, obesity, cancer
Introduction this epidemic. All sorts of food are widely available in excessive proportions. An infinite supply of cheap food does not give people a reason for limiting food intake anymore. (Janssen, 2010) One of the changes in the world’s diet that the World Health Organization (WHO) mentions as a direct cause for the growth of obesity in the world population is the consumption of more sugars. The world diet has changed in such a way that the food contains more complex carbohydrates that contain a lot of calories, providing humans with energy. (Popkin & Nielsen, 2003) When these calories are not burned in the human body, they are transformed into fat. This ensures that when an individual consumes a lot of sugar and does not exercise a lot, the individual gains weight. Frequent users of added sugar averagely consume almost 900 calories of sugar a day, while the guideline for the amount of calories per day is 2000. Luckily, the innovative human kind came up with a solution to this
Cooking in the 21st century
The share of obese people in the world is growing to an epidemic proportion. (Bray et al., 2004) Today, more than 1 billion adults in the world are overweight, a threefold of the number of overweight people in 1980. At least 300 million of these overweight people are clinically overweight: obese. (WHO, 2009) Obesity and overweight are a consequence of excessive calorie intake without sufficient compensation. This leads to weight gain, and eventually to excessive weight in a way that it endangers the individual’s personal health: consequences of obesity are known to be an elevated risk of getting several ailments. These ailments include diabetes, cardiovascular diseases strokes, hypertension and cancer. An epidemic of this kind can therefore endanger public health. The causes for this epidemic can be found in the world’s diet, combined with a reduction in physical activity. Most of these overweight people live in Western societies. In these societies, modernization of the food market has contributed to
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‘sugar problem’: artificial sweeteners. These sweeteners taste almost the same as sugar, but do not contain any calories. The replacement of sugar by artificial sweeteners could therefore be a way of bringing down calorie intake. Research in artificial sweeteners began more than a century ago. By now, several artificial sweeteners are approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. The first artificial sweetener was cyclamate, approved in 1958 (Mattes et al., 2009) However, simultaneously with the discovery of artificial sweeteners, discussion on the negative effects of these substances emerged. In 1969, cyclamate was banned again in the US, because it was assumed to cause bladder cancer. After this initial assumed danger of cyclamate, many other studies were conducted to clear the air about possible dangerous effects of artificial sweeteners. Aside from bladder cancer, these sweeteners have other suggested dangers: an elevated risk of brain cancer and a greater risk of obesity. However, researches yielded contradicting results. (Mattes et al., 2009) In this paper, the downsides of sugar are discussed first. Then the possible downsides of artificial sweeteners are reviewed by reviewing experimental studies on the topic. The purpose is to solve the controversy about whether these sweeteners actually have a harmful effect on one’s health or not. It is important to know whether artificial sweeteners are a healthy alternative for sugar.
nificantly greater increase in the total amount of calories of caloric sweetener consumed per capita. Countries were attributed to a GNP group. In total five GNP groups were differentiated, representing various levels of GNP. The countries were assigned to a group by their GNP measure in 1962. However, in the countries with the highest GNP, the total amount of energy consumed through caloric sweeteners remains the greatest. (Popkin et al., 2003) In the US, a remarkable shift on the field of caloric sweeteners was a clear increase in soft drinks and sugared fruit drinks, especially in restaurants. A decrease could be seen in the consumption of nutrients with a high concentration of fibres.(Popkin et al., 2003) The implications of the increased intake of sweeteners can have a substantial impact on public health. Especially for the most frequent users (the highest 20% users in the US population) of added sugars, who consume 896 kcal of added sugar per person per day. (Duffey & Popkin, 2008) 80% of these calories consist of the consumption of soft drinks and sugared fruit drinks. The calories in these soft drinks are retrieved from the caloric sweeteners that are added to the drinks. In the US, the caloric sweetener used in all beverages with added sugar is high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Since the increase of the use of HFCS in the United States has occurred simultaneously with the development of an obesity-epedemic, Bray, Nielsen and Popkin (2004) examined the relationship between the the intake of HFCS and the development of obesity. The Downside of Sugar One thing their research claims about sweetened beverages in general, is that caloric sweetened drinks may Since the end of World War II, a change has make it easier for people to exceed in calory intake: occurred in the diet of populations around the world. people are not as adequate in estimating how many Among these changes are increases in the consump- calories a beverage contained. Bray et al. (2004) refer tion of meat and oil. (Popkin et al., 2003) However, to a experimental study performed by Mattes in 1996. perhaps even more visible, an increase in the con- In this study, participants did not feel as satisfied after sumption of sweeteners occurred. Popkin and Nielsen drinking a sweetened beverage, in comparison to a sol(2003) researched the change in caloric sweeteners in id food with the same amount of calories; the satietythe worlds diet, since more and more health concerns value of a sweet beverage is very low. Therefore, an are voiced about the implications of this sweetening increase in the consumption of sweetened beverages trend. They examined the correlation between the does not cause enough decrease in consumption of countires’ GNP and the increase of calories consumed solid food: energy compensation was not as precise as through caloric sweeteners. Moreover, the increase it was when solid food was consumed. These mechaof total calories consumed through caloric sweeten- nisms cause the slow development of excess weight, ers per capita was examined. Results showed that the that can lead to obesity in the end. (Bray et al., 2004) availability, the intake per capita and the proportion of Another outcome of substantial consumption of HFCS sweetener increased in all countries around the world. specifically, relates to the the biological process of diRemarkably, countries with a lower GNP showed a sig- gesting fructose. This metabolistic mechanism differes
Solving the Controversy: Can the Intake of Artificial Sweeteners Have Harmful Effects?
Artificial Sweeteners
Controversy: Artificial Sweeteners and Weight Gain As great as the invention of artificial sweeteners may seem, these substances have always been a reason for discussion among scholars. (Rolls, 1991) Scholars were not so sure whether artificial sweeteners were actually safe to use. A reason for discussion was given by Blundell and Hill in the 1980s. They suggested that aspartame in water had a enhancing effect on appetite. (Blundell & Hill, 1986) They performed an experimental trial, where participants were provided with either an aspartame solution, a glucose solution or water. Results of the study showed that glucose solution demotivated participants to eat, whereas aspartame increased motivation to eat. However, no
Cooking in the 21st century
It was already known for quite some time that overconsumption of sugar leads to excess weight, food companies started releasing diet products. To be able to receive the label ‘diet’ or ‘light’, a product should contain less fat, calories or sugar. In this paper, the emphasis will be on ways to make products that are normally filled with sugar, less loathed with calories, without changing the taste of the product. This can be done with artificial sweeteners, that can take the calorie level down to only a mere fraction of the original product. A well-known example of a diet product is Diet Coke, first released in 1982 by manufacturer CocaCola. A portion of 100 ml of normal Coca Cola contains 42 kcal, whereas its ‘diet’ counterpart only contains 0,2 kcal per 100 ml. Diet Coke is sweetened with the artificial sweetener aspartame. Besides aspartame, 4 other artificial sweeteners are approved by the US Food and Drug Administration: acesulfame-K, saccharin, neotame and sucralose (Ludwig, 2009). Since most of the articles on the issue of the obesity epidemic and artificial sweeteners are from North-American origin, focus in this paper is also on the US. How can it be that these artificial sweeteners give a beverage almost the same taste, but not the energy? A closer look at the chemical structure of these sweeteners can give an answer to this question. The artificial sweeteners used in these beverages, are not carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are responsible for the greatest share of energy provision in the human body. They provide 9 kilo calories per gram, which is the highest amount of energy out of all the substances our body can metabolize. (Popkin & Nielsen, 2003) Some of the artificial counterparts of sugar also contain some
energy. One widely used non-caloric sweetener is the protein aspartame. Aspartame provides 4 kilo calories per gram, just like any other protein. The fact that these artificial sweeteners do not add calories to the drink, is attributable to the incredible sweetness of these substitutes. Aspartame is derived from a combination of two amino acids: aspartic acid and phenylalanine. It is 180 to 200 times sweeter than sugar, so only very tiny amounts are necessary to sweeten a food or beverage (the measurement of sweetness is rather problematic, today, sweetness is determined by laboratory studies that have test participants estimate the sweetness of several substances). When digested, aspartame breaks down into three components: aspartic acid, phenylalanine, and methanol. Since only such tiny amounts are used in beverages, drinks sweetened with aspartame generally contain only 1/200 of the amount of calories it contained when the beverage was sweetened with sucrose or another carbohydrate that is comparable to sucrose in sweetness. (Popkin & Nielsen, 2003) Other alternatives for sugar do not provide energy because our body cannot metabolize them. Saccharin (the Latin word for sugar) is a synthetic chemical and 300 times sweeter than sugar. Since our bodies only metabolize carbohydrates, lipids and proteins, and saccharin is a salt, it is not metabolized by the body. This means that saccharin does not provide the human body with energy: it has no calories. Comparable to this is acesulfameK, which is a salt as well and about 200 times sweeter than sucrose. (Ludwig, 2009) The incredible sweetness of these substances ensures a sweet taste of for example, a beverage, with the use of only a very little amount.
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from the digestion of other caloric sweeteners in such a way that it does not enhance insulin and leptin secretion in the body. These two hormones cause signals in the human body that regulate food intake. (For an elaborate biological explanation, see Bray, Nielsen and Popkin, 2004.) The consumption of fructose causes an absence of leptin, which on its turn enhances food intake. Therefore, the increased consumption of HFCS over the past 30 years could be seen as a contributor to the obesity-epidemic. (Bray et al., 2004) Obesity can have various negative consequences for public health, such as an increase in rates of diabetes, inflammatory diseases and cardiovascular diseases.
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measure was performed of actual food intake after consumption of aspartame. Since this initial report of Blundell and Hill, Blundell released many more research papers implying the increase of hunger rate after consuming aspartame, but his studies never indicated that subjects would actually eat more after the consumption of an aspartame solution. (Rolls, 1991) In a 2009 review on the effects of artificial sweeteners on appetite by Mattes and Popkin, evidence is shown for the increased hunger rates of a vehicle that does not contain energy (water, chewing gum) containing an artificial sweetener, augments hunger rates compared to the vehicle alone, without sweetener. When the vehicle does contain energy, no shift in hunger rate can be indicated. (Mattes et al., 2009) Since a lot of artificial sweeteners are provided without energy, in diet soft drinks, this finding should be taken seriously, even though no evidence was found for increased intake after consuming these non-caloric artificial sweeteners (Mattes et al., 2009). Even if artificial sweeteners would increase appetite, this does not directly imply the intake of more energy or elevated body weight as an effect. The first studies on the effect on non-nutritional sweeteners on body weight examined the effect of artificial sweeteners on rodents. Results showed that the intake of artificial sweeteners causes an increased body weight compared to a natural sugar. (Ludwig et al., 2009) Since research outcomes of the effects of sweeteners on humans have been arbitrary, researches are still conducted with the underlying assumption that artificial sweeteners might have a stimulatory effect on energy intake. This stimulatory effect can subsequently cause an increase in body weight. One of the reasons to assume that artificial sweeteners have an effect energy intake and therefore body weight is based on a rather remarkable finding that was done in the 1980s. It appeared that out of 78,694 US women, a greater share of those who consumed artificial sweeteners gained weight on the long term than of the women who did not use artificial sweeteners. The article did emphasize that correlation does not imply causation, but the finding did cause debate about the potential dangers of artificial sweeteners. Other reasons to assume that artificial sweeteners have an effect on appetite can be deduced from biological mechanisms. When the body is stimulated with sensory qualities of a certain product, it prepares for intake, digestion and the use of energy. The reasoning from these facts follows that
when the body is presented repeatedly with a sweet input, without having to burn calories, the hormonal processes that regulate metabolism in the body can become disturbed. Appetite, for example, can increase and compensation of energy can become less accurate. With this hypothesis, several researches have been performed. A sweetness response, in this sense the secretion of insulin in the body does occur with saccharine and glucose, but not with aspartame. However, supporting evidence for the assumption that the secretion of insulin enhances hunger is lacking (Mattes et al., 2009). Again, lack of evidence cannot proof a causal relationship between the use of artificial sweeteners and weight gain. Evidence for the suggestion that the use aspartame can actually be helpful in a low calorie diet was found in an experimental study performed by Blackburn and colleagues. 163 adults were divided over two weight losing programs: one was meant to induce the loss of weight through either following a low calorie diet avoiding aspartame, the other one had to induce weight loss by replacing sucrose by aspartame. After sixteen weeks, there was no substantial difference between the two groups. However, the group that had replaced sucrose with aspartame, was more likely to have maintained weight loss after one and two years. (Mattes et al., 2009) This implies that aspartame might be a useful substance in a low calorie diet. However, the research stresses that the use of aspartame only is not sufficient in an attempt to lose weight. It is as effective as for example the promotion of exercise. Experimental studies have not succeeded in providing evidence for the suggestion that aspartame fosters weight gain. Mattes et al., reviewed several short term trials and long term trials on artificial sweeteners. Their conclusions on the matter was that trials on the use of artificial sweeteners yielded mixed evidence, but supported the assumption that artificial sweeteners decrease energy intake. (Mattes et al., 2009) So far, several researches have yielded contradicting results. In most of the studies that claimed that artificial sweeteners caused weight gain, the correlation between obesity and the use of artificial sweeteners can be interpreted in both ways. An actual proof for the increase of body weight after artificial sweetener consumption has so far only been found in rats. Researches did not yield sufficient supporting evidence for a causal relation between obesity and the use of artificial sweeteners in humans. The suggested danger
Solving the Controversy: Can the Intake of Artificial Sweeteners Have Harmful Effects?
Cooking in the 21st century
Apart from the controversy about increase in appetite and body weight, a potential risk of cancer for artificial sweetener users has been debated ever since the 1970s. In this decade, an experimental study with rodents showed a correlation between the use of saccharin and the development of bladder cancer. (Bosatti et al., 2009) Several epidemiological studies on the consumption of saccharin in humans and the development of bladder cancer followed, but initially no evidence was found for a potential correlation. (Andreatta et al., 2008) After this, a study by Capen et al. (1999) showed that the development of bladder cancer as a consequence of saccharin consumption differs between species. This made the assumption that the risk of bladder cancer also increases when humans use artificial sweeteners less likely. A case study in the United States in 1994, however showed that the use of intensive sweeteners was indeed related to an increased risk for the development of bladder cancer. The data of 1860 bladder cancer patients was compared with the data of 3934 control participants. Heavy use of artificial sweeteners was related to a development of bladder cancer. (Andreatta et al., 2008) Based on these findings, a casecontrol study in Argentina, where bladder cancer is the 7th death cause among males, investigated the background of 197 bladder cancer patients in Cordoba and compared results with 397 control cases. The proportion of artificial sweetener users was significantly higher in bladder cancer patients than in the control group. However, this effect could only be found if the patients had used artificial sweeteners for 10 years or more. Bladder cancer risk was also correlated with chronic
tobacco use and obesity. (Andreatta et al., 2008) This might suggest that long-term heavy artificial sweetener use can elevate the risk of bladder cancer. Results of a review study performed in Italy summarized the results of various studies in Italy concerning the correlation between cancer risk and the use of artificial sweeteners. No association was found between the intake of sweeteners and a risk of cancer. On the contrary, an increased risk for gastric, pancreatic and endometrial cancers was related to diabetes and consumption of sugar. (Bosetti et al., 2009) The consumption of sugar in this context is very important to mention, since subject of this paper is the benefits of artificial sweeteners compared to conventional types of caloric sweeteners. It seems to be that the use of artificial sweeteners is at least not more damaging on the field of bladder cancer than the use of caloric sweeteners. However, the review study was limited in the sense that artificial sweeteners are not very frequently used in Italy, which could have influenced the results of the studies reviewed. Since the use of artificial sweeteners increased, more researches investigating a potential augmented cancer risk for artificial sweetener users emerged. The US National Cancer Institute suggested that since the introduction of aspartame on the food market, brain cancer rates in the population had been rising. Many research on this field has been done, with a focus on the artificial sweetener aspartame. This field of research started with experimental studies on rodents. In rats, a very obvious connection between brain tumors and the consumption of aspartame has been indicated (Soffritti, 2007) After this correlation was made clear, studies on the correlation between human consumption of aspartame and brain cancer emerged. One particular study performed by Lim et al. (2006) examined non-nutritive sweetener consumption in 285,079 males and 188,905 females between the age of 51 and 70. The data on daily aspartame intake were gathered through a self-administered questionnaire concerning food habits over one year. The information about cancer incidents were derived from state registers on cancer. Among the participants that had developed cancer during the 5-year follow-up, no correlation between aspartame intake and cancer rates could be found compared to those who did not develop cancer. This research was later criticized by Davis et al., (2008), who claimed that that particular study design could not test the hypothesis whether the intake of aspartame was
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of artificial sweeteners in a sense of increased risk for obesity seems to be not as big as initially suggested. Mattes et al. (2009) suggested that many researchers interpret their results conservatively, in a way that favors their hypothesis. This hypothesis states that a possible causal relationship between the variables. So far, this hypothesis is not confirmed and denied several times in different settings. On the contrary, it seems that most trials on the use of artificial sweeteners find that using these decreases energy intake. Therefore, there seems to be no causal relationship between the use of artificial sweeteners and obesity. Controversy: Artificial Sweeteners and the Risk of Developing Bladder Cancer and Brain Cancer
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in any way related to an increased risk for developing cancer. Lim et al., used an estimate of daily aspartame intake based on the self-administered intake of aspartame via diet beverages. The assumption that diet beverages provide 70% of the total intake of aspartame is used by Lim et al. However, Davis et al., criticize the research with the argument that this percentage is copied from the American Dietetic Association (ADA). The ADA, on its turn, copied this information from one of the greatest aspartame-suppliers in the United States. This source can of course be biased in favor of the share of aspartame provided by diet beverages. The aspartame intake might in fact be way more than Lim et al., deduced from the data provided by their participants. Another point of criticism from Davis’ side is that the age group used in the study by Lim et al., cannot have consumed aspartame for longer than 20 years at the time the study was performed, since the use of aspartame was not approved before 1981. (Davis et al., 2008) Todays use of aspartame, on the contrary, has increased since 1981, with over 6000 products on the market. A study after the use of aspartame for longer than 20 years might show that long term use of aspartame actually does enhance brain cancer risks. This assumption can also be supported by looking at the development of brain tumors in rodents after using aspartame. Although the development of cancer in rodents differs from the development of cancer in humans, underlying causes could still be similar. Studies on the effects of artificial sweeteners in humans stopped after 2 years, the same time after which rodents started developing brain tumors. However, in rodents, 2 years can be compared with 60 years of a humans life. (Davis et al., 2008) Aspartame is now also used by children in large doses. This makes it possible for an individual to consume aspartame for more than 60 years. To clear the effects of aspartame and other artificial sweeteners on cancer risk, more experimental evidence should be gathered. Focuses of the studies should especially concern long term intensive aspartame use. In summary, there is no agreement among researchers about the risk of consuming artificial sweeteners. All of the studies performed in this field are observational studies in which the subjects provided self-administered measures of sweetener intake over years. Moreover, other variables that contributed to cancer risk could be indicated besides the use of as-
partame. Despite these confounding variables in the study design of several case studies, a clear correlation can be found between long-term artificial sweetener use and a risk of developing both bladder cancer and brain cancer. Conclusion A change has occurred in the world’s diet. Especially in the Western world, food and its ingredients became widely and easily available, which has caused a shift in the world’s diet to food that contains more fat, salt and sugar. Sugar is often consumed in the form of a sweetened beverage. Consumption of a lot of sugar can have multiple negative effects on one’s health. The main negative effect of overconsumption of sugar is being at risk of developing overweight, or clinical overweight: obesity. Obesity puts one at risk of developing diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancer and strokes. Luckily, alternatives for sugar are numerous: several artificial sweeteners can be used instead of sugar. These artificial sweeteners are many times sweeter than sugar, which makes it possible to sweeten something using a very small amount of an artificial sweetener. This might seem like a good solution to replace sugar by something that contains no calories. As beneficial as this may seem, many questions about the safety of artificial sweeteners have been asked. This paper reviewed research papers in order to solve controversies about the suggested dangers of using artificial sweeteners. Two main concerns were raised in the past. Firstly, whether artificial sweeteners could in fact enhance hunger and energy intake, and therefore foster obesity instead of providing a solution. Secondly, whether some artificial sweeteners could increase an individual’s risk of developing either bladder cancer or brain cancer. The question whether artificial sweeteners enhance hunger feelings and energy intake, was based on studies with rodents. These trials showed that heavy artificial sweetener use was related to enhanced energy intake and excessive weight. Moreover, a correlation was found between overweight and the use of artificial sweeteners in humans. However, both shortterm and long-term feeding studies in humans rather supported the assumption that replacing sugar with artificial sweeteners decreased energy intake. Due to conservative interpretations of findings by scholars, outcomes of these feeding studies are still not gener-
Solving the Controversy: Can the Intake of Artificial Sweeteners Have Harmful Effects?
