Molecular Gastronomy in the UK

Molecular Gastronomy – a definition

Molecular Gastronomy (MG) is a new science - the application of scientific principles
to the understanding and improvement of domestic and gastronomic food
preparation. Molecular Gastronomy is distinct from traditional food science in that it is
primarily concerned with small, rather than large scale preparation of food. Further,
Molecular Gastronomy treats the experience of eating food as a whole:- from the raw
ingredients, through the preparation of a dish to its appreciation by the consumer. It
is thus a strongly interdisciplinary subject involving the physical sciences, biology and
biochemistry, physiology and psychology.

We see MG as being a highly interdisciplinary activity, bringing scientists from all
areas – Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Psychology, Physiology, Engineering, etc.
together with people working in all areas of the food industry (from producers through
processors to chefs).

How does MG work in the UK?

What makes MG work is that people who would never be likely to be interested in
conventional food science (seeing it perhaps as beneath them, or because they
distrust or dislike the mass processing involved) are very happy to become involved.

All of us in the sciences and in the restaurant business are very busy people with our
own agendas. Scientists have their own research projects and, to survive in the
academic world have to obtain and retain research grants, and produce a steady
stream of high quality publications in their own discipline.

This makes it hard to justify helping others in different disciplines – there just has to
something in it for you. But in the case of MG it seems any scientist who is asked to
join in immediately comes aboard with open arms.

The reason is simple. There are immediate, tangible results and benefits. If you can
see your work going to produce fantastic food - and are able not only invited to eat it,
but are also able to learn how to make it for yourself – you are more likely to give
freely of your valuable time.

In the UK, there is not as yet any formal structure to the MG networks that have
sprung up. Basically, we work as a loose network of individual chefs and scientists
who talk regularly by phone and email and ehlp each other sort out any problems.

It is important to most of us that the activity is driven by the food, rather than by the
science. This may seem strange at first sight, but it works because it is almost
inevitable that when you ask ant question about what makes good food there is an
opportunity for one of the scientists involved to do some research that is directly in
(or at least close to) his (or her) own area of interest. By offering mutual support
every body gains (and we all get to eat better and better!)

For example, a question that has been posed is “why does the same dish taste better
depending on where it is eaten?”

This led to a little simple research to check it was true – the conclusion was that
surroundings do affect the appreciation of food. It was not found that food tasted any
better if it was “local” though.

That led to one of our physiologists thinking about the biochemical aspects of
pleasure; we put him in touch with a psychologist who also works with MG from time
to time and they joined up with a chemist who had a magnetic resonance scanner to
look further.

A few months later and they had formed a firm alliance and shortly later obtained
major funding from the Medical Research Council for a study of Brain chemistry.

It is this sort of unexpected spin-off that drives some of the best scientists in the
country to want to be associated with MG. In exchange for a good meal, more or
less any good scientist can be persuaded to offer a few suggestions about how a
novel problem (e.g. how to make a foamed hot jelly with two or three different
flavours trapped in the bubbles). Then once hooked they just keep on coming back
for more!

Where is MG going in the UK?

I cannot speak for all of those who are involved in the wide variety of MG activities
that are going on, mostly in pair-wise interactions. So I have outlined below my own
ambitions for MG in the UK.

British food is widely regarded as the worst in Europe, if not the developed world.
This is false. We have in Britain some of the finest chefs in the world and a strong
tradition of good wholesome food. The new science of Molecular Gastronomy is
being driven by British scientists and chefs to improve this situation.

Over the next few years we hope that various institutions within the UK will run a
range of courses (in the long term these will include a taught Masters programme)
and workshops, and publish newsletters and journals.

The ethos of open discussion will be very important in facilitating the free exchange
of ideas and concepts. In particular, many chefs find it difficult to share their ideas
and often jealously protect their own recipes. By holding workshops in an open
academic environment and by having a number of Associates who are themselves
top chefs who are fully prepared to share their own ideas we hope to create an
appropriate atmosphere.

We intend to restore the reputation of the UK and make it widely recognised as
amongst the leading nations in terms of the food we eat.

The main objectives are:

• To carry out a range of Research and Development projects covering all aspects

of Molecular Gastronomy.

• To organise workshops and courses for professionals to exchange ideas and

develop new Molecular Gastronomy concepts.

• To improve science and home economics teaching in schools by introducing food

related examples and experiments.

• To develop the use of Molecular Gastronomy in top restaurants to create

opportunities for chefs to improve and create new dishes, etc.

• To publish regular newsletters, a Journal of Molecular Gastronomy and a series

of text books on all aspects of Molecular Gastronomy.

• To develop cooking techniques and novel dishes which allow "healthy" eating

without compromising flavour or texture.

• To contribute to the making of the UK the foremost food nation at all levels.

Educational aspects

Several of those who have been involved with the develop0ment of MG see that it
has the potential to play an important role in education – not only to improve the
appreciation of good food, but also (and for some of us more importantly) to use the
medium of good food and cooking to engender a greater understanding and
appreciation of the sciences.

We wish both to improve science and home economics teaching by making it more
relevant and to encourage families to eat together and discuss the food so leading to
better communication and cohesiveness of family units.

As a first step we want to introduce increasing amounts of "cooking" and "food"
related examples and experiments into the science part of the national curriculum,
the "science experiments" will help students to learn basic cooking techniques and to
prepare simple but very impressive dishes.

In school, children will learn simple basic and highly effective cooking techniques at
school and be encouraged to take them home parents will be most impressed and
enjoy eating the food cooked by their children leading to more family meals and more
discussion, etc.

Parents will be further inspired through seeing the new food styles in restaurants, on
TV and in the press and magazines and want to try it all out.

The overall aims are to encourage families to eat together and discuss the food so
leading to better communication and cohesiveness of family units and to improve
restaurant experiences so that people eating out will discuss the food, the ingredients
and the preparation while eating - thus generating enthusiasm to experiment at home
and again lead to more family meals.

Research Projects

The opportunities for collaborative interdisciplinary research are limited only by the
imagination of those involved. Two examples that we are currently exploring are
described briefly below.

The effect of polymeric additives on food processing and texture: The UK
Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC) has noted that
expertise in polymer science should be applied in the area of soft solids and
highlighted the relevance of investigations of food additives as a particular topic of
interest. The effect on flow of small amounts of polymeric additives can be dramatic
Discussion between a food processing company, a chef and two departments at
Bristol University are ongoing and we expect to put a joint proposal to the EPSRC to
study how food textures can be affected through the judicious use of very long
polymeric additives. The project will cover the basic science to allow the food
processing industry to manufacture products with controlled phase morphology to
provide desired texture.

Flavour, texture and healthy eating: Food quality is one of the main themes of the
another research council in the UK (BBSRC). The BBSRC is aware of the links that
have been established good links with several chefs, food processors and food
retailers all of whom are concerned to produce foods that have the flavour and
texture of the finest gastronomic dishes, but at the same time are designed to give a
balanced and healthy diet. The main problems lie in the areas of texture (mouth-
feel) and control of the rates of flavour release in the mouth. All good chefs know
intuitively how to use fats and oils to control texture and flavour release, but, as I
have already shown in a few preliminary experiments with one restaurant (The Fat
Duck) it is possible to use gels made from a combination of different
polysaccharides to construct fat free desert dishes which have textures and flavours
comparable to traditional ones that are very high in fat content. We intend to apply
to the BBSRC for funding to extend this work to a range of both savoury and sweet
dishes and to explore techniques to scale up production.

Peter Barham August 2004

In confidence