Food for thought
| 3 May, 2011 | Richard P. Grant |
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Good biochemists should be good chefs, yes? After all, cooking–mixing together the right quantities of the right ingredients in the right order and heating (or cooling) at the right temperature for the right amount of time–is just edible chemistry, surely? If you can follow a recipe for extracting DNA from bacteria you should be able to follow a protocol for making lemon meringue pie.
The Open Access publisher BioMed Central has launched a new journal, Flavour, which is now accepting submissions. From the BMC website, the new journal will focus “on flavour generation and perception, and its influence on behaviour and nutrition”. It will publish research related to “all contexts – whether it be everyday cooking, haute cuisine or government policy on healthy eating.” Read more at the menu.
Apparently, Heston Blumenthal is “looking forward to reading exciting new scientific results on the science of taste and flavour that I can apply in my kitchen.” Claus Meyer adds, “It is possible, it might even be very smart, to combat obesity, global warming and the over-exploitation of our planet, with deliciousness as a weapon. I am sure that Flavour will give us crucial insight into the pleasure giving qualities of food.”
To drum up a bit of publicity, Flavour is giving away ten free copies of Peter Barham’s Science of Cooking. All you have to do is register for article alerts from Flavour by 1st July to have a chance of winning (and if any of my dear readers win because they read about it here, I’ll expect dinner, OK?).
What’s your Flavour?
I look forward to reading the first, delicious evaluations in F1000.
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The core of what they are doing is “flavour generation and perception” I imagine that the scientists/cooks will be precise but will they be artful? I am an engineer (first trade), and knowing how to time something doesn’t always relate to culinary expertise.
I think that to catalog and analyse flavor is a very admirable thing. I bought a book a few years ago on perfumes and was amazed that they still had not fully worked out the mechanisms behind how we perceive smell – or how to manufacture one that will be agreeable. I imagine that the authors of this work will come up against similar obstacles and wish them the best of luck, and sales!