Recommendations for further Research
Acknowledgements I would like to thank Camiel W. Janssen, Rogier Hanselaar and Lonneke Bevers for reviewing my paper and giving useful advice.
Blundell J.E. & Hill A.J. (1986) Paradoxical effects of an intense sweetener (aspartame) on appetite. Lancet, 1, p 1092–1093. Bosetti, C., Gallus, S., Talamini, R., Montella, M., Franceschi, S., Negri, E. & LaVecchia, C. (2009) Artificial Sweeteners and the Risk of Gastric, Pancreatic and Endometrial Cancers in Italy. Cancer Epidemiological Biomarkers,18(8) p 2235-2239 Bray, G.A., Nielsen, S.J & Popkin, B.M. (2004) Consumption of high-fructose corn syrup in beverages may play a role in the epidemic of obesity. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 79, p 537-543 Capen, C.C., Dybing, E., Rice, J.M. and Wilboum, J.D. (1999) Species differences in thyroid, kidney and urinary bladder carcinogenesis. Scientific publication No. 147. IARC Davis, D.L., Ganter, L. & Weinkle, J. (2008) Aspartame and Incidence of Brain Malignancies. Cancer Epidemiological Biomarkers, 17(5), p 1295-1296 Duffey, K.J. & Popkin, B.M. (2008) High-fructose corn syrup: is this what’s for dinner? The American journal of clinical nutrition, 88, p 1722-1731 Janssen, C.W., (2010) … Spicing up science: Cooking in the 21st century. 1(1) Lim, U., Subar, A.F., Mouw, T., Hartge, P., Morton, L.M., Campbell, D., Hollenbeck, A.R. & Schatzkin, A. (2006) Consumption of Aspartame-containing beverages and incidence of hematopoietic and brain malignancies. Cancer epidemiological biomarkers, 15 (9), p 16541659 Ludwig, D.S. (2009) Artificially Sweetened Beverages: Cause for Concern. JAMA, 302 (22) 2477-2478
Mattes, R.D. & Popkin, B.M.(2009) Nonnutritive sweetener consumption in humans: effects on appetite and food intake and their putative mechanisms. The AmeriAndreatta, M.M., Muñoz, S.E., Lantieri, M.J., Eynard, can journal of clinical nutrition, 89, p 1-14 References
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So far, studies did not manage to indicate a clear causal relationship between consuming artificial sweeteners and running an increased risk of developing cancer. However, a correlation between these two variables can be indicated. Therefore, long-term studies on the consumption of artificial sweeteners in general, and aspartame in particular should be conducted.
A.R. & Navarro, A. (2008) Artificial sweetener consumption and urinary tract tumors in Cordoba, Argentina. Preventive medicine, 47, p 136-139
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ally acknowledged. Based on the research papers reviewed, this paper concludes that the use of artificial sweeteners does not put individuals at risk of developing obesity. The controversy about a suggested risk of cancer began when rodents showed an increased development of bladder cancer after the consumption of artificial sweeteners. In subsequent studies conducted later in humans, the diet of bladder cancer patients was analyzed. Results showed that the share of artificial sweetener consumers was greater in bladder cancer patients, but only when consumption lasted longer than 10 years. This could imply a long-term harmful effect of the use of artificial sweeteners. Another focus of research was on the risk of developing brain cancer. The studies reviewed did not find a correlation between the intake of artificial sweeteners and the development of brain tumors, but these studies were later criticized for the flaws in the research design. In summary, the suggestion that the use of artificial sweeteners increases the risk of obesity has been denied several times in experimental trials. The question whether artificial sweeteners increase the risk of several cancer types should be investigated more. However, it should be noted that even though artificial sweeteners might have negative effects, it still seems to be a better alternative than using normal sugar, which has more clear negative effects on one’s health.
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Popkin, B.M. & Nielsen, S.J. (2003) The Sweetening of the Worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Diet. Obesity research, 11(11), p 13251332 Rolls B.J. (1991) Effects of intense sweeteners on hunger, food intake, and body weight: a review. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 53, p 872-878 WHO: Obesity and overweight (2009) in: programmes and projects: Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health. retrieved from: http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/publications/facts/obesity/en/
How Can Molecular Cooking Influence the Role our Senses Play in Our Appreciation of Food? Can Our Senses be Tricked?
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How Can Molecular Cooking Influence the Role Our Senses Play in Our Appreciation of Food? Can Our Senses be Tricked?
Abstract
The paper handles the connection between molecular cooking and human senses. Can senses easily be tricked by changing ingredients of a meal? Chefs of molecular gastronomies create extraordinary and artistic food. The five senses: sight, hear, touch, taste and smell all play their role in our appreciation of food. By tricking one of the senses, scientific chefs are able to influence the taste of the meal, because all senses are strongly connected to each other. If one sense is irritated by a small detail, the whole food might taste different. Further on, the self-made experiment, by Rogier Hanselaar points out, how easy it is for a cook to manipulate peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s appreciation of food and how easy it is, to trick human senses. Keywords: role of our senses, sight touch, hear, smell, taste, tricks of molecular gastronomy
Introduction also helps us finding new and sometimes easier ways to create food. To illustrate the above said, this paper starts with a clear description of our senses. The major role of each sense is considered and its importance is compared to the other senses. Further on, methods are mentioned, which are used by molecular gastronomy, in order to trick each of the senses and deliver a different impression of the food. Followed by a comparison to the self-made experiment by Rogier Hanselaar. Several specific tricks of molecular chefs will be determined and compared to techniques used in the past. Finally, the end will provide an answer to the importance of our senses in order to appreciate food. The Role of the Senses As mentioned before, our senses all work together for our decision, if food should be eaten or not
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Our senses play the most important role in appreciating food. All of our senses â&#x20AC;&#x201C; sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch play a major role in our consumption habits. Most people believe, that taste is the most important sense, which influences our appreciation of food, which is wrong. The created taste, a meal delivers, is set together by all our senses, which work together to deliver the final taste of a certain food. Some of our senses are less important than others by looking at the consumption, but still play their role in making a meal appealing to us. Touch, for example seems to be less important than the smell, a dish delivers, but a strawberry for example may smell appealing and at the same time one can feel the texture and freshness of it by touching it. Molecular cooking or molecular gastronomy uses techniques, to trick our senses. A meal might look like regular spaghetti, but is in the end made from some fruits and is supposed to be a desert. Scientific cooking not only manipulates our senses, it
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and if it pleasures us or not. All of our senses need to be stimulated before a meal can be enjoyed which might be difficult with a meal created by molecular cooking. Scientific cooking brings up new opportunities to create dishes, which were never seen or done before. Due to this fact, human senses can easily be tricked and manipulated. Sight Sight may seem to be the most important and useful sense in our daily life. Anyway, it does not play a major role in our appreciation of food. In human’s early stages, our eyes helped and even saved humans from eating any poisoned or scruffy food. Colours like blue, black, violet, green or even red are colours indicating exactly this in the nature. The red colour of a fly agaric indicates, that eating it may cause death. On the one hand, mushrooms are normally hard to find, but with the red colour of the fly agaric, it is easy to locate anywhere. On the other hand, being coloured in such a way makes animals as humans keep away from it, because it is an unusual colour in such an environment and indicates death. This has mainly to do with instincts, with which each of us, or any creature is born. The same happens with mouldy cheese; the green colour indicates, that it would not be good for us to eat the cheese, although it still might smell and feel the same. Further on, sight is not only used to find out, if a food would harm us, it also provides us with informations about the thickness of a certain food. (This, 2006) Does it look hard or soft, or dry or juicy? All these information may be given, before any other sense can detect it. A steak may smell very appealing, but may look differently, which will influence the consumption of the consumer. Eyes can tell, whether a dish will be appealing to us, by providing limited informations about the food to our brain (Van der Sman, 2009). Although these informations might be wrong, the impact these informations have, influence our future appreciation of the same meal. A steak might be looking nice fatty and juicy, but in the end might be hard-bitten or dry. So Sight may tell, if a meal should be consumed or not, but tells us little about the flavour, a meal has. Molecular cooking has its biggest influence on our sight. It can easily manipulate all our senses, by changing the structure and look of a product. This is the major issue molecular gastronomy may change, which makes it so interesting and popular all over the
world. (…) Touch A further important sense, influencing our appreciation of food, is the sense of touch. It tells, how food feels in the hand and on the tongue, which is an important fact in determine if a meal is appealing or not. The ability to feel the structure and content of a product by touching it, is very helpful in our daily life, but also plays a major role in food choices. Did you recognise, that a child always wants to touch everything in a supermarket? This is due to a congenital behaviour and even an adult would try to touch everything if it would not be impolite in today’s society. By touching food, people know instantly, whether it is frost in case of a fruit or vegetable, or if it is still fresh in case of meet or fish. All this is generated by the feeling a hand provides, which contribute highly to avoid eating old or mouldy food. The feeling in the mouth is different. If something has a slimy structure or is hard as a rock, the sensors in the mouth tells the brain not to keep the food in, but to take it out and not swallow. Different to the feeling of the hands, the sensors in the mouth contribute to the taste, a meal has. (Slavkin, 99) It is an indirect influence of the flavour, but if a meal feels unusual or even discussing in the mouth, the flavour of the food is not being enjoyed, but it even feels uncomfortable with having it in the mouth for a longer time. On the other side, if a meal feels brilliant in the mouth, which might be a perfect medium t-bone steak for some people or a carrot for others, the sensors in the mouth tell the brain to keep it in and swallow the food. Similar to the sense sight, touch contributes to our decision, whether to put a meal in the mouth, which is determined by the feeling of the hand. The decision, whether to swallow a food or to spit it out, is made by the feeling on the tongue and in the mouth, since the feelings in these areas are much more sensitive than on the hands. Scientific cooking makes the change of structure of an object easily possible. A tomato, for example, can be manipulated in such a way, that it transforms into a clear liquid meal, with a very strong flavour. Neither the sense of touch nor the sense of sight, are able to distinguish between water and the strong tomato flavour fluid. So it is easy and interesting for a molecular chef to trick the sense of touch in a way, that we will not be able to distinguish by only one sense.
How Can Molecular Cooking Influence the Role our Senses Play in Our Appreciation of Food? Can Our Senses be Tricked?
Hear
Smelling on the other side is not that easy to trick and is probably the most important sense considering the appreciation of food. Every kind of food has a unique smell, which makes smelling so important in the consumption of food. Some people are able to distinguish nearly every kind of food by its smell (Blumenthal, 2009). Many people can even detect every single ingredient of a complex meal by smelling its odour. Specialist on wine tasting, do not have to drink all the different wines, in order to be able to distinguish between good and bad wines. A short smell at the filled glass is enough for a gourmet of wine, to find out if he wants to enjoy a dram of the specific wine or not. Smell is also the most direct sense considering food consumption. Long time before you can see,
Taste The last of the senses, which is strongly influenced by all the other senses, is taste. Taste is created on different sections of the tongue, which are responsible for the different modalities of taste (Slavkin, 1999). Anyway, the other senses of the human’s body influence our taste enormously. Especially smell and sight highly influence our appreciation of food. A food may looks not very appealing or even discussing for some people, like slugs and for others oysters are, although they might taste very delicious. The influence, sight has on our taste, makes us not enjoy the food. In this special case of oysters, slugs or grubs, the sense of touch also plays an important role. These foods do not fir into the regular consumption of food and all senses tell our brain not to consume these products. This happens because the structure and texture, an exotic food has usually tells people not to consumer the product. The different modalities on the tongue are located at different places. Sweet can be found in the front of the tongue and reaches far to the middle of it. The sour sensors can be found at the left and right side of the tongue and reach from the front to the far back. The modality of Salty is located in the front, like Sweet, but only at the edge of it. It also reaches far to the middle of the tongue. The last modality, responsible for our taste is Bitter, can be found in the back of the tongue. Every human has around 10,000 taste buds,
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touch, taste and also hear food, you will be able to say that something and perhaps even what kind of meal is being prepared. The sense of smell plays a major role in a different type of the senses – Taste. The smell in our nose, the feeling in our mouth, the appearance of the meal and the sound of it being crushed in your mouth, all together have a huge influence on the final taste a food has. Further on it is most difficult to manipulate the smell of a meal by molecular cooking. It is possible, by broiling a steak in kiwi and so try to trick the sense of smell, but a bit of the original smell is always coming through to the cells in your nose. This is the reason, why our nose and so our sense of smell is most important for our appreciation of food. About 90% of the sense of taste is created and manipulated by smelling the food first (Slavkin, 1999). This makes it most interesting for molecular cooks to manipulate food in a way to trick our sense of smell, which will then influence our sense of taste.
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Hearing seems not to be an important sense considering our appreciation of food, but we are wrong. Indeed, hearing does not play the most important role in choosing the favourite meal, but hearing plays a minor role in deciding whether a food is good or not. Normally, it is as good as impossible to hear, what a meal will taste like and if it is enjoyable or not. There are only few situations in which hearing could be helpful. Boiling of water or any other fluid can be heard by the ears. Other than this, nearly no other meal releases a tone, which could help us find out if a meal is delicious or not, before it reaches our mouth. Don’t you have to turn the TV louder if you are eating potato chips or popcorn? The crunchy sound, which is created by eating popcorn, indicates us that it is fresh and still tasteful. If the sound would not exist, the popcorn or the potato chips would not seem to be fresh ad tasteful any longer. Every food eaten, creates a different sound, which we most of the time do not recognize, but which our brain observes. Now imagine munching a carrot and hearing the sound of eating a bubblegum. Molecular gastronomy makes this possible, by changing the structure of a certain food. This also influences other senses, like sight and touch, which play a larger role in the appreciation of food, but also influences our sense of hearing. Hearing is definitely not the most important sense, in order to enjoy a delicious meal, but it plays its role in cooperation with our other senses
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which are mainly found on the tongue. (Slavkin, 1999) Some of them are not directly located on the tongue, but on the sides and on the roof of our mouths, which makes the full enjoyment of a meals flavour possible. Since the sense of taste is highly influenced by other senses, it is relatively easy for molecular gastronomy to manipulate the taste of a meal. By just changing the colour of a product in a way, that it seems irregular, the taste of exactly the same product might be changed by tricking the sense of sight. A good example for this would be green ketchup, which is sold in supermarkets. The green colour tells the brain not to eat it, although people know that it will not poison them and will taste the same as regular, red ketchup. The taste of the ketchup might be exactly the same, but the change in colour makes the mouth and the sensors on the tongue create a different taste. Further on, taste might be influenced by small ingredients. Telling a person details about how the cow you will eat died, will make the consumer not appreciate the food, the way he would have without knowing, what happened to the cow before. This happens with many products, or do you really want to know how chicken mc nuggets were made, when you are enjoying them at McDonalds? As you can see by this easy example, it is very easy for molecular cooking to manipulate the sense of taste, by just tricking one of the four other senses.
Influence by Hearing As the experiment of Rogier Hansellar showed, that people can be easily influenced by telling them fact about the food they are eating. Whether they are true or not, does not play a significant role. During the experiment, people were split up into two major groups. One group was told to eat the molecular steak, although that might be wrong and the other group was not told anything about the food they are eating. The result is clear: people who were influenced by details of the food gave less points for the steak criteria than people who did not know anything about the steak they were eating. This clearly shows, how are mind can easily be manipulated by our sense of hearing. Tell people that they are dinking white wine although it is red wine, with covered eyes, and they will most of the time believe it. Even people, who have great experience in wine tasting, are not able to distinguish between red and white wine, although it is an obvious different. All in all, not only hearing can influence our appreciation of food, but any sense of a human, be it sight, taste or touch, may influence our consumption habits. Change in Texture by Molecular Cooking
The change of foodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s texture is the most common type of molecular gastronomy. The texture of a meal is often said to be the reason for a consumer, Experiment: Are Our Senses Stronger than Molecular not to eat a certain food. Food with sticky, slummy Cooking? or soggy textures is unlikely to be eaten by consumers. Today, there exists an enormous range of textural The results of the experiment are different than characteristics of food from places all over the world. expected in the first place. There seems to be a trend, (Hirsch, 1990) This starts with the chewiness of meet, that the traditional cooked steak was more accepted followed by many others like crispiness of potato chips, than the molecular cooked steak. The people, who got the smoothness and melting sensation of ice cream, told, whether they have a traditional or a molecular the juiciness of fresh fruits and many more. The huge dish, rated their food differently than the people, who variety of food textures occurs, because of the vast dewere not told what they are eating. This shows, that mand of people for different products. There are four all senses are linked to each other. By only influencing major quality factors for food. First, the appearance one minor sense of a human, the whole appreciation plays an important role, which is set together by coof food may change. lour, shape, size, gloss and many more optical factors, The fact, that people knew and heard what which influence the sense of sight. Second, the flavour they were served made them get more critique to- of a food plays a really important role, which compriswards the product. A clear distinction can be seen be- es taste and odor. The oral and nasal experiences of tween the two different groups. The group of people, food are the most important in making a meal appealwho heard what they get, have an average score of 2 ing or not. The chemical senses, which are oral and napoints less than the group, which was not told what is sal, are responsible for the creation of the flavour. Next being served. (Hanselaar, 2010) the tactical sense is needed to examine the texture of a
How Can Molecular Cooking Influence the Role our Senses Play in Our Appreciation of Food? Can Our Senses be Tricked?
