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Food Science Articles and Links

chromedome

By chromedome
in Food Media & Arts

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chromedome

chromedome

Posted
Posted

We have a few catch-all threads in this forum, including the Food Photography topic and the Food History and Links topic. I often trip across interesting food science articles in the course of my normal daily routine, and others of us have posted them fairly often, so it occurred to me that a new catch-all thread for food science might be useful.

To kick it off, here's a look at one study that examined the not-uncommon aversion some people (especially kids) have toward brassicas:

https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/11/hate-broccoli-and-cauliflower-your-microbiome-might-be-partially-to-blame/

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“Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too.” - William Cowper, The Task, Book Three

 

"Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition...The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club.” - psychologist David Dunning

 

Alex

Alex

Posted
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The gut microbiome is a fascinating topic. So many aspects of physical, and even mental, health have been found to relate to that part of our body. I can remember when certain health practitioners were raked over the coals for talking about leaky gut syndrome.

 

It's responsible for a lot more, too. For example:

Ms. Alex: Where did the last of the Rice Chex go? Did you eat them?

Me: Nope. I think it was my microbiome.

 

Ms. Alex: You left your towels in the washer last night.

Me. Not I. My microbiome did it.

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"There is no sincerer love than the love of food."  -George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, Act 1

 

"Imagine all the food you have eaten in your life and consider that you are simply some of that food, rearranged."  -Max Tegmark, physicist

 

Gene Weingarten, writing in the Washington Post about online news stories and the accompanying readers' comments: "I basically like 'comments,' though they can seem a little jarring: spit-flecked rants that are appended to a product that at least tries for a measure of objectivity and dignity. It's as though when you order a sirloin steak, it comes with a side of maggots."

 

A king can stand people's fighting, but he can't last long if people start thinking. -Will Rogers, humorist

heidih

heidih

Posted
Posted

Oh gaawd - aversions and science or should they be conjoined. I was on a weight management site years ago that was and maybe still is excellent. So so many people especially in the surgery section had extreme taste aversions. Talking people who subjected themselves to weight loss surgery. Bitter was a biggy. An interesting field. Luckily we have a vast panorama of foods to keep our diet supplying diverse nutrients.  Gut health - the dang issue gets so smothered by the charlatans (snake oil salesmen) - Makes me crazy.  Important and I welcome science that explains it without  QVC type hype.

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  • 2 months later...
ElsieD

ElsieD

Posted
Posted

This show may be of interest to fellow Canadian eGulleters.  It is on CBC on Friday night, January 7th at 9:00 PM.   The Intro to the linked article reads:

 

The secret ingredient to becoming a better cook? Science! Top chefs and culinary experts explain the chemistry, physics and microbiology of cooking.  

 

https://www.cbc.ca/natureofthings/episodes/chef-secrets-the-science-of-cooking

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heidih

heidih

Posted
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Oh ya just hit on my current pet peeve - Kenji. Serious Eats keeps reposting his narrative about how he got his kid to eat various foods as if he the god invented child rearing. I think he may have even done a book. Self serving ridiculous crap. Ggrrrr They even have a banner on their site about how good cooks know the science. I'll cook you under the table and I do not need to know why I just know what works and I respect taste. Rant over

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blue_dolphin

blue_dolphin

Posted
Posted
8 minutes ago, heidih said:

Oh ya just hit on my current pet peeve - Kenji. Serious Eats keeps reposting his narrative about how he got his kid to eat various foods as if he the god invented child rearing. I think he may have even done a book. Self serving ridiculous crap. ….

Kenji’s children’s book, Every Night is Pizza Night, (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) is very cute with fun illustrations. No science or child rearing covered in that one though. Plenty enough of his experiments in his first book, The Food Lab, so you can direct all your ire at that one. 🙃

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heidih

heidih

Posted
Posted

I buy books for kids - not something I woud touch. Keeping my ire in place. Opinions are just that and I can be odd.

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gfweb

gfweb

Posted
Posted
10 minutes ago, heidih said:

I buy books for kids - not something I woud touch. Keeping my ire in place. Opinions are just that and I can be odd.

 

Kenji can be odd too.  Funny fellow.

He's gotten famous/rich doing simple experiments with food that we all could do / have done.

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JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

Posted
Posted

I like Kenji's take on food.  If he ever publishes his next book I plan to buy it.

 

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Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

  • 3 weeks later...
chromedome

chromedome

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/01/kombucha-cultures-make-excellent-sustainable-water-filters-study-finds/

“Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too.” - William Cowper, The Task, Book Three

 

"Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition...The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club.” - psychologist David Dunning

 

chromedome

chromedome

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

LOL News flash! (In the interest of fairness, I suspect Canadian numbers would make equally grim reading)

https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/01/even-before-covid-americans-were-failing-at-health-basics-diet-exercise/

“Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too.” - William Cowper, The Task, Book Three

 

"Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition...The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club.” - psychologist David Dunning

 

chromedome

chromedome

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
11 minutes ago, IndyRob said:

I think this is the only food science link I keep returning to....

