Molecular Cuisine. To many people still this word "scares," convinced that the molecular gastronomy is related to who knows what transformation or "transfiguration" of foods, at a time, by the way, when a message of naturalness, simplicity and culinary minimalism is being spread from many quarters.
In 2009, a book titled "No quiero volver al restaurante," written by the food journalist Jorg Zipprick, who attacked the molecular cuisine defining it as food manipulation, the result of research by chemical industries.
Dispelling the legends that surround molecular cuisine, we can say that it represents an important achievement in Haute Catering today, one that has been able to raise it to levels of excellence and has "churned out" real talent, such as those listed in theElle article from a few months ago.
The origins of Molecular Cuisine: from France to Italy.
But what is the Molecular Cuisine? La molecular gastronomy is a scientific discipline that studies the transformations that occur in foods during their preparation. Born in the late 1980s at INRA and in the Collège de France in Paris by Hervé This and Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, molecular cuisine arrived in Italy thanks to Davide Cassi of the Physics Department of the University of Parma.
However, the manifesto that "theorized" molecular cuisine came only in 2003, by chef Ettore Bocchia, who emphasized how this type of cooking preserves traditional flavors while enhancing them.
Ferran Adrià and his El Bulli.
When it comes to molecular cuisine it is impossible not to mention him, Ferran Adrià, the Spanish chef from El Bulli, in Roses on the Costa Brava, who began his career right in the 1980s, and famous for his eclectic style that can create an unexpected contrast of flavors, temperatures, and colors.
His is the famous phrase: "The ideal customer does not come to El Bulli to eat, but to have an experience.", emphasizing how molecular cuisine is more than just a convivial pleasure. His approach to kitchen, scientific and experimental, meticulous and creative, have taken molecular cuisine around the world, along with experimentation with new
mode of preparation.
Knowledge of physics and chemistry in molecular cooking.
It is not witchcraft or even magic. La Molecular Cuisine is the result of accurate physical and chemical knowledge of food, of how l substances react with each other, with heat sources and with the use of other substances. Behind this cooking there is so much awareness in the use of ingredients and cooking techniques, a manic perfection that leads to unexpected results.
So off we go to the use of freezing through liquid nitrogen, the food use of tobacco, "frying" in sugar, high vacuum for making mousses and meringues, and the lack of the use of flame to cook products.
We have dealt in a previous article with the molecular cooking techniques. This video shows, for example, the reverse spherification:
The 4 highlights of molecular cuisine.
There are salient concepts that encapsulate the italian molecular cuisine i in 4 points, which have become a kind of manifesto:
- molecular cuisine must make sure that any novelty must expand and enrich the Italian gastronomic tradition, without destroying or debasing it;
- all new techniques must enhance natural ingredients and raw materials;
- much importance should be given to nutritional values, aesthetic and organoleptic aspects;
- new textures should always be introduced with the study of the physical and chemical properties of the ingredients in mind.
When Molecular Cuisine marries quality ingredients.
Molecular Dinner December 11, 2014 Casale del Mare from sea farmhouse on Vimeo.