Tricks of Molecular Chefs
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Molecular cooking has fully been established during the last twenty years. Molecular gastronomy studies the chemical as the physical process, which occurs during the cooking process (This, 2006). People working with scientific cooking want to find out the reason behind the transformation of ingredients, which are responsible for the end result of a meal. Further on, molecular cooking investigates social, technical and artistic ways to make food more or sometimes less appealing for consumers. By changing the look, smell or just the texture of a food, molecular chefs trick human senses, in order to create new food and taste sensations. Huge amounts of different tastes exists all over the world, which are accessible today, due to globalisation. These flavours are used by cooks all over the world, to create extraordinary meals. The traditional way of cooking went on for thousands of years, till today, when a new science of cooking was established and started a new way to cook. This is on the one hand helpful to save our environment, due to the saving of energy all over the world, butt also creates new taste sensations, which were never tasted and seen before. Changing the texture might be the easiest way, to trick the senses of people, but it is also the most successful way. The texture of food is being changes for thousands of years, to make it more appealing. A good example for the process of changing textures of food is
bread. Bread is mainly made out of wheat and water. So why don’t we eat wheat and drink a cup of water or milk? The answer is easy: Wheat has a hard texture and is not really appealing to eat. Milling the wheat and implementing some water and other ingredients to it, dough is created. By baking the dough for a relatively short time, bread is designed, which has a hard, but crackly surface and a soft inside. Everyone will agree, that eating a bread is more appealing than eating several wheat corns and drinking a cup of water. This happened with nearly every product we have nowadays. Today, there are two different groups of food: 1. Native food, 2. Formulated food, which is a combination of several native foods. Native food still has its original structure, which is rare nowadays. Examples for native foods would be fruits, fish, meat, vegetable and some more. (This, 2008) Scientific cooking influences even some of them, by creating molecular changed plans, which produce larger fruits or vegetables with more flavour. Examples for formulated food is easy to find: bread, ice cream, sausage, cheese, candy, chocolate, red bull, banger, noodles, and many more. Formulated food is processed from a number of native foods as the example of bread showed (This, 2006). People are willing to pay higher prices for food, which is appealing to them. The process of changing native food into formulated food is a very costly process. Not only the different ingredients within the formulated food have to be paid, but the labour hours and machines, which are needed to create it, are costly as well. Lets look at the wheat example again: one kilo of wheat costs between 10 Cents and 20 Cents, depending in which country you want to buy it. One kilo of bread costs between 1 $ and 1.50 $. Even more expensive are cereals, which cost between 2 $ and 3 $ per kilo. If we now compare the costs for one kilo of wheat, to the price for one kilo of cereals, we can see, that the price increased by more than ten times, for the same product with a different structure. “If we are able to use the knowledge gained on food preparation, we might find new ways to make healthy food more attractive, we might persuade more people to cook better food and, last but not least, we might convince society to regard eating as a pleasure rather that a necessity.” (This, 2006). Molecular gastronomy uses new techniques, to change the structure and texture of a native or sometimes even of a formulated food. Liquid nitrogen is often used to quickly freeze different foods together, or
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food. What is the degree of flow, is it crunchy or crispy, has it a crackle texture and so on. All these aspects of food can be examined by the sense of touch. The last quality factor is nutrition, which can not be detected by any of our senses. The major nutrition in food is carbohydrates, fat and proteins, while the minor nutrition are minerals, vitamins and fibre (Nestle, 2002). Meeting all these conditions in a meal is very important for people’s health. On the one hand, humans need protein, vitamins and minerals to survive, on the other hand, eating appealing food may make people obtain enjoyment from eating. Additionally, enjoying food is a sensory pleasure and good for people’s health. Enjoying pleasure in any way, by eating sensory food, being in love or just having a beer with some friends, makes humans body emit hormones, which will increase life expectancy and pleasure in ones life. “The pleasure of eating involves all our senses and it is obviously important for out wellbeing” (This, 2006).
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make kiwi get into the form of spaghetti. This is only possible because of the very low temperature of liquid nitrogen, which is -196 °C (Silverthorn, 2007). With modern techniques like this, cooks have completely new methods and opportunities to create meals. Shapes, colour, smell, taste or texture can be changed by using new techniques. All these new created products are unknown for our senses and it is impossible to find out, what ingredient a meal is made of, if it’s texture, shape, smell and colour were changed. The only sense, which may still be able to determine which original product it was is our ability to taste, but since taste is strongly influenced by the other senses, even this will be hard to achieve.
Spicing up science
Conclusion To come back to the gourmet creation of a chef, it is clear that all our senses play their role in making a meal appealing. Not only the sight and the taste of a dish are important factors influencing our opinion about a meal, all senses together create the final appreciation. There is a strong connection between the senses, which might be tricked easily. As the experiment and many other sources showed, it is easy for a chef to trick the senses by changing small ingredients of a meal. Tricking on of the five senses may influence the whole appreciation of food. It is impressive, how a change of a small detail of a food characteristic is able to trick all 10,000 taste buds, that each of us has in his mouth. Molecular gastronomy uses change of look, smell or texture of a food, in order to create an artistically meal. Molecular cooking already existed in the past and is used in nearly all kinds of foods. Today’s molecular gastronomy differs from the molecular changes people did over the last millenniums. New techniques are used to create dishes, which were not possible in the past. Liquid nitrogen and the access to all kinds of food from all over the world make dishes like “steak a la kiwi” possible. Using these techniques may make healthy food more attractive to people and make people enjoy eating instead of seeing it as a necessity. References Hanselaar, R. (2010). Cooking a là Moleculair: Improvement or Impoverishment of Modern Cuisines?. Spicing
up Science. Cooking in the 21st Century, 1. 24-31 Hirsch, A.R. (1990), Smell and Taste: How the culinary Experts compare to the rest of us, Food Technology, Vol44, No. 9, pp. 96-102 Mielby, L.H. & Frost, M.B. (2009). Expectations and surprise in a molecular gastronomic meal, Elsevier Ltd. Nestle, M. (2002), food politics: How the food industry influences nutrition and health. Berkley and Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press Silverthorn, D.U. (2007). Human Physiology: An integrated approach. San Francisco, CA: Pearsons Education Slavkin, H.C. (1999). Towards “molecular Gastronomy”, or what’s in a taste, American Dental Association This, H. (2006), Food of tomorrow? How the scientific discipline of molecular gastronomy could change the way we eat, Science and Society This, H. (2008). Chemie in de Keuken, Netherlands: Veen Magazines Van der Sman, R.G.M. & van der Goot, A.J. (2009). The science of food structuring, Royal Society of Chemistry
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Molecular Gastronomy: Stimulating Senses How Triggering Senses Enhances Taste Sensation in Humans
Abstract
Keywords: taste stimulation, molecular cooking, senses, physiological processes, smell, sight, hearing, touch, emotion
Introduction “Food science has never dealt with cooking. It doesn’t give a damn about soufflés and stews” (This, 2008). Hervé This, the father of molecular gastronomy is determined to change the conventions of food preparation. His mission is to reveal the mystique of cook-
ing and making it transparent to the public. How he plans to do this? By clarifying culinary processes with chemistry and science. The more we can explain about food, the more approachable it becomes. Many consider cookery to be a field that sci-
Cooking in the 21st century
The stimulation of all senses is important in appreciating food. In order to experience flavors and tastes, one has to tickle more than just the tongue. Gaining insight in the physical and chemical reactions and emotional impact of cuisine on our senses, brings culinary processes to a higher level, and enables chefs to intensify and enrich taste sensation. Molecular gastronomy constantly looks for expanding that knowledge. The conventional TASTE stimuli are altered to enhance the way in which people’s sensory receptors are influenced. Especially smell is strongly correlated to taste. Approximately 90% of what a person tastes is influenced by the smell. Sight has as well a strong impact on the perception of a course. Stimulating the visual aspect through aesthetic environments and thought-through presentations enhance the food experience. Chefs as Marx and Adrià use knowledge retrieved from molecular gastronomy about the relation between taste and touch, to create dishes that playfully use humans’ preferences in texture, pain and temperature to bring taste to a whole new level. It even becomes apparent that taste is to a certain extent related to hearing. The ‘sixth sense’ cannot be ignored in this process: food is appreciated more when positive emotions and feelings are recalled. Hence, the culinary world could benefit from aroma compounds that evoke positive memories in a many persons. The knowledge about chemical processes and stimulating senses with food, retrieved from molecular gastronomy, enables humankind to reach a heigtened level of taste sensation. The more this new field in science discovers about the ultimate food experience, the more knowledgeable humankind becomes, and the better we can serve the needs of future generations.
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ence should leave untouched. Some sort of fear comes into mind when talking about altering food preparation processes in order to improve taste sensation. In this essay I write upon how all the senses need to be stimulated for the ultimate taste sensation. I take a physiological and psychological viewpoint. The French chemist Marcelin Berthelot predicted in 1894 that in the year 2000, humankind would have dropped agriculture and cooking and would live from eating nutrition pills (This, 2005). However, after twenty years of Molecular Gastronomy science it becomes apparent that Berthelot’s prospect about a world of nutritive pills is not realistic or expected to happen. In contrast, molecular gastronomy discovers so many new information about cooking and experiencing food, that it is more likely that molecular gastronomy will lead to new creative dishes and innovative cooking processes that will enhance and improve our enjoyment of food. Appreciation of food has a lot to do with the way our senses are tickled during the eating experience. Molecular gastronomists have discovered the importance of stimulating the senses for taste sensation. Flavor stimuli in a dish influence a person’s sensory receptors in a way that is nutritive pills cannot. I explain how all the senses play their roles in our enjoyment of food and thereby illustrate how molecular gastronomists implement this knowledge in creating innovative products, dishes and culinary processes. First I present the first and most important sense in consuming food, ‘taste’. I explain how the basic gustation process works. Thereby I show how flavor stimuli or aroma compounds actually tickle receptors and thereby signal messages to the neurons in the brain. Secondly I focus on the mechanisms of aroma release, explaining the relation between ‘taste’ and ‘smell’. Thirdly, ‘taste’ and ‘sight’ focuses on how to enhance appreciation of food making use of stimulating the visual aspect. Think here of the environment, aesthetics, and presentation of a dish. As of the fourth part, the part about ‘taste’ in combination with the sense ‘touch’ reveals interesting insights about the importance of texture, pain and temperature. In the fifth part, it even becomes apparent that ‘taste’ is to a certain extend related to ‘hearing’. Lastly, I express thoughts on ‘taste’ and ‘emotion’, proclaiming that ‘taste’ is related to the ‘sixth sense’. In the end I have provided evidence to show that Berthelot’s prediction of a culinary world existing of nutritive pills is not expected to happen according to these physiological and emotional reasons. Instead
I argue that molecular gastronomy has positive possibilities for the future, especially to stimulate the senses of future consumers in an intensified and enriched way. The more science discovers about the ultimate food experience, the more knowledgeable humankind becomes, and the better we can serve the needs of future generations. Taste Taste, or gustation, is one of the five senses. The other four are respectively seeing, hearing, smelling and touching. Taste is a direct chemoreceptor, meaning that it is a sensory receptor that converts stimuli in the environment directly into activity in the brain (This, 2008, p. 46 – p. 49). Taste enables people to distinguish in flavors in food and drinks. Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1825), one of the pioneers writing works on gastronomy, said “Taste seems to have two chief uses: 1. It invites us by pleasure to repair the continual losses brought about by life. 2. It assists is to select, from among the diverse substances that nature presents, those that nourish us best”. Hence, humankind makes use of gustation for the pleasure itself that triggers to refill and to find the ingredients that are the most nutritious. The receptor cells that sense the stimuli, or the flavors, are located on the tongue as well as in the pharynx and the epiglottis, areas that are located behind the tongue in the throat. “The sensation of taste resides chiefly in the papillae of the tongue. But anatomy tells us that not all tongues are equally outfitted, there being three times as many papillae on some tongues as on others” (Brillat-Savarin, 2005, p. 17). Therefore, it can be a challenge for a chef cook to present dishes that everyone will like. Taste buds also perceive flavors differently depending on the person, because of various factors affecting his or her taste perception. These factors can be aging, hormones, and temperature in the mouth, genetic variations, drugs and illnesses. There are an infinite number of flavors possible. There exist a great variety of simple flavors that can be modified according to the quantity and quality of their mixtures (Brillat-Savarin, 2005, p. 18). Therefore the distinction one makes in flavors is often primarily whether it is a pleasant or unpleasant taste. Traditionally, a rough classification of flavors has been made in the western world by distinguishing between sweet, salty, acid, and bitter tastes. In the eastern cuisine a fifth elements is
Molecular Gastronomy: Stimulating Senses How Triggering Senses Enhances Taste Sensation in Humans
Figure 1
Taste and Smell The act of smelling has more to do with taste sensation than one might think. Olfaction plays such a big role in the tasting process that without the nose, people would appreciate flavors a whole lot less, and the word ‘sensation’ would probably not even pop up. With some little experiments, one can already suspect the correlation between taste and smell. Try for instance eating and enjoying flavors during a cold. A virus infects the nose; still the tongue is not affected. However, how come one loses its taste? Or try to eat while squeezing the nose, and realize how “obscure and imperfect the sense of taste is” (Brillat-Savarin, 2005, p.16). Also many swallow disgusting medicines immediately to not experience the bad taste. The tongue then is pressed against the palate to not allow any air in between, and thereby preventing activation of the organs of smell. Bartoshuk & Duffy (2005) explain the important role of olfactory sensations in flavor perception, and thereby consider the role of the dual functions of the sense of olfaction, which depend on the route by which odorants reach the olfactory receptors (p. 27). There are thus two ways for odorants, or aroma compounds to reach the nasal mucosa. “The nasal mucosa, or mucous membrane, is a type of tissue that lines the nasal cavity” (Demetroulakos, 2008). The membrane in the nasal cavity is, were the olfactory receptor cells are located, which in the end transmit the received flavors to the brain. The first route to reach the nasal cavity happens through sniffing and is called the orthonasal olfaction. The second way that leads odorants to the mucosa is through the mouth, also named retronasal olfaction (Bartoshuk & Duffy, 2005, p. 27). The aroma compounds stimulate the receptors in the nasal cavity during the chewing of the meal. The aroma release in
Cooking in the 21st century
center where the detecting of taste in the brain occurs. Other research has observed laterality in the brain while it is processing flavors. This means that neuroactivity is dominant in either one side of the brain. The preference of the brain for one side of the body over the other happens as well during the processing of language or physical activity. That laterality occurs during the processing flavors proves the brain activity invoked by tasting is complicated to analyze and measure. Yet, a third series of experiments measured the reaction to molecules existing of pure aroma compounds. Results found that the activated areas matched, showing again how complex it is to analyze the detecting of flavors and tastes. The brain experiences an overall experience activated by synthesizing signals form various receptors (This, 2008, p. 46 - 47). This synthesis of different signals occurs as the senses work in certain combinations during the taste process. The taste sensation often operates together with sight and even more powerful in combination with smell. Flavor is the
overall sensation effected by mastication, whereby taste, touch, smell and pain all come together. Chemists have not yet found all the causes or primitive elements within flavors. Hence there remains plenty of room for research in this area for scientists in molecular gastronomy. However there have already been some interesting findings on taste and how to manipulate dishes to improve the experience of food. In the following paragraphs I elaborate further on by analyzing the interrelation of the various senses with taste.
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added to these basic tastes: spiciness or savoriness. Recently, sensations of the tongue have been discovered concerning texture (e.g. fattiness and dryness), temperature, and pain (e.g. hotness and coolness). Nowadays, neurobiologists are able to detect activity in the brain during tasting, using new techniques as NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance). Hereby one is able to see where the information, that receptors get from the taste stimuli, arrive in the brain and how the further processing occurs. Areas in the brain that respond to taste stimuli are the lobes of the insula and the frontal, parietal, and temporal opercula around it (see figure 1). Hence, there is not a unique place or
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the mouth depends on the chewing speed, and therefore differentiates between persons. The faster one chews, the less aroma will be released in the mouth, and the less olfactory receptors in the mucosa will be stimulated. Slow chewers, crush the aroma molecules more, and are thus better able to judge the quality of food, and enjoy it more intensely when it is a high quality ‘good tasting’ dish (This, 2008, p. 64 - 65). Approximately 90% of what humans taste comes from smell. Taste buds perceive salt, sweet, sour and bitter taste. However, odorants that tickle the smell-sensory receptors cause the taste sensation that people seem to enjoy so much (Hirsch, 2010).
Spicing up science
Whiffing and Whaffing The world of food science uses knowledge gained from molecular gastronomy to establish innovative food products combining eating and olfaction. One good example of this is ‘Le Whif’, a chocolate inhaler invented in 2008 by Harvard professor David Edwards. It is the result of a culinary experiment done at Le Laboratoire, an innovation center in Paris where art and science come together. Tasting chocolate while gaining zero calories and no need for chewing. Perfectly explained with its slogan: ‘As sweet as chocolate, as light as air’. A trend has born, as also the body and style conscious international party crowd in Cannes discovered the “Whiffing Parties”. Labogroup (2009) explains; “Le Whif uses particle engineering to form natural food substances, like chocolate, in particle sizes that are small enough to become airborne though too large to enter the lungs. The design (…) directs food particles to the mouth following the air that accompanies a natural inhalation”. Edwards (2008) says, “Over the centuries we’ve been eating smaller and smaller quantities at shorter and shorter intervals. It seemed to us that eating was tending towards breathing, so, with a mix of culinary art and aerosol science, we’ve helped move eating habits to their logical conclusion. We call it whiffing”. Labogroup that is the commercial partner of Le Laboratoire announces that more gastronomic experiments involving eating by breathing are on the way and that the gastronomic craze has only just begun. Soon ‘Le Whaf’ will be launched. This is comparable to a cloud of flavor, micro-droplets of liquid that hang in the air, can fill a glass and be breathed in for tasting (Yonan, 2009). In the near future, alco-
hol, juices, spices and herbs can be consumed with Le Whaf and Edwards is currently inviting leading molecular chefs from all over the world to help him invent new flavor combinations for ‘whaffing’. Taste and Sight Besides smell, taste can is also intertwined with sight. Many consider the visual aspect of a dish important for the food experience. Kuehn (2005) argues that food is art, and thereby relies on the work of John Dewey and his notion of transformative aesthetic experience. “All food has the potential to be art because its production, presentation, and manner of appreciation necessarily involve one in an interactive engagement with the qualitative tensions that underlie experience” (Kuehn, 2005, p. 195). Food is a unique form of art because to enjoy it, one needs to destroy it. While one can argue whether food deserves the title ‘art’, it must be said that the visual aspect has indeed a big impact on the taste sensation. The eye often appreciates bright colors of food, because it expresses freshness and a delicious taste. Through evolution, people are trained to disgust certain colors of ingredients like blue, purple or black, while appreciating food with colors as orange and yellow. Nowadays, people know they do not have to trust as much on these ‘natural instincts’ as their ancestors had to, but many still need some time to get used to the idea of eating black pastas, green ketchup and blue rice. Also the presentation and ambiance of a plate is important in the taste sensation and appreciation. Chefs often put a lot of effort and thought in the layout and display of a dish. It is not coincidence that the client in the restaurant finds a little red tomato on top of its meal, or that his or her tomato soup has some green herbs on top; the eye is satisfied when it finds a balance of two or three colors on the dish. Think as well what happens when looking at the appalling photos of cheap-looking stuffed plates in a local low-priced pizzeria or kebab restaurant. Comparing these with the high-class, delicious, pure photography in culinary magazines and cooking books proves the value of a styled and aesthetic plate. The first set of photographs might cause for the stomach to turn upside down, whereas the latter photography waters one’s mouth. The eye even tries to dominate the other senses in flavor perception. Scientists in Bordeaux in France proved this in an experiment involving the col-
Molecular Gastronomy: Stimulating Senses How Triggering Senses Enhances Taste Sensation in Humans
Touch is another of the five senses that has major impact on the taste sensation. Feeling food with hands or cutlery lets one decide whether or not to put it in the mouth. By squeezing a piece of meat or fish for instance, one determines its freshness or excellence in food preparation. When the structure feels not trustworthy, one will intuitively choose not to put it in the mouth. Then in the mouth a second process of food determination begins. When the food feels slimy or hard on the tongue, humans will decide to take it out of their mouths, because of fear of gagging or choking (Szczesniak, 2001). In the mouth then, touch becomes
Texture Texture is still a mystery to many scientists. Len Fisher (2001) brings forward that “Texture may be ‘too difficult to solve’, but it’ ‘too important to ignore’”. During one of the biennial International Workshop on Molecular and Physical Gastronomy, organized by Hervé This and Nicholas Kurti, practitioners of the science of taste came together to research the topic of texture. “The problem is that texture is tough to define. Scientists understand it as the orientation and size of crystals in a material, or as the internal morphology of multicomponent materials. (…) But to the senses, texture is connected to how food breaks apart in the mouth, say, or to its stickiness – qualities described with adjectives like smooth or crunchy or slimy” (Weiss, 2001). Weiss (2001) adds that acceptability of textures is for a great part learned, and individual differences make it therefore even more complicated to determine how texture influences appreciation of food. However there are some interesting findings (p. 1754). Increasing the viscosity, or semi-fluidness, of food, decreases the flavor sensation. The surprising fact hereby however is that experiments show that viscosity has no effect on the amount of aroma that gets in the nose. It is thus to say intuitively the texture that determines the taste sensation or appreciation of the flavor in these cases. Potato chips for instance become very unappetizing when they have a soggy texture, even though their chemical composition does not change (Weiss, 2001, p. 1754). Szczesniak (2002) found that age is a primary factor in the acceptance of texture of food. Whereas children are not able to consume difficult structures, older generations are often not willing to accept new innovative textures and are likely to be conservative in this sense. Still, their attitude of refusing exotic structures might also be due to anatomical causes such as poor dentition or problems with swallowing. Anyways, past work of Szczesniak indicated that teenagers, who are now adult consumers, are much more willing to experiment innovative different textures. Also consumers with higher socioeconomic status are much more open to accept exotic sophisticated foods, independent of their age (Szczesniak, 2002, p. 221 – 222). Experimenting with textures might be tricky though, considering that most humans tolerate textures depending on their past experiences
Cooking in the 21st century
Taste and Touch
also a part of the taste sensation.
