BryanZ

Great article Bryan. I would be very curious to hear what kind of reaction you are getting from the teacher and student body. It's unfortunate you had to dumb it down especially given the academic environment. ← In general I was pleased that I was allowed to illuminate this topic for people who probably would have remained completely in the dark otherwise. The fact that there is so much to say hurt the flow of the story. I find that it doesn't read as smoothly as I would have liked due in part to the simplifcation that ultimately occured in the copy editing process and because I had to include basic science, applications, philosophy, and a counterpoint within the space allotted. If I did it again I would like to make a multi-part series where I could focus on the distinctive aspects in this sector of culinary devlopment. Response has generally been positive. People are fascinated by this stuff, especially down here in North Carolina, since no one is cooking in this fashion. People wonder I hear about this kind of cooking. On a related note, my interactions with most chefs in this area have repeatedly unearthed a unmistkable skepticism. Even basic processes like sous vide are not practiced in this area at all. They tend to align themselves with the SLOW food movement and are reluctant to truly push the envelope. In my opinion, however, the principles of the SLOW food movement aren't mutually exclusive from forward-thinking cooking. As akwa states, molecular gastronomy is only one more way to better understand the fundamental processes we use in culinary arts.

I think the fun part about wd~50 is the tasting menu. Although I have not eaten off the a la carte menu, a dining companion of mine who has done both VERY strongly prefers the tasting menu.

I did not know about the boneless fish. I surprised the people at Ajinomoto never mentioned it to me. Since I was speaking with their US offices it could be that they only mentioned applications currently being used in this country. I had wanted to get more technical and give some more history, but it was already quite long. The copy editing process also led to me dumbing it down some since the material is already somewhat abstract for non-foodies.

So I usually don't post my stuff here unless I find it applicable to any sort of recent discussion. Being that molecular stuff is all the rage these days, here's a piece I recently wrote. It's pretty basic--so for those of you that are interested in but dont know much about a few of the new-ish applications I recommend giving this a read--but I think the insights from from Chefs Dufresne and Goldfarb are particularly interesting. An excerpt: And of course I mention eG:

Probably carbonated berries. I remember reading about how this is done but I forget now. Maybe something about a carbonation chamber??

Velveeta and other commercially processed cheeses.

There's a thread on warm foams that has been updated relatively recently that you might try searching for.

Great topic. This, perhaps, is the best way to live. A life where possessions and material experiences are valued not for their $$ price but for the personal satisfaction they bring. With that idea, however, is the tangential implication that one doesn't have to look or care about price tags. For now, I take pleasure where I can get it and probably live far beyond my means. When it comes to food shopping, prices really don't register with me. Granted, I'm not buying pounds of caviar, but the occasional truffle or extra handful of porcinis has been known to make its way into my shopping cart. While I have no problem spending hundreds of dollars for a single meal, I flat out refuse to accept mediocrity. A experience touted as world-class with a price tag to match should match those expectations. Paying for a trend seems foolish to me if it doesn't measure up in quality. But with all that said, sometimes the simplest, humblest things can be best. There are those who can't conceive paying $100 for a meal, and there are those who aren't able to derive any pleasure out of life's simplest offers. Both types of people are missing the point of food and dining it seems.

That thing totally blows my mind. Fascinating.

You're fooled too? Stephen is a bullshit artist of the highest degree. All those little cups of fruit with various flavors in the "quickfire" round? Someone pointed out that he didn't even taste a lot of them. That's way worse than an inedible garnish. If you only have 10 minutes to prepare something and you make 25 little dishes, it's cheating if you don't even make them taste good, but pretend as if they would. I'm not sure why the judge didn't taste them. ← I have found all of the dishes Stephen has created so far to be among the most creative and usually the only dishes I would "want" to try. Candice's little hearts of fruit had me laughing out loud. And I would rather see someone experiment with something new and original than have someone use a trite, terrible hotel garnish on what was ultimately a task to measure creativity. I appreciate Harold (does anyone else think he looks kind of like Jack from Lost?) and Lee Anne. They at least know what they're doing. The fact of the matter is that Stephen has been at the top of each of the challenges so far, haughty attitude notwithstanding.

Just watched this week's episode. Stephen still owns. For all his pretentiousness I think he's quite talented, especially for being only 24; he seems to know his stuff. Candace is terrible beyond all belief. An underwear cake, give me a break.

This is a sweet foodblog.

It would be interesting to hear what chefg has to say about the recent controversy over interlude. inventolux apparently made some posts, but they were among a group of posts that got taken down by a mod. It's amusing to note that some people in the other thread said that it would be nearly impossible to come up with over 200 dishes a year and that some borrowing/copying is inevitable. While this may be true to some extent, Alinea has proven otherwise.

What's the difference between methylcellulose and alginate (ie. what's used in the Adria caviars)? Are they the same thing?

I’m looking to go to Lucky Garden sometime in the near future. Coming from college hill, do any of you know if there are any RIPTA stops, or any other forms of public transportation within walking distance of the restaurant?

My overview of dining at Bin54 last month as printed in The Chronicle.

All in all, not great but still entertaining. Stephen is a fantastic character. Unbelievably pretentious, he's amusing to watch. I love the suits he wears too. It was funny to see one of the other contestants call him "professional bullshitter" (no disrespect to somelliers. Harold also seems like a pretty solid guy. One other point to mention, kitchen they're working in is pretty low-brow. I understand that Kenmore or whoever is sponsoring the show but the overall setup of the kitchen was disappointing.

$1500-2000 probably won't fly with the 'rents. I'll dig around campus and see if anyone in the chemistry and physics departments is willing to give me any for some experimentation--I doubt it though.. I'm assuming I can get a steel block at somewhere like Home Depot. If worse comes to worse, I'll find some back in NJ later this spring.

Yeah, TG is unlikely in this dish, unless of course there was dairy in the chocolate ribbon (which is actually quite likely). TG can work with milk proteins like casein (I think) and bind them to some extent. I'm mostly familiar with the more "basic" meat applications, however.

To go into more detail about the description ulterior epicure provided, when I had it the "sorbet" was actually a lime ice cream. This of course, puzzled me, so one of the servers explained that normally ice creams cannot be made with acidic flavor bases as they cause the dairy to curdle. Chefs Stupak and Achatz found a way to somehow neutralize the pH (I think) so that a legitimate lime ice cream (not a sorbet) could be created. The milky, citrus-y flavor combination is quite enjoyable. I'm guessing they used some kind of food-safe pH buffer or something like that to prevent curdling.

Detlechef gives a great round-up of the Bin54 food and experience. I go to print tomorrow so my full feelings will be posted then, but, as Detlechef says, Bin rocks.

Why Frank? Why? Is this type of writing really necessary? Edited to add: Otherwise this is a pretty straightforward review. And, I think, the epitome of a one star restaurant. Solid, appetizing food that encompasses an all around "good" experience.

But where can home cooks get liquid nitrogen? Give me a source and I'll get some.

No way, that's pretty cool. Do you have a picture of it, how much are we talking here? 600 lbs seems rather unlikely; I'm thinking more like 60.

I would tend to agree, but lacking a kitchen often makes me settle for less than "good."