 

https://douglasbaldwin.com/sous-vide.html

LOL Whatever makes you happy.

 

It wouldn't hold my interest for long, as I have no particular use-case for SV.

“Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too.” - William Cowper, The Task, Book Three

 

"Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition...The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club.” - psychologist David Dunning

 

heidih

heidih

Posted
Posted

Yes always fancied a jellyfish blob floating in my water - been stung too often so there is a neural physical reaction when I see it.

chromedome

chromedome

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
1 hour ago, IndyRob said:

Well, to each their own I guess.  I for one, don't have much use for a kombucha water filter.

No, I expect I'll also stick with my Brita for home use. :)

If it proves practical and scalable it could save a lot of lives in parts of the world where waterborne illnesses like cholera are still public health crises, though.

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“Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too.” - William Cowper, The Task, Book Three

 

"Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition...The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club.” - psychologist David Dunning

 

IndyRob

IndyRob

Posted
Posted
41 minutes ago, chromedome said:

No, I expect I'll also stick with my Brita for home use. :)

If it proves practical and scalable it could save a lot of lives in parts of the world where waterborne illnesses like cholera are still public health crises, though.

So could sous vide.  Maybe not for Cholera. I don't know about that.  I'm not qualified. 

 

But for eGulleteers,...I dunno,...maybe sous vide is a little more relevant?

chromedome

chromedome

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

(shrug) We have lots of threads on SV, and certainly if there are any significant advances on the technology or its underlying science I'm sure it'll turn up on the board one way or another. Perhaps here, perhaps in a sv-specific thread. Either way's good.

 

Not all food science correlates directly to a cooking technique, or indeed to cookery directly, just as not all medical research correlates directly and immediately to clinical treatment. This thread, by design, casts a wide net (I can say that, I'm the OP). If a particular post doesn't catch your interest, just skip on to the next one. That's the whole point of a catch-all thread.

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“Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too.” - William Cowper, The Task, Book Three

 

"Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition...The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club.” - psychologist David Dunning

 

paulraphael

paulraphael

Posted
Posted
18 hours ago, chromedome said:

Not all food science correlates directly to a cooking technique, or indeed to cookery directly, just as not all medical research correlates directly and immediately to clinical treatment. This thread, by design, casts a wide net (I can say that, I'm the OP). If a particular post doesn't catch your interest, just skip on to the next one. That's the whole point of a catch-all thread.

 

Amen. I have piles and piles of research papers collected just for ice cream. Most of the studies were not conducted with ice cream in mind. There's every kind of study on every kind of sugar, every kind of hydrocolloid (and combination of hydrocolloids), on the ways dairy proteins respond to heat, on flavor perceptions at different temperatures, at different levels of sweetness, at different levels of fat ... it goes on and on. Much of the science is just about understanding the most basic things, like the sugar composition of different fruits.

 

If anyone wants me to ruin ice cream for them forever, I've got thousands of pages of PDFs, not even counting footnotes ...

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Notes from the underbelly

heidih

heidih

Posted
Posted

Agreed. As I've said before, what my first biochem prof pressed was the importance of basic research. A springboard that can lead to amazing things. Not food - but we have seen that in the Covid vaccine progress.

chromedome

chromedome

Posted
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Posted

Definitely something that caught my eye (we're waiting for an opening for my mom to go into care).

 

https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-region/2022/01/31/food-tracking-artificial-intelligence-system-aims-to-reduce-malnutrition-in-long-term-care.html

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“Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too.” - William Cowper, The Task, Book Three

 

"Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition...The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club.” - psychologist David Dunning

 

gfweb

gfweb

Posted
Posted
On 1/26/2022 at 2:26 PM, paulraphael said:

 

Amen. I have piles and piles of research papers collected just for ice cream. Most of the studies were not conducted with ice cream in mind. There's every kind of study on every kind of sugar, every kind of hydrocolloid (and combination of hydrocolloids), on the ways dairy proteins respond to heat, on flavor perceptions at different temperatures, at different levels of sweetness, at different levels of fat ... it goes on and on. Much of the science is just about understanding the most basic things, like the sugar composition of different fruits.

 

If anyone wants me to ruin ice cream for them forever, I've got thousands of pages of PDFs, not even counting footnotes ...

 

This is the only way to understand a process. To get past the assumptions of traditional techniques that may just be wrong.

Good work by you!

  • 1 month later...
chromedome

chromedome

Posted
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Posted

One for the ice cream mavens:

https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/03/plant-based-nanocrystals-could-be-the-secret-to-preventing-crunchy-ice-cream/

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“Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too.” - William Cowper, The Task, Book Three

 

"Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition...The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club.” - psychologist David Dunning

 

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