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oring of wine. The participants, among whom where also experienced wine tasters, received a white wine that was colored red, and could be tricked into thinking that they were drinking red wine. Moreover, “The wine tasters did not perceive any of the odor notes in the colored wine that they had previously reported when drinking the untainted white wine” (Spence, 2009). Molecular gastronomists use this information to present their innovative dishes and meals in a way that appeals to the eye. The eye is the first sense that will be stimulated in the tasting process and should therefore not be underestimated. Hervé This explains some strategies in his books that should prevent food from discoloring. To defend perfectly green avocados from turning black, one could for instance sprinkle them with some limejuice. Freezing or cooling down food could also prevent fruits and vegetables from turning brown, as it slows down the enzyme-activity that is responsible for the discoloring. Additionally, gastronomists and chemists have already discovered and synthesized many reaction inhibitors, but are still unable to detect their effects on consumers. Nowadays, scientists are able to alter food characteristics, just to enhance the appreciation of the consumer and to increase the chance of purchasing the product. There exist tricks to change colors of certain foods. For instance when raspberries are cooked in tin-covered pans, they turn blue (This, 2005, p. 6). Furthermore in New Zealand, scientists looked for a solution to make their kiwis look more attractive. They developed a kiwi with no hair on the outside and gold flesh: the Zespri. Especially in the Asian market, the Zespri has become more popular, and that while other than some changes in color and skin it has remained the same fruit.
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with food. Acceptance of textures depends on product category or the product and its specific characteristics. Potato chips for instance are expected to be only crunchy in order to be appreciated. Yet, a product category as ‘cottage cheese’ receives a much larger tolerance stretch. Also, the ‘image’ of the product is an important factor that affects the texture acceptance. Munoz and Civille (1987) explained, “Consumers do not expect to work hard for the sensory and nutritional returns in foods. Only if a product is yielding a pleasant flavor… or positive texture attributes (persistence of crispness or crunchiness) are consumers willing to invest more than 20 chews”. Which textures are liked depends on physiological and cultural factors. In 1971, Szczesniak and Kahn presented generally liked and disliked characteristics in the USA. Among liked textures, they found, ‘crisp’, ‘crunchy’, ‘tender’, ‘juicy’ and ‘firm’, as disliked textures were ‘tough’, ‘soggy’, ‘lumpy’, ‘crumbly’ and ‘slimy’. However, texture tolerance depends also on which meal and what time of the day it is. One does not often prefer crazy structures at breakfast, whereas more outrageous textures are appreciated during diner time, and when it is time for dessert ‘fun’ textures are even preferred. Another important fact to take into consideration is the ‘textural contrast’. Consumers appreciate the food more that when this contrast is present in a certain product, on a plate or in a meal. For them it encompasses ‘excellence of food preparation’ and ‘optimizes the eating experience’ (Szczesniak, 2002, p. 224). The highest textural contrast, like in the combination of crispy and creamy, will result in the highest appreciation.
Spicing up science
Painful Molecules Pain is also a component that comes into the picture when talking about taste and touch. Research about eating hot spicy painful food explains why a Spanish pepper actually burns the mouth or why people like to consume ‘painful’ food. Answers were found when looking into the effects of the molecule ‘capsaicin’ on sensory receptors. Basically any receptor on the body reacts with a burning feeling when coming into contact with the irritant capsaicin. However, humans experience a sensation because the brain activates a pain-stimulated release of endorphins that stimulate the production of morphine in the body (This, 2008, p. 56 – 57). By understanding this human process, gas-
tronomists can make use of the fact that consuming peppers stimulates a pleasurable and euphoric feeling in people. To diminish the burning effect, chefs can make use of the fat-affinity capsaisin has. Drinking milk or eating bread will for instance take the burning feeling away. In addition, the scale of Scoville can be very practical in the kitchen, ranking the peppers in Scoville Heat Units (SHU). Guajillospepper have a sharpness of 3000, Cayenne pepper has 40,000 SHU’s, while the Habanerospepper can reach 300,000 SHU’s (This, 2009, p. 57). Influencing the SHU-value in a dish is thus a valuable tool to influence one’s taste sensation. Temperature Yet another way to tickle tasters’ senses and to stimulate their appreciation food is by manipulating its temperature. Nicholas Kurti adds as a molecular gastronomists very appropriately, “I think it is a sad reflection on our civilization that while we can and do measure the temperature in the atmosphere of Venus, we do not know what goes on inside our soufflés”. Hervé This explains in his book Casseroles & Éprouvettes (2002) that cooling and heating the tongue can arouse taste sensations even without receiving aroma compounds through eating. Cruz & Green of the University of Yale have discovered these ‘temperature tastes’ by putting little ‘thermodes’ on the tongues of individuals. A great deal of the cases said to experience a ‘light sweet taste’ on the tip of the tongue when heated till 35 degrees Celsius. A cooling down to 5 degrees Celsius however resulted in an acid taste or in some cases a salty taste. On the root of the tongue the sweet taste was barely sensed when heated, but a cooling of that area brought along a strong bitter and acid sensation. The scientists hypothesized that this phenomenon is ascribed to the fact that the thermal and taste receptors are closely located next to each other in the papillae. Foodlab Molecular gastronomy enables cooks and scientists to play a big role in inventing innovative and creative dishes and plays around with textures, painful spices and temperature to influence the taste molecules. Star chef Thierry Marx tries to seduce the sensory receptors of his visitors, most of the time by experimenting with food textures. One of the best places
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The appreciation of food is even influenced by hearing. People are used to certain sounds that they hear while consuming their food or drinks. The brain can fool the taste if the sound of the food is not recognized as the standard sound. Chips are for instance expected to have a certain kind of crisp. When researchers lowered the Hz in an experiment, participants perceived the chips as old and not fresh, while they were actually the same chips as they had enjoyed before. Another way of influencing people’s perception of the food is with the background sounds or music. A chef of a seafood restaurant once came up with the idea to provide sea sounds to the clients with a personal stereo while they were consuming their seafood dish. He found that it was helping to make the dish more enjoyable (Spence, 2009).
The Sixth Sense: Taste and Emotion
El Bulli Another temple of molecular gastronomy where taste sensation seekers can find their thrill is at restaurant El Bulli, in Spain. Its chef Ferran Adrià stimulates the senses of its customers by seducing them
Taste sensation is not only about the physical story of the impact on the senses. Emotion definitely plays a great role in influencing taste as well. A recent statement of Hervé This emphasizes the connection of what one might even call the ‘sixth’ sense with the appreciation of food. In New Scientist he preaches, “what you need for cooking is love, art and technique. Technique is easy, art is harder and love is the most important” (This, 2010). One’s taste is more likely to be in seventh heaven when there is love involved. A pleasant atmosphere in the restaurant, food that is cooked with love and having loving people around, all have a positive influence on the taste sensation. “Food stirs the emotions, both because of its sensual properties and its social meanings” (Lupton, 2005, p. 319). When positive emotions are evoked by a dish, taste is experienced also more positively. These emotions might be related to pleasant memories that are aroused by certain aroma compounds tasted in the past. In Marcel Proust’s oeuvre, there is a passage about the taste of a crumb of a madeleine biscuit that
Cooking in the 21st century
with a surprising culinary experience. His 25-course tasting menu is the result of the knowledge about culinary reactions gained by the science of food. Adrià explains on the El Bulli website; “taste is not the only sense that can be stimulated: touch can also be played with (contrasts of temperatures and textures), as well as smell, sight (colours, shapes, trompe d’oeil), whereby the five senses become one of the main points of reference in the creative cooking process”. Among his molecular gastronomic highlights are many special features that exceed all expectations by mixing up conventional textures, temperatures and characteristics of ingredients. Clients can surrender themselves to olives that burst in the mouth and transform into intense olive juice, wisps of parmesan marshmallows, golden eggs enclased in delicate caramel, melon caviar, mozzarella brioche with rose air inside, vegetable dishes with foams as sauce, mussels in seawater jelly and tiny cubes of apple, poached salmon served with a sprinkling of pickled vegetables and foraged wild flowers from the hillside, deep brown onion soup with floating delicate balloons of puffed-up wontons… (Hardgrave, 2006, p. 14). All of the dishes are surprising and stimulating the senses and thereby intensifying the taste sensation.
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where food tasters can lend their taste buds to molecular gastronomy is in Marx’ restaurant slash laboratory ‘Foodlab’ in Paris. Marx and his team explore creativity in food preparation that becomes possible when combining science with cooking. He is able to create cardamom foams, cubic tomatoes and ‘destructured’ tarte Tatins. Joe Yonan (2009), a culinary columnist for the Washington Post, wrote about a trip to Foodlab “Scattered over the fish were the individual cells of grapefruit and orange: the tiniest elements of citrus possible before you get to juice. How on earth did they create those without breaking them?” The answer lies in the use of liquid nitrogen. This freezes the citrus segments so that the cells can be separated. Another way to use liquid nitrogen Marx uses is to make frost meringues. Basically every purée can be transformed into ice cream, so that salmon-ice, tomato-ice or piccalilliice can be developed. He performs even more tricks by changing eggs into massive clouds of foam or uses knowledge about oil and liquid emulsions to create a texture for the ultimate vinaigrette. All perfect examples in which textures and temperatures of dishes are changed drastically. Taste and Hearing
Spicing up science
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brings him back to his childhood, and lets him relive his experiences from back then (Lupton, 2005, p. 320). Especially the combination of taste and smell is powerful in stimulating emotions and memories. This is a reason for the perfume industry to often use vanilla, because most people relive feelings of comfort, pleasure and security when experiencing this aroma; feelings that are rooted in their childhoods. Taste is a sense that encodes memories of contexts in a way more different and abstract than vision and words do (Sutton, 2005, p. 315). In other words, taste evokes and recognizes emotions in a way that cannot be put in words or imagery. The culinary world could successfully use the knowledge about aroma compounds that are stimulating positive emotions to enhance taste sensation.
enables chefs to intensify and enrich taste sensations. Molecular gastronomy constantly looks for expanding that knowledge. As explained, taste entails a very complicated brain activity on the NMR scans. Molecular gastronomists are trying to find the relations and physiological processes by discovering the functioning of the senses. Thereby they found that especially smell is strongly correlated to taste. Approximately 90% of what a person tastes is influenced by the smell. New products as Le Whif and Le Whaf smartly act upon this knowledge and trend to satisfy new needs of consumers. Sight does as well play a huge role in the enjoyment of a meal. Presentation, aesthetics and food art are used to stimulate the eye to enhance the food sensation. Ingredients are manipulated in order to attract the eye, and also the layout of the dish has become a Nutrition Pills: A Flawed Prospect? thought-through process. Color and shape can make or break the chef’s creation. Touch, both outside and in Berthelot’s prediction about a society living of side the mouth has as well an important impact on the nutrition pills is unlikely to happen in the near future. taste. Chefs as Marx and Adrià use knowledge retrieved Abandoning real food and switching to artificial chemi- from molecular gastronomy to create dishes that playcals is just not a satisfying enough aim for humankind fully use humans’ preferences in texture, pain and to pursue. As the new field of molecular gastronomy temperature to bring taste to a whole new level. Even is finding out more and more about how to reach cli- hearing turned out to be of impact on the sensation. To maxes in taste sensation, scientists have figured that go one step further, taste is even intertwined with the the triggering and stimulating senses and emotions are so-called ‘sixth sense’. Food is appreciated more when valuable aspects in the cuisine. Additionally eating to- positive emotions and feelings are recalled. Hence, the gether is a valuable practice, also related to tradition, culinary world could benefit from aroma compounds and people and countries even to some extent have that evoke positive memories in a many persons. All in constructed their identities as a result of their cuisines all, taste sensation is clearly evoked by stimulating all (Goldstein and Merkle, 2005). Hervé This emphasizes the senses; and when combined well, future molecumolecular gastronomy is not to be feared because lar chefs can further intensify and enrich products and of bad dreams about nutritive pills. “Food behavior dishes. The knowledge about chemical processes and is dictated by both biological needs and our culture. stimulating senses with food, retrieved from molecu(…) our many sensory receptors (…) have evolved so lar gastronomy, thus enables humankind to reach a that, as Brillat-Savarin wrote, ‘The Creator, by forcing heightened level of taste sensation. The more this new humankind to eat for his living, invited it by appetite field in science discovers about the ultimate food expeand rewarded it by pleasure’. From the point of view of rience, the more knowledgeable humankind becomes, receptor stimulation, pills are much weaker than cas- and the better we can serve the needs of future gensoulets or sauerkraut” (This, 2005, p. 7). erations. Conculsion
References
In conclusion, the stimulation of all senses is important in appreciating food. In order to experience flavors and tastes, one has to tickle more than just the tongue. Gaining insight in the physical and chemical reactions and emotional impact of cuisine on our senses, brings culinary processes to a higher level, and
Bartoshuk, L. M. & Duffy, V. B. (2005). Chemical Senses: Taste and Smell. In C. Korsmeyer (Ed.), The Taste Culture Reader: Experiencing Food and Drink (pp. 25-31). New York: Berg. Brillat-Savarin, J. A. (2005). On Taste. In C. Korsmeyer
Molecular Gastronomy: Stimulating Senses How Triggering Senses Enhances Taste Sensation in Humans
(Ed.), The Taste Culture Reader: Experiencing Food and Drink (pp. 15-24). New York: Berg. Demetroulakos, J. L. (2008, January 1). Nasal Mucosa. Retrieved January 15, 2010, from http://adam.about. com/encyclopedia/Nasal-mucosa.htm
sion]. Nature Materials, 4, 5-7. This, H. (2008). Chemie in de Keuken. Diemen: Veen Magazines. Weiss, G. (2001). Why is a soggy potato chip unappetizing? [Electronic Version]. Science, 293(5536).
Yonan, J. (2009). Whiffing in D. C., Whaffing in Paris. The Washington Post. Retrieved January 15, 2010, from http://voices.washingtonpost.com/all-we-canGoldstein, D. & Merlke, K. (Eds.). (2005). Culinary cul- eat/whiffing-and-whaffing-in-paris.html tures of Europe: Identity, diversity and dialogue. Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing.
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Edwards, D. (2008). Le Laboratoire. Retrieved January 15, 2010, from http://www.lelaboratoire.org
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Hardgrave, C. (2006, June 10). Madmen or Genius? The Irish Times Magazine, p. 14. Hirsch, A. (n.d.) Chemosensory Disorders. Retrieved January 15, 2010, from http://www.smellandtaste. org/index.cfm?action=info.chemo Kuehn, G. (2005). How can food be art? In A. Light & J. M. Smith (Eds.), The Aesthetics of Everyday Life (pp. 194-212). New York: Colombia University Press. Lupton, D. (2005). Food and Emotion. In C. Korsmeyer (Ed.), The Taste Culture Reader: Experiencing Food and Drink (pp. 304-315). New York: Berg.
Spence, C. (2009, September 1). Multisensory Perception. BBC Food. Retrieved January 15, 2010, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/tv_and_radio/ perfection/experimental_kitchen_sensory.shtml Sutton, D. E. (2005). Synesthesia, Memory, and the Taste of Home. In C. Korsmeyer (Ed.), The Taste Culture Reader: Experiencing Food and Drink (pp. 304-315). New York: Berg. Szczesniak, A. S. (2001). Texture is a sensory property. Elsevier Science: Food Quality and Preference, 13, 215225. This, H. (2005). Molecular Gastronomy [Electronic Ver-
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Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Connel, S. (2010, January 19). HervĂŠ This: Why we need to eat technology [Electronic Version]. New Scientist, 2743.
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Food in the 21st Century: Is it Art? To What Extent Can the Preparation of Food be Seen as a Form of Art and How Does it, from this Perspective, Affect Society? Greta Streitberger
Abstract Since 1988 the science of food has been established. The techniques that are studied and developed within Molecular Gastronomy are presented in the following paper. Thanks to these modern techniques, new ways of cooking have been experienced and food textures and colors can be modified to the surprise of the diner. Dining out became a social activity and amusement in the 21st century: creations of food are sometimes more than just nutrition; they can truly be compared to art works. This is the core of this paper, to show how and why the preparation of food is more than just cooking. Keywords: food – molecular cooking, food as art – aestheticization
Spicing up science
Introduction Dining out and enjoying long dinner evenings with delicious dishes, seems to be a trend, which in the western culture is getting more and more popular. The place, the atmosphere and the company, is as important for an enjoyable dining experience as the preparation of the food itself. Eating out is a social activity and is shared with beloved people, who together enjoy the deliciousness and beauty of nicely prepared food. The present paper deals with food in the 21st century and its influences on society. In the first part of the paper a conceptual analysis of the relatively new science, molecular gastronomy is provided. The introduction of new techniques into the art of cooking influenced the preparation of food drastically. The culinary movements of haute cuisine and nouvelle cuisine are described since they are relevant for the establishment of molecular gastronomy. By taking an analytical approach, the role of food as a form of art is discussed. Firstly, there is made a comparison with other forms of art, such as painting
and poetry. Characteristics to analyze works of art will be adopted and applied to culinary creations. The artistic features that can be found in food are highlighted and analyzed; the colors and composition of a dish, the minimalistic attribute in a plate and the culinary constructivism are specific points of analysis. A comparison between a painting of Miro’ and a dish is made. Moreover, a poem by a famous chef de la cuisine is presented in order to enhance the artistic elements in food and its preparation. In the second part, the effects food can have on society, when regarded as a form of art, are analyzed. A whole part is dedicated to the aesthetics of food and every day life. Food can affect society in other ways too, it can be seen as a modern amusement and function as a social link. However, a lot of skepticism still reigns among people: the preparation of food has in the past never been considered as an artistic expression. The present paper’s aim is to show how food can indeed be considered as a form of art.
