Molecular gastronomy – cooking of soups and stocks
Special Symposium - Innovations in Food Technology (LMC Congress)
Meals - Convenience, Gastronomy & Quality (Food-1b)
Keywords: molecular gastronomy, quality, cooking
Molecular gastronomy is the application of scientific principles to cookery. Proposed definitions are the scientific study of deliciousness and the application of scientific principles to the understanding and improvement of domestic and gastronomic food preparation. Molecular Gastronomy is an interdisciplinary field, comprising chemistry, physics, sensory science and gastronomy. At the department of Food Science, Molecular Gastronomy is a new approach to food science and it is the section for Food Chemistry and the Sensory Science group who have taken the challenge to get it started as a field of research and teaching. The Molecular Gastronomy project will contribute to development of high quality food and meal experiences through a deeper understanding of relationships between products’ physical/chemical characteristics, processes during preparation, and human perception. It has great commercial potential for Danish restaurants and food industry. There is potential to raise the Danish food culture through injection of a scientific approach to Danish gastronomy.
Cooking of soups and stocks has been chosen as the topic for the Ph.D. project and the aim is to clarify the influence of the cooking methods and the ingredients on the final sensory quality of the soup (or the stock/sauce). The prescriptions for cooking a soup/stock as well as the reduction of the stock in relation to the sensory quality and chemical changes are being investigated. Details concerning flavour formation, flavour extraction and interaction of components in the soup/stock are studied by analytical as well as sensory methods. The influence of cooking time, temperature and salt concentration on the extraction of proteins in a beef soup/stock has been studied. The reduction process has been investigated by studying beef stocks samples reduced over time by means of GC-MS and a descriptive sensory analysis. Similarly the differences between cow breeds and cooking methods (ordinary cooking methods versus pressure cooking and cooking in a closed system) have been investigated by GC-MS and a sensory analysis. Finally the use of red wine in beef stock is being investigated in order to clarify the role of the wine in a stock or sauce.
Presented Wednesday 19, 17:20 to 17:25, in session Meals - Convenience, Gastronomy & Quality (Food-1b).