Food in the 21st Century: Is it Art? To What Extent Can the Preparation of Food be Seen as a Form of Art and How Does It from this Perspective, Affect Society?
Molecular gastronomy – the ‘food science’
Thus, any kind of cooking will modify the ingredients and its original form, texture and look. In order to clearer identify and understand these complex chemical and physical systems, molecular gastronomy has been installed as an own science. Up until 1988, when for the first time molecular gastronomy was founded, almost nothing on culinary transformation existed. Also scientific advances have done little to change our cooking habits for almost all the history of mankind; the pans in the kitchen are still the same that have been used decades ago, and despite some new imported ingredients, the way people cook, the culinary process, has not changed significantly up until the discovery of molecular cuisine. In the beginning the discipline was mistakenly mixing science and technology but today molecular gastronomy is composed of ‘culinary definitions’, of ‘culinary precisions’, the art component of cooking and of the ‘social link’ of cooking. (This, 2008).
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Food as a form of art “The main aim of cooking is to produce good food, which is art and not technique” (This, 2006). Is this really true? In this part I am going to tackle this statement but before I am going to introduce the concept of haute cuisine and nouvelle cuisine. These are two important movements in culinary experience in the 21st century. Since molecular gastronomy found its assessment in haute cuisine and later in nouvelle cuisine it is important to bring these two movements forward. Gastronomy is the systematic pursuit of culinary creativity and excellence (Svejenova, Mazza & Planellas, 2007). Nicely prepared dishes, the colors, the taste, the decoration, and the atmosphere in the restaurant are what demanding guests in high-class restaurants expect. A gastronomic trend, the so-called haute cuisine can be identified in the 21st century. Haute cuisine is a field of actors, elite customers and aspiring chefs and institutions, among them the Guide Michelin, culinary commentators and journalists (Svejenova, et al. 2007). These two elements both comply with conventions and innovation, haute cuisine thrives on consistency and novelty in the same time (Svejenova, et al. 2007). Nouvelle cuisine is a movement that originated in France during the 1970’s when French chefs abandoned classical cuisine and initiated a major transfor-
Cooking in the 21st century
In order to become familiar with the main topic of this paper, firstly the discipline molecular gastronomy is defined. It is a relatively new scientific discipline and there is still much confusion among people about its meaning. Physical chemist Hervé This and Nicolas Kurt decided in 1988 to found a new discipline: the science of food was created and named ‘molecular gastronomy’. It was not the first time food has been under examination and investigation, even in the second century BC a comparison was made between fermented meat and lighter meat and the preparation of meat stock-the aqueous solution obtained by thermal processing of animal tissues in water- was then of great interest (This, 2006). So there have been studies of food in the past and thus they are nothing new but never before a specific term had been established for it. Hervé This and his companion felt the need to better define something, which occupies our everyday lives: food. It is something known to everyone and still there is so much impreciseness about what it actually is and what it is made of. This (2006) defines molecular gastronomy with the understanding of food and in the more restricted sense it is the chemistry and physics behind the preparation of any dish. Molecular gastronomy, questions the composition and the process of food or its ingredients; it analyzes the processes from molecules to finished dishes and tries to find formulas behind these operations. The tools used to investigate the processes that takes place during cooking, are simple; the microscope, the thermometer and the gas chromatograph (This, 2006). The result from such scientific investigations can bring specific knowledge and improve the way of cooking and, the most interesting point, even lead to new ways of preparing food. In the end, molecular gastronomy just like any other type of cooking involves the modification of food. Food is a product of complex chemical and physical systems, composed of many parts, each made of different phases (aqueous solution, gas, fat etc.) and their organoleptic, sense related properties, are dependent on the spatial distribution of their molecules (This, 2009). Molecular gastronomy, as the definition itself reveals, analyzes the structure or molecules from which the food is made. The complex disperse system (CDS) defines the ‘material’ and the non-periodical organization of space (NPOS) describes the dish overall.
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mation in haute cuisine. “The centuries-long hegemony of France as the epicenter of international haute cuisine is being challenged by a number of rising regional cuisines due to globalization processes seen in global media spreading information on elite chefs and restaurants, and in both chefs’ and diners’ traveling” (Svejenova, et al. 2007). ‘Moreover, the nouvelle cuisine movement has sparked an intellectual excitement about food and its meaning. A nouvelle cuisine meal is often accompanied by a great deal of talk about food’ (Slobodnik, 1986). Very often the dishes served are source of discussion at the table. The composition of various ingredients which make the dish, the colors, the design, the taste and the formation of the food and the way of cooking it, will result in a end product served to the guest as if it would be a work of art. As Pierre Gagnaire says, men need a bit of poetry, a bit of tenderness and things that are done with love (Gagnaire, 2010). In recent years there has been an increasing academic interest in the cultural behavior of food and consumer behavior (Sloan, 2004). In his book Sloan states, according to a study about the haute cuisine in the UK, that only a small social circle can enjoy the French so-called nouvelle cuisine due to the fact that it usually means ‘not enough on your plate and too much on your bill’ (Sloan, 2004). This is perhaps the most distinctive attribute of nouvelle cuisine, the ‘minimalistic’ presentation of food. When Slobodnik (1986) talks about the role of minimalism in art and science he refers to the nouvelle cuisine as an example, which entails all the characteristics of minimalism. The total quantity of food on the plate is reduced and each ingredient and its process are visible to the consumer (Slobodnik, 1986). Thanks to molecular cuisine the different ingredients can be processed and prepared to emphasize each of its characteristics in the best way. Special tools are applied to highlight the taste and or color of a certain ingredient; the structure can also be modified through certain chemical procedures in order to attribute an innovative and at time surprising taste to the dish. It is the cook’s task to use the knowledge and techniques of molecular gastronomy in order to perform as a real chef de la cuisine. The cooks in the kitchen define what should be on the plate and what should compose the dish. The chef de la cuisine decides upon the menu and all the various courses in a way that they fit together. Season, availability of the vegetables or fruits, the freshness of meat and fish and
the price are important factors the cooks have to take into account when preparing a meal. All these factors result in the creation of the dish, and represent possibilities for the chef to express his/her creativity. The end product is a mix of knowledge and creative expression made with love and creativity of the cook (This, 2006). Pierre Gagnaire, one of the best chefs in the world and close friend of Herve’ This, sees cocking as a pleasure, as a challenge to reinvent his cuisine, to try new dishes and combinations of ingredients. He pushes his capacity on the edge, sometimes fails sometimes discovers new dishes. It is about the techniques that can lead to vertigo and the capacity thanks to all the possibilities to make the ‘good’ even better. (Gagnaire, 2010). Furthermore, Pierre Gagnaire (2010) says, there are people who look for different things in the dining experience; there are people, who desire the tradition in the plates, they long for memories of their childhood to be evoked through food; others want to be surprised, want to be impressed on the first moment by a particular smell, or taste; others want to experience a show, again others want a dish that makes them indulge in a journey and let them forget the actor behind the dish (Gagnaire, 2010). Every diner can produce a myriad of new emotions while tasting a dish. It is in the chef hands’ to evoke the many different emotions with his or her creations. These emotions are just like emotions that are evoked by looking at a painting. People do not have all the same taste, this can be applied to food and also when talking about paintings. There are millions of different emotions produced when people looked at Miro’s paintings. Some feel something, and some do not. In order to make the minimalistic attribute, mentioned earlier, of nouvelle cuisine more credible, a painting of the French artist Miro’ and a photograph of a dish is presented now in order to show the similarity between them. The similarity in the two images consists in the fact that they are both reduced in manners of colors, geometric forms and in manners of numbers of objects represented. In the case of the painting Bleu II by Joan Miro’, we can see a red line made with a thick brush and some irregular black spots on a blue background. In the case of the other picture, we have a sea bass with vegetable confetti; the colors in this plate are also reduced, to white, black and red. In both works there are geometric forms, in the first they are linear and kind of
Food in the 21st Century: Is it Art? To What Extent Can the Preparation of Food be Seen as a Form of Art and How Does It from this Perspective, Affect Society?
the game of structures, textures and temperatures. Herve’ This mentions, that a dish can be cooked perfectly but if there isn’t added the component of
Cooking in the 21st century
Fig.3: Left: Strawberries, banana custard, buckwheat, verbena. Fig.4: Right: Lamb loin, black garlic romesco, pickled ramp, dried soybean. Creations by Wylie Dufresne owner of wd~50 restaurant in New York.
love, all the art and technique doesn’t satisfy the guest (This, 2006). The main aim of cooking is to delight guests, just as it is for an artist to delight its spectators. In order to succeed in this, love and passion are necessary. But coming back to the art component of scientific cooking, Hervé This uses complex diverse systems, earlier mentioned, in order to analyze the organization of food space (This, 2006). For instance, he applied the CDS to all kind of sauces and discovered their scientific composition could produce new formulas, which lead to new sauces. But if we want to analyze the art component of culinary practice, the aesthetics of food has to be analyzed and this can be done in the same way, by applying the CDS. Mr. This (2006) states that ‘contrasts’ are the key to art in food; he says ‘our brains are built to detect contrasts and draw pleasure from them (…) and proper preparations brings about contrasts and the consistency of different foodstuffs: tender, firm, crunchy’ (This, 2006). All the foodstuff can be distinguished from each other through its consistency, so to say the state of liquidity, furthermore through its color, structure, taste, smell and look. These are the main characteristics a guest notices in the first place by looking at the dish. With a close look at the photographs above, a big contrast in colors can be recognized and the composition of different ingredients will provide a contrast in taste and texture, for instance the structure of the various products. But when does this creative expression become a form of art? Many people might never have considered that cooking can be regarded as an expression of art because it is there since humankind. It is a natural and essential need to prepare food in a way that it is eatable for humans. In this way humans receive energies to live and to survive. Only in the last few decades, more precisely since the establishment of molecular gastronomy, food has lost its exclusive meaning of nutrition and achieved an additive value. This is where the aesthetics of food comes into play. It is more pleasant to eat a colorful, nicely prepared dish, which in the meantime of course satisfies the stomach as well. The way food is prepared and deco-
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round, in the second they are rectangular and round. The quantity is reduced to a minimal, in the painting the choice of colors are reduced to three and in the dish the quantity of food presented is reduced to a rectangular piece of sea bass and some small confetti vegetables. Both representations are minimalistic and left to the essential, color wise, form Fig.1: Bleu II from Joan Miro’ Fig 2: Sea Bass with confetti vegetables. wise and content wise. At this point I come back to the ‘art component’ of molecular gastronomy mentioned at the beginning of this chapter and try to justify Herve This’ statement, in which he argues that the main aim of cooking is to produce good food, which is art and not technique. Would you prepare your dish in such a way? Is food art? Or better, can cooking be seen as an artistic expression? Every plate is the results of a dialogue between the different ingredients that the palate discovers through
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rated, chosen and combined can be seen as the product of someone who thought about it and decided the way it should look in the end. The French chef Pierre Gagnaire, explains his ‘art’ by making a comparison with painting in the following poem:
relevance of constructivism in cooking, it is defined what constructivism means in art. In photography, for instance, the distinctive style, involving contrasts and an abstract use of light is characteristic. In art of consumerism eye-catching images featuring bright colLa peinture me fascine et je vais me Painting fascinates me and I like to be ors, geometric shapes, and laisser prendre par elle. taken by it. bold lettering were designed (Hoover, 1996). Le peintre exprime avec ce qui lui est The painter expresses himself with The link between conpropre des choses qui appartiennent what is familiar to him, things that structivism in art and conau domaine de l’indicible. Il donne belong to the inexpressible. He gives structivism in culinary activity, à voir, il donne à partager. Et moi something to be looked at and someis that it is based on the notion j’aime ce partage. thing to be shared. And I love this of creating new knowledge by way of sharing. the experience of already exJ’ai besoin de mettre de la poésie isting knowledge. This process dans les assiettes. La présentation, le I have the need to put a bit of poetry of acquiring new knowledge dressage m’apprennent l’harmonie into my plates. The presentation, the is active rather than passive: et me font rencontrer une forme de dressage, teaches me to be in har‘learners’ apply current unpaix. mony and make me meet a form of derstandings, note relevant peace. elements in new learning exIl me faut toujours positionner visuelperiences, judge the consislement ma cuisine. Mon instinct me I always need to position my cuitency of prior and emerging guide, me fait appréhender qualités sine visually. My instinct guides me, knowledge, and based on that et défauts, amène parfois de noumakes me understand my qualities judgment, they can modify velles saveurs à mon insu. and defects and sometimes makes knowledge (Hoover, 1996). me discover new flavors. In molecular gastronomy La composition d’une assiette doit food is constructed by taking être très construite, lisible, singulière, The composition of a plate should be single molecules and parts of et je m’attache à trouver le moyen à constructed, readable, and unique food. By putting them back la fois de m’émouvoir et donner du and sometimes I try to find the way together through chemical plaisir. to move me and to give pleasure. processes, a new dish is ‘constructed’. Based on previous C’est pour moi une cuisine humaine This means human cuisine for me processes, constantly new qui exige de l’humilité de la part du that require humility from the one experiments with food molcuisinier comme de celui qui goûte le who cooks just like from the one who ecules, are executed. By explat. tastes the plate. tracting molecules from variL’équilibre et l’harmonie dans l’assiette by Pierre-Gagnaire. Translated by Greta Streitberger. ous ingredients and putting them back in a different order The French chef Pierre Gagnaire, just like or composition, or combine them with other ingrediHerve’ This, mentions the importance of the love- ents, will lead to completely new creations. Of course component in the food preparation. Herve’ This and that important factor, the love-component, is not to Pierre Gagnaire are the leaders in the current culinary forget, but obviously the most important thing is the artistic hype “Culinary Constructivism”. It is not about taste in a dish (Gagnaire, 2010). Even if the craziest and deconstructing but about building or creating. Follow- abnormal dishes can be created, the major aim of a ing this logic, the techniques of molecular gastronomy dish is to taste good. find truly their right place: it is thanks to the molecular We can conclude that the senses are important gastronomic techniques that the culinary art can find factors in the appreciation of food. The visual percepits proper medium of expression. In order to show the tion is an important component of flavor – color influ-
Food in the 21st Century: Is it Art? To What Extent Can the Preparation of Food be Seen as a Form of Art and How Does It from this Perspective, Affect Society?
Food as a Form of Art and the Effect it Has on Society: the Aestheticization of Everyday Life.
Skepticism There is still some skepticism among people when thinking about molecular gastronomy; therefore new dishes have been named after famous chemists
Cooking in the 21st century
Featherstone (2007) provides an interesting approach on people and the appreciation of food in his book Consumer Culture and Postmodernism. Food is a fundamental part of our everyday life that is consumed by individuals and can be affected by this aestheticization (Featherstone, 2007). Just think about bakeries and the way bread is exposed, or croissants, little cakes, chocolate or other petit fours are nicely presented in such an inviting way that the buyer is seduced instantly. The aesthetic in food is essential to capture attention from who ever is going to consume it, thus the visual aspect of food, just like all the other senses are crucial (Kesselstatt, 2010). Food can be enjoyed at home in private, alone or with the members of the family or it can be purchased on the street, in parks, to take away or it can be enjoyed in a nice restaurant with friends. There are some restaurants where food is prepared according to molecular gastronomic techniques: here the enjoyment of food is not happening at home but it happens in public. The choice to dine out, involves the choice of the restaurant and the type of food that can be consumed there. It can be argued that consuming food in such a way can be seen as a modern amusement and is a social interaction. An elaboration on this, is following. The choice to have a meal somewhere out and not at home, means it is most of the times connected to a meeting with someone else. It is a social activity and is executed among friends, business partners, strangers and lovers. The choice of the restaurant has to be made in the first place. ‘The atmosphere constructed the restaurant as a form of spectacle in which the objects in display included both people and foodstuff’ (Sloan, 2004). Depending on the restaurant, it attributes visibility of self-identity because by deciding to not go to a place, but choosing a particular place
is already expression of individual preferences and socio-economic possibilities. Celebrities, chefs and restaurateurs can in this way make their reputations. Nowadays just like in the past, the restaurant remains a place where sociability is proven; the social status and fashionability are confirmed. It is a demonstration of private values and preferences. ‘Food is a modern amusement and part of contemporary popular culture’ (Sloan, 2004). Nowadays in every major city, every kind of food and cuisine can be found. The diversity of food and restaurants is very big and diners can choose among a myriad of culinary possibilities, from Little Italy to Chinatown. Meals are often accompanied by discussions about the food, which is served and consumed. Indeed, when people come together and eat at a table they tend to talk about whether they are enjoying the food or not. Also the ‘look’ of a dish is often commented, whether it is inviting and appealing to the diner or if it looks rather abnormal and strange. ‘In the industrialized societies where consumption of goods and experiences is taken for granted, food has been altered from an appetite to a form of renewable desire. It has divorced from its function as a solely source of nutrition and redefined as a source of innovative pleasure’ (Sloan, 2004). Furthermore, at a business lunch or dinner, the discussion about food can loosen up the formal atmosphere. Not only the diners discuss their dishes but also there are people who do this as their job. Food critics for instance, discuss food and its preparation together with the overall performance in a restaurant. It’s their job to criticize starting from the dishes; their composition, of course the quality of the food, the disposition of the plate, and the shape of the plate, the sequence of the courses and if they fit together. Moreover, food critics judge the restaurant, from its acceptance at the entrance on to the skills and kindness of the waiters, the service, the decoration of the restaurant, the toilets and the whole atmosphere. In this regard, the conversation about food has a linking function between people, in the same time it can be leisure to enjoy the moments at a nice restaurant drinking wine and enjoying the atmosphere.
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ences taste – also structure and texture, the composition and the way of presenting are all highly important factors. “The pleasure of eating involves all our senses and it is obviously important for our wellbeing” (This, 2006). Earlier mentioned, if a dish looks good and the food appealing, the diner is invited to taste the plate. If a creation looks crazy the diner might get interested in discovering what it is and how it will taste.
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or scientists. In this way, people eat ‘chemistry’ and knowledge about the new science is spread with the attempt to diminish the fear of science. Although, in comparison to some decades ago, a science about food has been established, many culinary phenomena remain unexplained (This, 2009). It is just the beginning of a field of much discovery and development. For instance, the example of Le Whif is one of the achievements in molecular gastronomy, resulted from the combination of science and art. “Le Whif uses particle engineering to form natural food substances, like chocolate, in particle size that is small enough to become airborne, though too large to enter the lungs” (Le Whif official website). Science and creativity are complementary and the first can provide new tools and open new paths for the latter. The synergy between science and cooking is dependent upon the sensible integration of the two disciplines. In this regard, Mr. This poses the question of what is the ‘culinary’ sense of doing all these realizations, like creating bouillon made of gelee, the meat in mousse or the bouillon in mousse, the mean in quenelle. “It is to act first from the artistic idea, then to place technique at the service of this idea” (This, 2004). Some have named that “molecular cuisine”, or molecular gastronomy, that is not right, because molecular gastronomy is a science, and not one technology, and not one technique, nor an art” (This, 2004). The real protagonist is the chef de la cuisine who by making clever use of modern technologies, which are to be found in theory in molecular gastronomy, can help him/her to create an artistic meal. This’ latest book, entitled “From molecular gastronomy to culinary constructivism” published in 2009 deals with the challenge to revolutionize the world of cooking by preparing the world’s first entirely synthetic gourmet dish. Mr. This attempts this together with one of France’s greatest chefs, three-star Michelin winner Pierre Gagnaire. The principle behind could not be simpler: break foodstuffs down into their chemical compounds and use the molecules that make the product instead of the product itself. It is only the beginning of this new science and surely many more developments in the field are about to happen. Conclusion
on food and its preparation. The consumer society we live in demands ‘beautiful’ things, and this can also be seen in the food preparation of high-class restaurants. Dining out is a social interaction and amusement. It is enjoying the good things in life, just like enjoying art, but then it is an artistic creation of food. Aesthetics in food and restaurants, or simply in the surroundings, are a result of the 21st century society, which demands and in the same time, sets these standards. It has been shown that food is an essential part of our lives. Only a few decades ago food has been established as an own science. However, molecular gastronomy is already bypassed and the founder of the science, Herve’ This talks nowadays about ‘culinary constructivism’. The comparison between a dish and a painting by Miro’ highlighting the artistic characteristics and similarities justify the definition of an art attribute to a dish. The poem of the famous chef Pierre Gaganier, reveals how much emotions, thoughts and love are behind the creation of a dish. Therefore, cooking as an expression of emotions can result in an artistic presentation of the ingredients and thus be considered as a form of art. Knowledge about gastronomic techniques and modern tools can be used to rise up the preparation of food to a form of art. To some, it might seem an exaggeration to consider nicely prepared dishes as art, but this is mainly due to the fact that the science of cooking has only recently been considered as such and regarding food as art is an unusual habit. By time people will get familiar with the new techniques of cooking and the ways by which food can be manipulated, will not be seen as abnormal anymore. References Featherstone, M. (2007). Consumer Culture and Postmodernism. Second edition. Sage Publications Ltd. London. Hoover, W. (1996). The Practice Implications of Constructivism, 9 (3). Kesselstatt, F. (2010). How can molecular cooking influence the role our senses play in our appreciation of food. Can our senses be tricked? University College Maastricht.
Everything needs to look beautiful nowadays. The aestheticization of everyday life has also an effect Le Whif home page. Retrieved from: http://www.le-
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Pierre-Gagnaire Homepage. (2010). Retrieved from: Fig.3 & Fig.4 Creations by Wylie Dufresne owner of http://www.pierre-gagnaire.com/index-fr.htm wd~50 restaurant in New York. Retrieved from: http:// www.wd-50.com/images2.html Rao, H. (2003). Institutional Change in Toque Ville: Nouvelle Cuisine as an Identity Movement in French Poem Gastronomy. American Journal of Sociology, 108(4). Published by the University of Chicago. L’équilibre et l’harmonie dans l’assiette by Pierre-Gagnaire. Translated by Greta Streitberger. Retrieved from: Sloan, D (2004). Culinary Taste: Consumer Behaviour http://www.pierre-gagnaire.com/francais/gagnaire/ in the International Restaurant Sector. Blackwell Scien- gagnaire-equilibre-new.htm tific Ltd. Slobodonik, L. B. (1986). The Role of Minimalism in Art and Science. The American Naturalist, 127(3). Published by the University of Chicago Press. Svejenova, S. , Mazza, C., Planellas, M (2007). Cooking Up Change in Haute Cuisine: Ferran Adrià as an Institutional Entrepreneur. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 28 (5). Pp. 539-561. This, (2004, November 17). Culinary constructivism. Retrieved from http://www.movablefeast.com/2004/11/ culinary_constr.html
This, H. & Gaganaire, P. (2008). Cooking: the Quintessential Art. Translated by M.B. deBevoise. University of California, Berkley and Los Angeles. This, H. (2009). Molecular Gastronomy, a Scientific Look at Cooking. Acc. Chem. Res., 42 (5), pp 575–583. Publishes by INRA Team of Molecular Gastronomy. Paris, France. Images Fig.1: Bleu II from Joan Miro’. Retrieved from: http:// www.globalgallery.com/enlarge/26493/ Fig.2: Sea Bass with confetti vegetables. Retrieved from: http://malcolmmejin.blogspot.com/2009/04/
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This, H. (2006). Food for tomorrow? How the scientific discipline of molecular gastronomy could change the way we eat. European Molecular Biology Organization, 7(11).
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Cooking, Science, and Technological Innovation Studying Developments from Three Different Restaurant Perspectives
Christiaan de Koning
Abstract The paper demonstrates the relation between science, technological innovation, and cooking/food preparation. This is studied from the perspective of the three different restaurant sectors, which are the industrial food sector, the fast food sector, and the fresh food sector. The paper explains how new knowledge in the field of science and technology can be implemented in the world of cooking and leads to innovative food preparation methods and dishes. Every sector can be characterised by a personal focus on what scientific knowledge and techniques are helpful for further innovation and development. Furthermore, the possibility of forecasting future developments and innovation in the field of cooking is discussed. Keywords: the relation between science, technological innovation, and cooking; fast food; fresh food; industrial food; restaurant; food preparation
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Introduction Who does not fancy a proper dish of good food, full of flavours and juices, a good taste, a delicate texture, and a presentation that is a feast for the eyes? Food provides our body with the building blocks for all the process that take place. These processes make it possible for us to grow, to act, in short; to live. Since people have to eat every day in order to stay fit and healthy, it can be assumed that food is something normal and common. However, this would be a misconception, because a trend of development can be noticed for food. All the products and dishes that are familiar today were not that common over history. In the long past, diets were more restricted and less food variety existed. As a result of increase in knowledge and technology over time, the modern world knows a large variety of food supply and preparation methods. In relation, humanity lives today in an era that interrelates food with many scientific fields, such as chemistry, physics, and engineering. Examples
of new terms, that may sound familiar nowadays but were completely unknown a century ago, are genetic manipulation, molecular cooking, and preservation using chemical methods or substances. This paper shows the contrast between today and tomorrowâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cooking and food preparation methods, and those of the past. Furthermore, the paper focuses on the preparation of food and the different techniques and methods involved. It should be noticed that food can be prepared in many different ways via several methods, such as cooking, backing, frying, cooling, icing, au bain marie, etcetera. Furthermore, many different techniques, devices, and machines are involved, such as simple all day kitchen aids, laser machines, and industrial assembly line bakeries. Every form of preparation leads to different tastes of a particular food. Considering the methods and techniques of cooking and food preparation it might appear that these techniques are as old as human civilization and have not experienced any
Cooking, Science, and Technological Innovation Studying Developments from Three Different Restaurant Perspectives
The Three Main Restaurant Sectors
Cooking in the 21st century
Throughout history, people have created new combinations of food, discovered new ingredients, and created new ways of food preparations. Following the evolution of mankind in history, benchmarks can be identified where breakthroughs have been achieved in relation to food. For instance, the discovery that meat can be roasted above a fire, ingredients can be boiled, and products can be preserved by drying or salting led to innovation. Analysing the learning process, cooks first learned via trial and error, and coincidence. Later, when more knowledge was gained about chemistry and other sciences, discoveries could be made via deduction from reasoning with familiar facts. The accumulation of all this gained knowledge is what we know today about food. This knowledge is nowadays intensively applied in the three food sectors – as mentioned in the introduction -, that of industrial food, fast food, and fresh food. The first type, industrial cuisine, is a concept that dates back to the 1980s. It was invented to produce large quantities and volumes of food for a large number of people; mass manufacturing. The main aim is to reach a high level of automation and a fast level of production, in order to be time effective and to produce for low costs. Another aspect of industrial cuisine is that the products are expected to be preservable to a certain degree (they should not decay in a very short period of time). The consumers or distributers of the industrial cuisine are large institutions, such as hospitals, schools, and airlines (Rodgers, 2008). In contrast, the concept of fast food is more concerned with delivering individual orders of a product at a high frequency. An example would be McDonalds’ hamburgers; the number of hamburgers made and sold, is a representation of the number of hamburgers that was ordered by the customers. In order to produce the exact number of burgers required at a given time, they have to be made on the spot in the restaurant. This is also the origin of the name ‘fast food’, because the food has to be prepared quickly and easily in order to be eaten as a quick meal or to be taken out (Rodgers, 2008). The third food preparation concept is that of fresh food restaurants. This type of restaurant uses just-in-time delivery. Just-in-time (JIT) delivery is a system that delivers products immediately before they are required, often in order to minimize inventory cost,
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major changes over time. In a general consensus this might be true, considering boiling water and roasting meat. However, since humanity actively focussed on chemistry many new manners of preparation have been discovered – such as the use of liquid nitrogen to prepare a dish – and can be added to the former list of cooking techniques. Concerning the development of new cooking machines, it can be stated that this is a result of engineering and technological innovation. Technological innovation influenced the field of cooking in the sense that, for instance, the laser beam is used for food preparation while it was invented for other purposes. This way the device gains a new meaning (Jeager, 2001). Nevertheless, it is not purely a consequence of science that new methods and techniques are developed. From the perspective of market competition, involving food stores and restaurants, there is the will to compete and to differentiate. In consequence, for restaurants new recipes and food preparation methods are created or implemented from another scientific fields, and can lead to innovation in the (scientific) field of cooking. It is for this reason that restaurants are the main focus of the paper, because they are easily influenced by rapid scientific developments and innovations. Within the concept of ‘restaurant’ three distinctions can be made; industrial cuisine, fast food, and fresh food (Rodgers, 2008). For every type of these restaurants a general set of characteristics and qualities, as well as an own history of development, can be identified. This is explained further on in the paper. The paper demonstrates the relation between science, technological innovation, and cooking/food preparation. This is done from the perspective of the three different restaurant sectors. Furthermore, the possibility of forecasting future developments and innovation in the field of cooking is discussed. To provide an outline of the paper; a general overview of how the three types relate to each other is provided in section 2, more in dept section 3 discusses the concept of industrial cuisine, section 4 that of fast food, and section 5 that of fresh food. Section 6 provides a general overview of possible future innovations and developments that may take place according to the principles of competition, differentiation between restaurants, and innovation in science. The final section provides the conclusion that clarifies the relation between science, technological innovation, and cooking/ food preparation, and possible future developments.
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Table 1. An overview of the aspects of industrial cuisine, fast food, and fresh food (Rodgers, 2008). (CPU stands for Central Processing Unit. The central processing unit coordinates the control and execution of the production line.)
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but in the case of fresh food restaurants to guaranty the freshness of raw products (Heiko, & College, 1987). Furthermore, there is little use of instant food, instant powders or chemical methods for long preservation. This type of restaurant is often considered fine dining, or ‘the art of the gastronomy’. Table 1 presents an overview of the main aspects of the three types of restaurants. The main operational principles, the main pre-occupations and challenges, and the type of operations involved have been explained in this section. The following sections deal with the desirable innovations by restaurant type and its food production, and how this developed into today’s concept. Industrial Food When technological innovation and new discoveries in chemistry, or other sciences, are implemented in the field of food preparation it may often lead to innovation in the world of cooking (MacKenzie, & Wajcman, 1999). The industrial cuisine cooks with large quantities of products. The idea of mass production as defined for the industrial food production process (involving higher production efficiency, and better preservation methods) dates back to the era of the industrial revolution. For instance, when the Frenchman Nicolas Appert invented canned food for longer preservation in the
early 19th century it was introduced to produce and preserve large quantities and volumes of food, in order to feed whole workforces and armies (Britannica, 2010). Later during that age, Louis Pasteur was able to explain the process that made the preservation possible, as a result of the heat killing the microorganisms in the jar or can and preventing the entry of any new by hermetic sealing (Britannica, 2010). A method that needs more scientific knowledge is ‘sous vide’ cooking. ‘Sous vide’ is the method of cooking food before vacuum sealing and chilling it. If it is not executed in the right way, microorganisms are not enough heated to be killed, or when heated too much the product might not have the right taste. Since the product is stored in a bag placed in warm water with a perfect temperature that varies per product, less heat damage is done and flavours can be preserved. The machines that have been developed for executing this type of cooking technique are very expensive, as a result of the many process that need to be controlled to maintain food safety and taste. Since these machines are more affordable when this food preparation method is used on a large scale basis, industrial food is often associated with ‘sous vide’. After this discovery the successful method of sous vide was also applied to many other products, from the preparation and preservation of foie gras to all kinds of vegetables (Rodgers, 2008). What began as a simple technique for bulk production and preservation started to involve more inventions and discoveries that were applicable for mass preparation of food. This also involved the implementation of new techniques to make the production more efficient. As shown in table 1, desired innovations in relation to the multiple steps involved in the creation of a dish for industrial food purposes include automatic preparation, advanced product design, and shelf life extension. Today, more and more knowledge is gained in relation to these fields. Production lines are partly automatized, using full automatic robotics, and food is prepared according to the concept of a factory. However, in order to meet the industrial standards, recipes and products may need some modifications that can have positive as well negative effects on the end result. For instance, a benefit is the preservation of ‘sealedin’ products, optimizing the juiciness and making the product more nutritional. A negative effect could be one of the problems that may occur during the multiple steps that are involved in an industrial food production
Cooking, Science, and Technological Innovation Studying Developments from Three Different Restaurant Perspectives
Fast food is as old as the hills. According to Stambaugh (1988) fast food was already a custom in the ancient Rome. The Romans ate ready-to-eat bread soaked in wine that they bought from street stands. The concept of fast food developed over time into the restaurants that are well known today, such as Kentucky Fried Chicken or the Burger King. The last section showed the relationship between science, technological innovation, and food
Cooking in the 21st century
Fast Food
preparation in the sector of industrial food. When discussing the same issues for the fast food sector some similarities can be noticed. Within the evolution of fast food restaurants more automation has been applied and many concepts invented in the industrial food sector were transformed for implementation in the fast food production process. However, this is only one side of the story. An important difference between the industrial food sector and the fast food sector is that the latter has a much stronger commercial focus. It has to sell food and provide service that makes people willing to buy their products. Quality and differentiation from other fast food restaurants is therefore a big issue. In order to stay ahead of possible competitors, and keep customers satisfied, innovation and development are the keywords (Rodgers, 2008). Knowledge gained in the field of industrial cuisine might be useful to provide this to some degree, but both sectors are facing different problems. Fast food restaurants have to produce small quantities in a high frequency and need to create fast innovation to stay ahead in the competition. This contrasts the bulk production and slower development rate of the industrial cuisine. It is clear that the general association of fast food consists of fried food, hamburgers, and soft drinks. The main focus for differentiation is thus imbedded in the increase of the quality of the food and services, the production efficiency, and the adaptations made according to the demand of the costumers. In the search for answers facing todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s challenges many inventions have been developed. In order to increase the quality of the food and meet the demand of the customers for healthier food, new cooking devices and techniques were developed. For instance, products are fried in unsaturated cooking oils, that are healthier than saturated oils, which can cause a higher risk for heart diseases or harmful cholesterol levels in the blood; infrared radiation and microwave heating are used to reduce the oil absorption of the products; or pressure fryers, cooking at a high temperature above the boiling point, frying the product faster compared to using a normal fryer, resulting in less moisture loss, less yielding of vitamins to the oil, and a quicker costumer service (Rodgers, 2008). Future innovations are likely to be sought in the area of technological development for increasing product quality and services, so input is needed from technological studies or the industrial cuisine. Furthermore, as a result of the tendency of the increasing popularity
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process, such as the risk of evaporation or botulism during transportation or storage. This may occur due to the possibility that bacteria have developed immunity against certain preservation substances or methods (Rodgers, 2008). In addition, the challenge stands to develop further opportunities to increase productivity, minimize production costs, and create methods that are able to preserve products for a longer time, in short; to optimize all aspects of the industrial cuisine to the maximum. New innovations from science can help to make this happen. However, knowledge exchange vice versa is also a possibility. This would refer to the idea that solutions to the faced problems, and optimization in general, can be achieved within the field of industrial cuisine, as in the earlier example of sous vide (in the time of discovery, no clear scientific explanation for its success of preservation was available) (Rodgers, 2008). It may therefore be stated that the achievement of innovation comes forward out of the knowledge from the field of sciences as well as that from the more practical (maybe often the more trial and error) kitchen method. This refers to an interactive knowledge creation between different fields of sciences (Bijker, 1995). Therefore, it can be assumed that most new inventions in the field of industrial cuisine can be expected from the correlation of food preparation, cooking, technical sciences and chemistry. The combination of these fields is merely covered by the study named â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Food scienceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. As a result, the line of distinction between the different studies is blurring. All in all, it can be stated that there is a clear relation between science, technological innovation and food preparation in the sector of industrial food. This relation consists of a correlation of these scientific fields that lead to mutual benefits and, most important in this case, innovation and problem solutions in the industrial cuisine.
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of fresh food, the fast food sector slightly moves a bit to the use of fresh food products and recipes. This is a consequence of fast food restaurants and companies being under fire, because medical evidence has shown that the products can be harmful to the health of its consumers (Pereira et al., 2005). Fast food producers are concerned with making the diet they offer healthy to an acceptable degree. A challenge for the fast food sector could therefore be that they produce more nutritious and functional meals within the type of products they offer. Analysing the type of innovation, that the fast food sector can offer to the food sector in general, the best results may probably occur in the field of recipe development related to healthier and more nutritious products. Furthermore, small innovations may be achieved in the field of kitchen aids that lead to more efficiency in the preparation of food. In short, fast food developed from street stands in the era of the ancient Romans into the hamburger and fries restaurants we know today. The producers are designed to produce food that can quickly and easily be prepared and eaten. Concerning the last innovations in the fast food sector, the main focus is healthier food and more efficiency in the kitchen. Developments will probably consists of small modifications in the production line and recipes, and not in high tech science.
Spicing up science
Fresh Food The fresh food sector represents the core of the cooking business. It incorporates restaurants that cook food with fresh products, creating dishes tailored according to the taste of the chef in charge. It might be described as the oldest form of cooking (compared to the two types of restaurants that are earlier discussed), since it is possible without any expertise, techniques, or machinery. This is for the reason that fresh food cooking existed before the processes involved in the food preparation could be explained by science. In general, the consequence is that the preparation of food is perceived as a routine action, not questioning the basic components and mechanisms that make it possible. However, when cooking is viewed from a different perspective and the processes are questioned, interesting discoveries can be made. Science developed over time and the attention was attracted by how cooking actually worked. As has become clear today, science was capable of explain-
ing – especially via chemistry – cooking. Scientist were further involved into the marvellous science of cooking. This led to the invention of molecular gastronomy in the 1980s (This, 2008). It is important to notice that molecular gastronomy is different from molecular cooking. According to the French physical chemist and specialist in the molecular gastronomy This ‘molecular gastronomy’ is the science of cooking, and only concentrates on the knowledge part of food preparation. As explained by This: “The knowledge of whatever concerns man’s nourishment. In essence, this does not concern food fashions or how to prepare luxury food— such as tournedos Rossini, canard à l’orange or lobster orientale—but rather an understanding of food; and for the more restricted ‘molecular gastronomy’, it is the chemistry and physics behind the preparation of any dish: for example, why a mayonnaise becomes firm or why a soufflé swells.” (This, 2006, pp. 1062). The term ‘molecular’ is therefore the same as in molecular biology and is interrelated with physics and chemistry. This describers ‘Molecular cooking’ as first the love for the food, then the art, and finally the technique. (This, 2006). The link between both ‘molecular’ variants is that molecular cooking is bringing molecular gastronomy into practice. With the knowledge that is gained in molecular gastronomy by observing processes that take place in food preparation on a molecular level, new methods and cooking techniques are, and can be developed. For example, potatoes can be served in the form of foam, or fruit with the texture of caviar (Fat Duck, 2010). Chefs are creating out of the box dishes that cannot be compared with the type of food many people are familiar with. Since it is important for this type of fresh food restaurants to differentiate themselves from others in order to compete, innovation in food preparation is essential. This field is, therefore, eager to apply new scientific knowledge in there kitchens to create unique dishes. The trend that is visible today is cooking on a molecular level. More knowledge has been gained and products can be created with all kind of tastes and textures. Compared to the traditional cuisine, which cooks with solid products such as meat vegetables and fruits, the components and building blocks (e.g. molecules) of these products can be used for the creation of completely new products or dishes. The combination of science and cooking has broadened the spectrum of possibilities for food preparation enormously (This, 2006). Furthermore, in the fresh food sector there is a
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future development will look like, but the knowledge of a strong correlation between the three fields, allows that generalized assumptions can be made concerning the whole branch. Rodgers (2008) presents an overview of the expected main developments and fields of innovation according to experts such as Cardello et al. (2000), Chantal et al. (2005), and Marmoroli et al. (2003). In a general analysis, Rodgers refers to the influence of science, including the development of robotics, engineering, electronics, statistics, food manufacturing, and finally food physics and chemistry (table 2). Rodgers refers to the experts, who consider that genetic modifications, the food acceptance based on consumers behaviour, and the flavour profile of new ingredients will also play a major part. This is a consequence of the fact that these three factors have proven to be of high importance and influence in recent developments and innovations in the cooking branch. For this reason these factors are also expected to be of relevance for the innovation in the near future. Rodgers provides some general Future Developments ideas, but what should not be forgotten is that All three restaurant we live today within a sectors have evolved as a particular time frame, or result of innovation. One paradigm, which makes can assume that the fresh it possible to innovate. food sector, which is the However, it is very oldest, is the mother of hard to picture what all three types of restaulies beyond the current rants, from which the fast paradigm with only the food sector and the indusknowledge of the current trial sector have evolved via science and methods. Table 2. Future developments (Rodgers, 2008) specialization. Every sector The latest paradigm shift went individually through a process of is a consequence of the developinnovation leading to what they represent today. The ment of molecular gastronomy. This has opened up industrial sector produces bulk products, the fast food new opportunities to create new recipes, preparation sector, small-scale products at a very high frequency, methods, and ultimately a new generation of dishes. and the fresh food sector is designed for a more cre- Furthermore, new technologies are being engineered, ative and personal interpretation of the food prepara- making machines available that provide characteristic tion process. However, as also stated by This (2006) new preparation methods (e.g. the microwave oven). the three different sectors are not very different from Today it is molecular gastronomy; tomorrow it will be each other. The existence of three sectors is a result a new technology, for instance cooking with nanotechof the differences in the production scale. This line of nology. argumentation has implementations for the perspec- In short, all three types of restaurant sectors tive of future innovation and the development of the can be characterised via todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s paradigm. Science is restaurant branches in relation to food preparation. It strongly related to the innovations that occur in the is problematic to present a clear picture of what this world of cooking. A breakthrough in the field of sci-
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strong belief in creativity. As a result, chefs apply into their dishes knowledge of molecular gastronomy and the practice of molecular cooking, which broadens even more the possibilities for both sides. The field of fresh food stands for a highly effective frequency of innovation. Since new developments are easily integrated as long as it benefits the sensation of eating, it is hard to forecast what next steps will follow after molecular cooking. This makes future developments in this field hard to predict, because discoveries in science and the creativity of the chefs are unpredictable factors. All in all, the fresh food sector is strongly linked to the science that studies cooking processes; molecular gastronomy. Newly gained knowledge in the field of science is implemented in the fresh food kitchen and leads to innovation in the routine of food preparation and creates the will and possibilities for restaurants in the fresh food sector to differentiate and compete with each other. This way the fresh food sector can be perceived as the most innovative of all three sectors.
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ence, whether it is in the field of chemistry, physics, or any other, might therefore influence the food preparation methods that are common today. This influence is enhanced by the competition between restaurants and their will to differentiate. In consequence, the result is the implementation of new knowledge, science, and chemistry in cooking.
lecular gastronomy. In consequence, new knowledge from the field of science is used in fresh food kitchens and leads to innovation in the routine of food preparation. This enhances the possibilities for restaurants in the fresh food sector to differentiate and compete with each other. This way the fresh food sector can be perceived as the most innovative of all three sectors. Moreover, from a generalized perspective, the Conclusion innovations in the three restaurant sectors can be identified through today’s scientific paradigm. A new In conclusion, historically people create new discovery in the field of science might therefore lead combinations of food, discover new ingredients, and to new innovations in the kitchens of all three sectors. create new ways of food preparations. Since food is an For the long term this may lead to a shift in the food essential, cooking is an every day routine. Today, we do preparation methods that are now standard. not eat the same food as we did in history. Our eating It is now obvious that science and cooking are habits have changed and are still changing. This paper interlinked and lead to innovations in food preparashowed that there is a relation between science, tech- tion. Knowing the new flavours, cooking techniques nological innovation, and cooking/food preparation, and dishes that this cooperation has produced so far, and how this relationship can be formulated. Since res- it may be assumed that the future looks promising and taurants deal with food and cooking on a high profes- will bring more benefits. sional level, three different restaurant sectors formed the basis for analysis. References The industrial sector was invented to produce large quantities and volumes of food for a large num- Bijker, W.E. (1995). Of Bicycles, Bakelites, and ber of people; mass manufacturing. The fast food sec- Bulbs: Towards a Socialtechnical Change. Retrieved tor is based on producing small quantities of a product January 11, 2010 from http://books.google.nl/ in a high frequency. Finally, the fresh food sector is de- books?hl=nl&lr=&id=IsbmwN8-m1cC&oi=fnd&pg=PP signed for just-in-time delivery of dishes. Each sector 11&dq=Bijker,+Wiebe+E.+(1995).+Of+Bicycles,+Bakeli has its own expertise and background. tes,+and+Bulbs.+Towards+a+Theory+of+Sociotechnic For industrial cuisine there is a clear relation al+Change.+Cambridge.+Mass.+The+MIT+Press.&ots= between science, technological innovation and food 4ObQPc_l1Q&sig=_nB_YLHD_mmS7XE_PB3ym802sR preparation in the industrial food sector. This relation o#v=onepage&q=&f=false implies a correlation of these fields of science that lead to mutual benefits and, most important in this case, Canning. (2010). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Reinnovation and problem solutions in industrial cuisine, trieved January 11, 2010, from Encyclopædia Britanwhich requires a high level of automation and is, there- nica Online: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/ fore, especially dependent on technological innova- topic/92715/canning tion. Furthermore, for the fast food sector a rela- Cardello, A. Schutz, H., Snow, C., & Lesher, L. (2000). tionship between science and food preparation can be Predictors of food acceptance consumption and satisnoticed. Fast food providers are designed for food that faction in specific eating situations. Food Quality and can quickly and easily be prepared and eaten. The lat- Preference, 11, pp.201-216. est innovations concern more efficiency in the kitchen. Future developments will probably result in small Chantal, D.B., Lethuaut, L., Boelrijk, A., Mariette, F. & modifications in the production line and recipes, and Genot, C. (2005). Sweetness and aroma perceptions not in high tech science as in the industrial cuisine. in model dairy desserts: an overview. Flavour and Fra Still more possibilities for innovation are avail- grance Journal, 21(1), pp.48-52. able in the fresh food sector. This is strongly linked to the science that studies cooking processes, such as mo- Fat Duck. (2010). Retrieved January 13, 2010, from
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MacKenzie, D., & Wajcman, J. (1999). Introductory Essay: The social shaping of technology. The Social shaping of technology, p. 3-26. Retrieved January 11, 2010 from: http://www.ub.unimaas.nl/ucm/e-readers/ huss201/mackenzie.pdf.
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Heiko, L., & College, B. (1987). Some Relationships Between Japanese Culture and Just-In-Time. The Academy of Management Executive, 3(4), pp. 319-321. Jaeger, B. (2001). Srenghts and Weaknesses of constructivistic studies of technology. Department of Social Sciences: Roskilde University, Denmark.
Marmoroli, N., Peano, C., & Meastri, E. (2003). Advanced PCR techniques in identifying food components. In M. Lees (Eds.), Food Authenticity and Traceability (pp.4-31). Cambridge: Woodhead. Pereira, M.A., Kartashov, A.I., Ebbeling, C.B., Van Horn, L., Slattery, M.L., Jacobs Jr, D.R., & Ludwig, D.S. (2005). Fast-food habits, weight gain, and insulin resistance (the CARDIA study): 15-year prospective analysis. The Lancet, 365(9453), pp. 36-42 Rodgers, S. (2008). Technological innovation supporting different food production philosophies in the food service sectors. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 20(1), pp. 1934.
This, H. (2006). Food for tomorrow?. EMBO Reports, 7(11), pp.1062-1066. This, H. (2008). Molecular Gastronomy, a Scientific Look at Cooking. Accounts of Chemical Research, 42(5), pp. 575-583.
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Stambaugh, J.E. (1988). The Ancient Roman City. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University
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Molecular Cooking as Remedy? An Analytical Approach to Molecular Cooking and its Applications to Solve Public Health Issues Camiel W. Janssen
Abstract In the late 90s a new scientific field was established: Molecular Gastronomy. Molecular Gastronomy studies the molecular structures and transformations in the world of cooking. This scientific field mainly applies to commercial use in restaurants and industrial cooking. However, molecular cooking can also help society to solve public health issues by applying new techniques and knowledge about food acquired in the field of molecular gastronomy. In this paper two specific health issues, and their possible solutions, are discussed: obesity and Colorectal Adenoma. These two diseases claim millions of deaths each year. By means of extensive literature research solutions for these problems were found. Adapting society’s consumption of processed food and cooking behaviour could lower the risks for obesity and Colorectal Adenoma. Keywords: public health, molecular cooking, obesity, colorectal adenoma, salt,/sugar/ fat substitutes
Spicing up science
Introduction Food is considered as one of the most ordinary and customary things in life. Humans, in the Western world, eat around three meals a day, but do not actively think about the consequences of eating particular products. Some products, or substances within particular products have major influences on our health. This evolvement can be ascribed to the development of taste. As the quantity of worldwide transportation rose in the 20th century, food-resources became more widely available. For instance salt and sugar were a scarce good for many centuries. Nowadays, these products are available in inexhaustible quantities. This has resulted in a development in taste, which can be generalized to the fact that people who have ‘inexhaustible’ access to food are used to eat too much fat, sugar and
salt. In addition, until the mid 20th century there was almost no awareness about the consequences of being overweight (obesity) or having a high cholesterol level. Now it is common knowledge that being obese or having high cholesterol can result in clogged veins, weak hearts, cancer and diabetes (Mokdad et al., 2004). As stated in the research paper Actual Causes of Death in the US, 2000 poor diets and physical inactivity will overtake the use of tobacco as major cause of death in the US (Mokdad et al, 2004). In the last decennia there has been a major increase in deaths caused by cancer. Cancer is the leading cause of death worldwide. In 2004, as stated by the World Health Organisation (WHO), cancer was accounted for over 7,4 million deaths. Furthermore it
Molecular Cooking as Remedy? An Analytical Approach to Molecular Cooking and its Applications to Solve Public Health Issues
velopment of molecular cooking, followed by chapter, which deals with obesity. Then, a section dedicated to Colorectal Adenoma is posed which holds some linkage to the chapter concerned with obesity. Finally there is a summary of the findings and recommendations for further research. Molecular Cooking
Cooking in the 21st century
The field of Molecular Gastronomy or molecular cooking was officially established in 1988 by Nicholas Kurti (This, 2005). Hervé This argues: “Initially, molecular cooking included modelling recipes, testing old wives tales, inventing new dishes, methods and ingredients in the kitchen. (This, 2005, p. 5) ”Though this gives one a reasonable about what molecular cooking entails, it is necessary to broaden this definition. Molecular cooking goes beyond the practises in the private and restaurant kitchens only. Cooking with emphasis on the molecular level of the food is also applied in considerably bigger scales. The preservation of fresh food, and the cooking and preservation of processed food (e.g. instant dishes) has to do with cooking (with high focus) on the molecular level. A lot of research on the molecular structures of food has to be conducted to make sure it is safe and healthy for humans. According to This, all recipes are build of two parts. The first part deals with the actual definition of the dish, i.e. one can make a red wine sauce by boiling it at 70ºC (so the alcohol evaporate) and using maizena (cornflower) to thicken the substance, the molecular structure of the cornflower, molecular chain, is destroyed by the heat and can reunite with other molecules which results in a thickened substance. The second part of the recipe are the so-called precisions or a guide which instructs one how to prepare a dish. In other words; the first part deals with the chemical transitions and the second part deals with the actual proceedings (precisions). Most dishes consist of a combination of colloids. Colloids are bigger than atoms or molecules, but cannot be seen with our sheer eye (Brittanica, 2010). “In their most basic form, colloids consist of one phase (gas bubbles, oil or water droplets, or solid particles) dispersed in a continuous phase. (This, 2005, p. 6)” All combined colloids: gels, emulsions, foams and suspensions are widely used in cooking e.g. ice-cream contains air bubbles. The second part of the recipe is concerned with
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is estimated that in 2030 over 12 million people will die because of the effects of cancer (WHO, 2010). The WHO researched the causes of cancer, and found that over 639.000 people died of the effects of Colorectal Cancer. The main cause for this type of cancer is our food consumption and more particular: mainly meat and its preparation rather than actual obesity. Colorectal Adenoma is a benign tumor which starts in the colon or rectal. The fact that it is a benign tumor (non-malignant) does not mean that it cannot become malignant. In this paper these two public health issues will be linked to a rather new scientific field: “Molecular Gastronomy”. Molecular Gastronomy studies the molecular characteristics of food and its transformations when cooking it. Nicholas Kurti established this new scientific field in 1988 (This, 2009). When food is “cooked” or produced it undergoes different physical and chemical processes transformation. Also synthetic fibres, tissues and other materials might be added to the food (i.e. herbs and spices). With this knowledge it is possible to substitute fat, salt and sugars, and thereby make it possible to make people experience the texture of fat or the taste of sugar and salt without having “direct” consequences for the body. This of course, can be a solution to the first issue, concerning fat or obese people, posed above. As resolution to the second problem, how meat is cooked and how it causes cancer, one could use Molecular Gastronomy to study and solve this problem. The way meat is preserved and cooked has a great impact on the risk of Colorectal Adenoma (Sinha et al., 2005). The cooking of meat refers to the temperature, whether it is fried, grilled boiled or steamed and at what temperatures. The temperatures on which meat is cooked can trigger the production of certain chemical connections, which are not beneficial to our system. The same counts for the preservation of meat for which food-processing factories use different chemicals. Because of the rather broad spectrum of this subject it was decided to use a narrowed down thesis statement, which prohibited the research from becoming to shallow. Therefore the thesis statement was specified as follows: “Can molecular cooking help us to solve public health issues such as obesity and cancer?”. In this paper the focus will be laid on the upsides of molecular cooking, but include some of the negative effects as well. First there is a section on the de-
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the apparatus and technical precisions. Most of the precisions originate from the French cuisine. These are generally traditional precisions. In the scope of molecular cooking more innovative methods are used, which are not that common-place. The technology of cooking developed as people wanted to try out new methods of preparing their food and thereby making natural resources edible which until that time seemed to be inedible or even poisonous. The second reason for innovating on cooking methods is marketing; by making food look fancy it will obviously sell better. This second reason is not relevant for this paper, because the focus is laid on the physical and chemical side of food. Cooking methods that have been developed since the field of Molecular Gastronomy was established are for instance: cooking in vacuum ‘packages’, centrifuging, foaming and cooking or preserving with liquid nitrogen (-200ºC) (Brittanica, 2010). Besides recipes for dishes, chemical transformations and cooking methods the development of molecular cooking also gave us insights in how to substitute particular colloids, and create certain texture. In our daily life we can choose a range of light, low-fat or low-salt products which enhance our health status. Can we beat diseases such as obesity and heart problems with using these products, or are they merely a placebo and cultural trend?
Spicing up science
Obesity In the introduction it was stated that too much fat, sugar and salt intake could be harmful to the body. In the last century there have been major findings in the field of substituting fat, sugar and salt. Too much sugar intake results in energy-remains in the energy supply. This energy is converted into fat, which is in too high quantities not healthy for our bodies. Extreme overconsumption of sugar could possibly lead to obesity or diet-related diseases. Secondly, excessive fat consumption is one of the leading causes for obesity and chronic diseases. The textures and good properties of fat can be replaced by artificial, less energy-rich substitutes. Finally, overuse of salt can cause serious heart problems, and has a negative influence on body weight and physical growth. However, salt is essential for the processes in our body, the question is whether there are substitutes, which are less harmful but yield the same taste and elements essential to the human body.
Sugar substitutes Our taste is highly sensitive for sugar if compared to bitter, salt and sour, which is one of the causes that most individuals prefer foods with high sugar content (Ludwig, 2009). Besides natural sugars (sucrose, fructose) there are syntheticly produced sugars as well. In the United States there are 5 artificial sweeteners available for commercial use: saccharin, acesulfame, aspartame, neotame, and sucralose. On first sight these molecules might impress you; though you should know these sugar-substitutes are labelled as E-numbers on the food packaging one buys in the supermarkets (Food Standards Agency, 2010). Sugar substitutes can be seen as empty calories, and have a consderably more intense taste (Ludwig, 2009). This makes these products attractive to use in a lot of light and low-calorie products. Normal foods that contain sugar in their natural form are in most cases highly nutritious, healthy and satiety. “…an 8-oz apple contains beneficial vitamins, minerals, and phyto-chemicals but fewer calories than a 2-oz portion of bread (Ludwig, 2009, p. 2477)”. From this one can deduct that normal sugar intake via a regular diet is not harmful in normal quantities, because it provides nutrition and is satiety (i.e. satiety is the natural quality of food which satisfy you hunger). The issue of the processed food we consume are the highly concentrated amounts of sugar (e.g. fructose syrup). The problem with this kind of concentrated sugar is the lack of all the other components its natural competitor brings (Ludwig, 2009). However, the question is whether this sugar substitutes could solve the problem of overweight people, obesity and diabetes. There have been researches conducted on the workings of sugar substitutes on obese people. They found that on the short run this helped to cut down blood pressure, body weight and other parameters (Ludwig, 2009). Unfortunately it is also found that on the long run products with sugar-substitutes have a major downside. The problem lies in the hormonal and neurobehavioral pathways that regulate our hunger. As we eat sweet-tasting dishes, our body ‘thinks’ that we are taking in a lot of sugar, which triggers processes in our metabolism. The fact is that we fool our bodies, as we take in empty calories. This disturbs our hormonal and neurobehavioral pathways as we do not get the energy accounted for when tasting a particular product (Ludwig, 2009). In other words, the sweetness sensation in
Molecular Cooking as Remedy? An Analytical Approach to Molecular Cooking and its Applications to Solve Public Health Issues
Fat Substitutes
Salt Substitutes Salt is one of the most used flavour makers in dishes. Salt can be described as a combination of sodium and chloride, which forms sodium chloride. The other part in salt is bicarbonate. This is known as baking soda and sodium bezoate, which is used as a pre-
Cooking in the 21st century
Fat is a nutrient with a high calorie to weight ratio. This is why an energy rich or fat rich diet results in a calorie surplus. This calorie surplus is transformed in body-fat, which is held responsible to cause certain chronic diseases. From this one could deduct that fat is unhealthy in every sense; this is not the case. Fat contains a lot of nutrients that we need: fatty acids are needed to maintain the structures to the cellmembranes, to absorb fat-soluble vitamins, and for prostaglandin synthesis. Fat replacers contain these essential fatty acids but have not as many calories as the ordinary fat we consume (American Dietetic Association, 2005). Besides the characteristics of fat concerning health, fat is important in our cooking as well. Fat is used to transfer heat when frying and fat is one the component in meat that makes it tender, juicy and keeps the taste (American Dietetic Association, 2005). Fat chains maintain the smooth structure of ice cream. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Fats are responsible for the aroma and texture of many foods, thereby affecting the overall palatability of the diet (American Dietetic Association, 2005, p. 267).â&#x20AC;? So when thinking of fat replacers, one should think of a product that yields all the characteristics of normal fat with a lower calorie ratio. The American Dietetic Association categorises four different types of
fat replacers: fat substitutes, fat analogs, fat extenders, fat mimetics (2005). Fat substitutes are fat based and have all the functions and nutrients of normal fat; however they contain almost no calories. Fat analogs do have the same functions of fat, although there is another nutritional value and almost no calories. Fat extenders optimize the functions of the fact already incorporated in the dish (so one should use less). Fat mimetics are used to make people experience a texture, which is normally provided by fat (e.g. lubricity, mouth feel, etc). These fat mimetics cannot be used to bake or fry because they entail water. Fat mimetics are the most interesting in molecular cooking because they enhance some functional attributes. Fat mimetics can be based on carbohydrates, proteins, fats or a combination of these. With these products one can stimulate the texture of emulsions, gels, melting food, foams etc. (American Dietetic Association, 2005). Fat replacers can be useful to make people experience satiety. A certain volume being eaten can achieve satiety. So if one creates the perception of high-volume consumption with low calorie/energy density one could decrease the overall energy intake within a diet. This results in a healthier diet, which is beneficial in fighting overweight. In short-term studies this was confirmed, low-energy-dense foods promoted reduced energy intake, decrease hunger, satiety. Long term studies showed moderate weight losses (American Dietetic Association, 2005). Similar to artificial sweeteners, fat replacers have their own lacks. Specific types of fat replacers can cause a laxative effect (American Dietetic Association, 2005). Olestra, synthetic cooking oil, can interfere the natural vitamin regulation in the body, and may cause leaky and fatty stools, which is not beneficial for our health as it drifts water away. The American Dietetic Association does not advise against fat replacers. In contradictory, they state it is advisable to use them if one has decent knowledge about how to use them in combination with natural foods, which contain essential nutrients (American Dietetic Association, 2005).
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the mouth does not conform to the energy provided by food. It has not been proven that artificial sweeteners (and mainly dietary fructose) are the direct cause of stimulated energy intake and cause weight gain and obesity. This phenomenon could be ascribed to adverse effects on plasma lipids (Bantle, 2009). However, this is only speculation on different theories as not enough research has been conducted to confirm this. Ultimately one can conclude that artificial sweeteners can be used in particular quantities in combination with other food (to help obese people). Ludwig argues that artificial sweeteners can be useful in a diet. Though one has to make sure that these artificial sweeteners are used in combination with natural food. If one fools his or her body by consuming a lot of sugar substitutes without taking any real nutrition this can result in the opposite direction as it was meant to. For extensive information about sugar substitutes I refer to L.L. de Boer (2010) who conducted thorough meta-analysis on this topic.
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servative in processed food (Lakhanpal, 1978). The elements chloride and sodium are important for a healthy living and natural growth. In our bodies, salt exist in the form of Na+ (sodium) and Cl- (chloride) ions. The other element in ordinary kitchen salt is potassium. This element is in our bodies in the form of K+ ions. The ions are essential to maintain our cells and power our nerve-system. Apart from the healthrelated issues, salt is one of the most used ingredients when cooking. Eskew argued that salt is indispensable in our daily lives and therefore can be seen as the fifth element (air, fire, earth and water) (Eskew, 1948); salt is an essential product for cooking and to stay healthy. However, overuse of salt can cause serious problems. To illustrate this: in ancient China eating a cup of pure salt was used as a suicide method (Ball, 1957). Nowadays salt is not as scarce as it has been centuries ago which influenced our overall appreciation of taste. In the daily human diets salt, fat and sugar are present in high quantities and eating too much of any of these has negative effects on the human system. “In man, increased sodium chloride intake correlates positively with mean water consumption, blood pressure, radio-sodium space, incidence of electrocardiographic abnormalities, serum cholesterol levels, heart and kidney weight, but negatively with mean length body weight and longevity” (Lakhanpal, 1978, p. 259). Besides these correlations there are some other links as well. Excessive use of salt may cause health conditions, which are held responsible for congestive heart failure, renal disease, hormone imbalances and liver affections (Lakhanpal, 1978). Because of these negative effects on the human health, one could replace an amount of the daily salt-intake by salt-substitutes. A salt-taste free diet is not healthy and does not appeal to most people because it tastes monotonous, tasteless, unappealing and often revolting (Lakhanpal, 1978). There are different types of salt substitutes: natural and synthetic ones. Natural salt substitutes are dry mustard, herbs or spices (e.g. pepper). These products can be used to spice up a dish without adding any extra sodium chloride. There are manufactured salt-substitutes on the market as well. These are generally blends of potassium chloride, potassium citrate or ammonium chloride. A couple of examples of these synthetic produced salts are: Neo-Curtasal, Diamond Crystal and Morton Lite-Salt (Lakhanpal, 1978). There have been research-
(Lakhanpal, 1978, p. 257)
es conducted on these salts and taste experience. For instance; Morton Light-Salt has an equivalent degree of salt taste but is saving around 40% sodium per consumption unit (Lakhanpal, 1978). Lakhanpal argues that these ‘salt-replacers’ can be useful in a low-sodium diet. However, a better name for these salts is medical salt as it lacks some essential elements for our bodies. A life without sodium would not be healthy or physically possible (Lakhanpal, 1978). Herbs, and other natural ingredients can be used well to to season dishes without adding considerable, harmful amounts of sodium. Colorectal Adenoma Colorectal Adenoma is a variety of cancer. Colorectal refers to the colon and the rectum, which are both parts of the human digestion system. Cancer in these functional areas of the body is difficult to cure and causes many deaths every year. Over the last decades a lot of researchers and scholars have been studying the causes for this type of cancer (Rashmi et al., 2005). A research of incredible scale was conducted, with over 75 000 participants, to asses the origins of this cancer affecting our colorectal system. In this research emphasis was put on meat in general, meat cooking methods and meat preservation. Different socalled ‘meat groups’ were put together to make diets which effects could be compared after the 12 months of research time. In previous research about cooking methods it was found that cooking at high temperatures produces certain amines. Amines are organic molecules containing nitrogen (Brittanica, 2010). In
Molecular Cooking as Remedy? An Analytical Approach to Molecular Cooking and its Applications to Solve Public Health Issues
Cooking in the 21st century
which the heat is transferred is air; air does not transmits heat that efficient. Water is way more efficient in transmitting heat, which results in the fact that sousvide cooking is faster than traditional slow cooking. King (2003) found in his research that slow cooking of meat is better than traditional prepared meat in terms of tenderness. This has to do with the process of proteins being cooked slowly and gently; rather than being burned. The second feature of meat-consumption relating to Colorectal Adenoma, researched by Rashmi et al. (2005), are the chemicals (N-nitroso compounds) and other methods used for meat preservation. Meats are exported and imported over all countries in the world. This means that the meat has to be preserved, to avoid the meat from becoming inedible as consequence of bacterial contamination etc. Rashmi et al. found that extensive use of processed meats (which have a long expiration date) can be seen as one of the factors causing Colorectal Adenoma. There are two processes for meat preservation that are seen as the most significant hazards for health (Santarelli, 2008). The first method is curing. In the process of curing the meat is exposed to a mix of salt, sugar and nitrate or nitrite. The salt is used to improve and enhance the flavour of the meat and reduces bacterial growth by stopping intramuscular water activity. The nitrate combination serves a couple of other goals: it stops the growth of Clostridium botulinum (i.e. a particular bacteria which uses proteins, meat, to feed itself) and gives the meat a nice red colour in combination with heme iron (Santarelli, 2008). Different countries have different permitted concentrations of this chemical mixture. The second method is smoking. Meat can be smoked by using incomplete pyrolysis (i.e. burning wood with slightly too less oxygen). The smoke gives the meat a particular smoky taste and makes the meat visible attractive by giving it a brown colour. The preservationside of smoking has to do with the chemicals in the smoke. Smoke of incomplete pyrolysis contains: phenols, aldehydes, acetic acid and other carboxylic acids. These chemicals are not harmful to the human body. However, in the process of smoking carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) may be generated (Santarelli, 2008). This problem can be resolved by using a ‘smoke solution’, which has all the good features of smoke but does not expose the meat to PAHs. Finally the research conducted by Rashmi et al. showed that red meat is the more harmful than intake
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the research conducted by Rashmi et al. two aminogroups were of great concern in the overall experiment (2005). Hetererocyclic amines (HCAs) and polycentric aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are known to be potent mutagens and carcinogens, and specifically apply to Colorectal Adenoma as well (Rashmi et al., 2005). Other carcinogenic components of the processed meat e.g. sold in supermarkets are N-nitroso compounds (NOCs). These chemical compounds are used in meat-preservation techniques and processing methods (Rashmi et al., 2005). NOCs are alkylating agents (i.e. organic molecule) that can react with DNA (Santarelli, 2008). When processing meat one uses nitrateconnections in combination with N-alkylamides. When these two react NOCs are formed (Santarelli, 2008). Processed meat (e.g. bacon) can deliver the NOCs in our system. The research conducted by Rashmi et al. (2005) took different kinds of meats in consideration; red meat and white meat. Red meat is generally every type of meat with exception of tuna, shellfish and chicken. In this research the researchers found that “greater intake of bacon and sausage was associated with increased Colorectal Adenoma risk; however total intake of processed meat was not. Our study of screening-detected Colorectal Adenomas shows that red meat and meat cooked at high temperatures are associated with an increased risk of Colorectal Adenoma (Rashmi et al., 2005, p. 8034)”. The question arises how this problem with cooking at high temperatures can be resolved using the established knowledge about carcinogenic and mutagen potential organic molecules. As was found by Rashmi et al., (2005), high temperatures cause oils and meat to form PAHs and HCAs. Of course it is unhealthy to eat meat raw. A middle road should be found, which enhances the same taste, texture and juiciness of the meat, but without the negative effects of high-temperature cooking discussed in the above paragraph. In the field of molecular gastronomy there have been some inventions, which allows one to cook at relatively low temperatures and achieving the same or better final dish. Traditional slow cooking involves ovens and loads of waiting (e.g. it takes over 6 hours to prepare a sirloin steak), new-school molecular cooking uses the sousvide technique. Sous vide means that one packs a particular product in vacuum plastic and heats it in a pan with water of a constant (low) temperature (Hansen et al., 2007). If one uses a traditional oven the medium in
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of white meats (2005). This is an effect of the chemical treatment, which is generally applied to preserve red meat. Red meat is cured with nitrates, which in combination with the chemical structure of red meat can damage the human DNA (Santarelli, 2008). The solution to the problem of carcinogenic characteristics of meat and meat cooking can be found in molecular cooking and overall lifestyle as well. First of all, slow cooking should be implemented in our daily lives so high-temperature (fast) cooking is avoided. Secondly it is good to eat fresh and less meat rather than processed meat from the ordinary supermarkets. As stated by Rashmi et al. (2005) and Santarelli (2008) it is not good to consume meat in great quality. Therefore a solution can be found in cutting meat consumption down, but rather eat meat sometimes in greater and fresher quality.
molecules that can interfere with our DNA. After the DNA is altered, incorrect cell diffusion can occur which can cause Colorectal Adenoma. However there are solutions to these carcinogenic ways of preservation and cooking. High-temperature cooking should be replaced for slow cooking; cooking at ‘relatively’ low temperatures is healthier and is has been proven tastier. In the field of Molecular Gastronomy a faster alternative for slow cooking was invented; ‘sous-vide’ cooking, which means heating vacuum packed food. For the issue of preservation there is only one solution, which is eating, fresh and natural. This means one should avoid eating processed meats with longexpiration dates as these products contain carcinogenic materials. After all, it can be concluded that molecular cooking, and knowledge of molecular structures and characteristics of food can help us to solve public or private health issues to certain extend. However one Conclusion should keep in mind the field of molecular gastronomy is rather young compared to other fields, from which The goal of this paper was to get a better in- can be deducted that there is much to come. sight in Molecular Gastronomy and its applications for public health care. “Can molecular cooking help us to Acknowledgements solve public health issues such as obesity and cancer?” The answer to the thesis statement is yes, although The author especially thanks the help of Mrs. L. there are limitations to what extend molecular cooking Bevers PhD, dr.ir. L.L.F. Janssen, Mrs. L.L. de Boer and help society to solve issues in public health. Obesity, in Mr. R. Hanselaar provided throughout the process of general, is a result of a poor, unhealthy diet. Making writing this paper. these diets less unhealthy by implying sugar, salt and fat substitutes in the processed food can help people Recommendations to loss weight or maintain their current weight. As was concluded in the chapter about these substitutes, this From this literature research it can be concan only be implied in particular, small, amount, as re- cluded research on a couple of fields is poor and not sult of side effects. Another crucial point in usage of established; there are speculations and different ideas sugar, fat and salt substitutes is the fact that people about particular topics related to molecular cooking, can still eat the same without altering their diets. Even- Colorectal Adenoma and obesity. I specifically recomtually these people will suffer side effects and other mend further research and development in salt, sugar diseases will be unavoidable. However, under profes- and fat substitutes as their characteristics, possibilities sional medical supervision these products can be used to applications and side effects are not clear and esto achieve goals in losing weights. tablished yet. I want to mention that it was difficult to Colorectal Adenoma is one of the more lethal find recent literature about salt substitutes. In the time varieties of cancer. From various researches it is quite given for this research it was hard to find the actual clear that white meat is to be preferred above red meat. truth about substituting salt, sugar and fat as the acaOne can get Colorectal Adenoma as result of consump- demic opinion was widely spread and not coherent. tion of preserved meat, and particular cooking methods. Preservation by means of smoking or curing can References create PAHs and adds nitrite and nitrate to the food. Cooking on high temperature creates PAHs and HCAs. American Dietetic Association. (2005). Position of the PAHs, HCAs and NOCs are carcinogenic and mutagen American Dietetic Association: Fat Replacers. Journal
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of the American Dietetic Association. Vol. 105. 266-275 Mokdad, A.H., Marks, J.S., Stroup, D.F., et al. (2004), Actual Causes of Death in the United States, 2000. Amine. (2010). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved American Medical Association. Vol. 291. 1238-1245. January 20, 2010, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/top- Rashmi, S., Peters, Cross, A.J., Kulldorf, M., Weissfeld, ic/20665/amine J.L., Pinsky, P.F., Rothman, N. & Hayes, R.B. (2005). Meat, Meat Cooking Methods and Preservation, and Ball, C.O., Meneely, G.R. (1957). Observations on di- Risk for Colorectal Adenoma. HAL Archives Ouvertes‒ etary sodium chloride. J Am Diet Association. Vol. 22. France. Vol. 65. 8034-8041. 366–370 Santarelli, R.L., Pierre, F. & Corpet, D.E. (2008). ProBantle, J.P. (2009). Dietary Fructose and Metabolic Syn- cessed meat and colorectal cancer: a review of epidedrome and Diabetes, American Society for Nutrition, miologic and experimental evidence. Nutrition and Vol. 193. 1263S-1268S. Cancer. Vol. 60. 131–144. Sinha, R., Peters, U., Cross, A.J., Kulldorff, M., Weissfeld, J.L., Pinsky, P.F., Rothman, N. & Hayes, R.B. (2005). Meat, Meat Cooking Methods and Preservation, and Risk for Colorectal Adenoma. AACR Journals. Vol. 65.
Eskew, G.L. (1948). Salt: the fifth element, Dallas: J.G. Ferguson & Assoc. Food preservation. (2010). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved January 11, 2010, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: htt p : / / w w w. b r i ta n n i ca . co m / E B c h e c ke d / to p ic/212684/food-preservation Food Standards Agency, Aspartame, retrieved January 11, 2009 from: http://www.food.gov.uk/safereating/ chemsafe/additivesbranch/sweeteners/551 74#h_5/
King, D.A., Dikeman, M.E., Wheeler T,L., Kastner, C.L. & and Koohmaraie, M. (2003). Chilling and cooking rate effects on some myofibrillar determinants of tenderness of beef. Journal of Animal Science. Vol 81. 1473-1481. Lakhanpal, R.K. (1978) When Salt Substitutes are required in low-sodium diets, Journal of the national medical association. Vol. 70. 255-258. Ludwig, D.S. (2009). Artificially Sweetened Beverages, American Medical Association. Vol. 203. 2477-2478.
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The Authors Boer, L. de
Student at University College Maastricht with a focus on psychol ogy. She loves cooking and being cooked for.
Graf Kesselstatt, F. Student at University College Maastricht, predominantly inter- ested in the Social Sciences. He is very much interest in cooking, and strives to get a deeper view on modern cooking procdures. Hanselaar, R. Janssen, C.W.
Student at University College Maastricht with very broad interests, attending mostly classes within the social sciences and the natu- ral sciences. He is still looking for the perfect steak.
Koning, C.K.L., de
Student at University College Maastricht exploring the fields of International Relations, business and history. His affection for food goes beyond ordinary cooking and can be seen as a real obses- sion.
Loghin, A.
Student at University College Maastricht focusing on Cultural Studies. Her interest in the science of cooking came after watching the animation Cloudy, with a chance of meatballs.
Mirow, S. Streitberger, G.
Student at the University College Maastricht centering her studies around the Social Sciences. While she is not a chemist, she loves and is interested in food and everything related to it.
Vorst, L. van de
Student at University College Maastricht concentrating on Business & Media, with a major in Marketing. She loves creative ideas, innovative trends and entrepreneuring.
Student at University College Maastricht studying economics and mathematics. His lifestyle can be explained by a Dutch apho - rism: “Liefde gaat door de maag” which means “Love goes through the stomach”.
Student at University College Maastricht focusing on Manage ment and Business after one year of law studies. She is interested in art, food and the beautiful things in life.
Layout: Loghin, A. Cover: Janssen, C.W. Contributors: Hansellar, R., Boer, L. de, Vorst, L. van de Streitberger, G., Koning, C.K.L., de
Aknowledgments: HervĂŠ This, for providing the journal with a unique introduction Lonneke Bevers, for her guidance and support Teun Dekker, for understanding