Molecular food what. Recipes for simple molecular dishes. Let's prepare a fruit and milkshake

For a person not accustomed to culinary delights, molecular cuisine will seem something out of the ordinary. This is not surprising: the room, equipped with unknown instruments, flasks and test tubes, will seem more like a chemical laboratory than a kitchen. This atmosphere reigns in the territory of a chef who defends a scientific approach to cooking, because he is not only a culinary specialist, but also a chemist, physicist and biologist. Proponents of molecular gastronomy claim that using knowledge of the chemical and physical properties of a product will create the most healthy dish with impeccable taste.

We have selected some amazing examples that demonstrate the magical possibilities of molecular gastronomy.

1. Tomato soup

Scientists' research into ingredients that can turn food into a gel has led to the widespread use of agar-agar. Thanks to this ingredient, the soup we are used to takes on a completely new consistency. Without tasting the dish, you would never guess that this is soup turned into spaghetti. However, the taste of all products is revealed in the mouth, and everything falls into place.

2. Forest haze

One of the commonly used devices in molecular gastronomy is the smoking gun. With this you can give the dish the smell of a fire and a “smoky” taste. You can smoke anything in this way: fruits, tea, cigars, ice cream or flowers. In many restaurants, a show is created from this process, and smoking occurs in front of the customers within a few seconds. One of these dishes is shown in the photo: cold smoked salmon with vegetables and forest products, served on a wooden slice.

3. Raspberry caviar with strawberry foam and caramel

Such an unusual interpretation of a fruit dessert cannot but surprise. Chefs of molecular gastronomy often use whipping products into foam - an essence that has a strong natural aroma. At first glance, it may seem that foam does not play a special role in the dish, but this is not so. There was a case when a visitor to a molecular cuisine restaurant ordered a nondescript white foam, but after tasting it, he felt the aroma of fresh rye bread and the rich taste of a sandwich with butter. One cannot underestimate one or another detail, like how all the ingredients of a dish take the right place in strictly measured quantities. Foam can be created from almost anything, including strawberries.

4. Herring under a fur coat

Molecular cuisine is not only about unexpected flavor combinations, but also about the most common dishes known to all people. For example, the famous New Year's salad with herring fits perfectly into the list of the most delicious dishes of molecular cuisine. The salad differs only in its interesting presentation: all the ingredients are assembled in the form of Japanese rolls, served with beetroot sauce. People who have tried the salad in this form claim that when chewing all the ingredients, the taste of the well-known salad is recreated in the mouth.

5. Pumpkin and banana pie

This dish is clearly not associated with the usual perception of pie. Looking at it, it is difficult to guess what products were used for cooking and how. This is the case when the appearance of the dish does not at all live up to taste expectations. In your bowl there is a substance that looks like ice cream, but once in your mouth it turns into a real pumpkin pie.

6. Dessert for breakfast

One of the goals of molecular gastronomy is to surprise the client. When you have scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast, don't rush to add salt or pepper. In this case, despite the appearance of the dish, there is vanilla yogurt, mango and chocolate on the plate. Such an unusual tandem of picture and taste leaves an unforgettable impression.

7. Vinaigrette

Another interpretation of the well-known vegetable salad. In it, beets appear in the form of jelly, a mixture of vegetables - in the form of foam, and an emulsion serves as a dressing for the dish. Thanks to research in the field of mixing water with fats, the consistency of the sauce and the entire dish is stabilized, maintaining its ideal appearance until the last bite is eaten.

8. Blood sausage soup

The food pairing method is widely known in molecular gastronomy. Its main principle is the combination of products according to their common aromatic components. For example, not based on the usual gastronomic combinations, they created a soup from blood sausage and pumpkin. Its consistency is more like a piece of meat. But the dish turns out to be juicy, rich and leaves the aftertaste of just eaten soup.

9. Carrot air and tangerine granite

A molecular gastronomy chef can enclose liquid in a sphere, turn ice cream into powder, and combine many ingredients into a smooth jelly. People especially impressed by molecular gastronomy claim that the foam in this dish is light, like air, with the aroma and taste of fresh carrots. And the tangerine, despite its hard texture on the outside, is juicy and soft on the inside.

10. Radishes in cream sauce

For lovers of fresh vegetables, scientific chefs have invented a dish that is served directly in a pot of soil. To enjoy a radish, restaurant visitors will have to literally pull it out of the edible soil and dip it in the creamy sauce. The soil can be made from whatever comes into the cook's mind, since molecular gastronomy allows you to turn almost any ingredient into edible soil.

If all the components of a dish are present, each person can turn his own kitchen into a molecular one. The Internet contains not only recipes, but also tips from famous chefs, as well as many videos. We invite you to see how easily the chef encloses the famous Cuban cocktail in a sphere.

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Transglutaminase. Rotary evaporator. Centrifuge. Vacuum and liquid nitrogen. We guarantee that when reading these terms, at worst, you did not have any associations, and at best, you imagined a laboratory and scientific experiments, but not kitchen appliances and cooking methods. We are ready to go all-in and dispel your ideas about laboratories and kitchens, because we will talk about a progressive trend in cooking - molecular gastronomy.

Molecular gastronomy is a widely used term that refers to the technique of preparing food using physical and chemical laws. The cooking process is considered as a combination of molecules with special chemical and physical properties. The presence of innovative methods for preparing familiar dishes using scientific methods and devices not only evokes a feeling of delight, but also leaves no one hungry. In a molecular kitchen you will not find a frying pan spitting oil or a boiling pot of broth. There is no abundance of kitchen utensils familiar to a typical restaurant. Chefs, who are more like physicists and chemists, conjure over the dishes, creating amazing combinations of flavors that boggle the imagination. On your table, beef may combine with the taste of chocolate, foamy Borodino bread may appear, or egg whites may appear in the form of caviar, which is created drop by drop using a pipette.

The progenitor of molecular cooking is considered to be the Hungarian nuclear physicist Nicholas Kurti. While he spent half his life developing nuclear weapons, he remained involved in the philosophy of culinary arts. And so, at the end of his years, in tandem with the French chemist Evreux Tisza, he began studying such issues as the boiling point of eggs and the electromagnetic field that changes during the process of smoking fish. In 1990, at a culinary seminar in the Italian town of Eric, where the physical and chemical properties of food were examined, the term “molecular gastronomy” was introduced. The ideological organizer of this event was the Englishwoman Elizabeth Thomas. As the wife of a scientific physicist and a professional chef, Thomas has become a culinary conduit to the world of science.

It was these seminars that inspired the most famous molecular chefs today, Heston Blumenthal and Ferran Adria, to search for new experiences and create non-standard taste tandems and consistency of dishes. By the way, they made the right choice with their choice of direction and achieved great success. The Spanish restaurant El Bulli, which belongs to Ferran Adria, has been among the top ten best restaurants in the world for several years in a row. To taste the creations of scientific chefs, you need to sign up a year in advance. According to well-known restaurant critics, there are about two million people who want to become clients of El Bulli, and the restaurant is only able to accommodate eight thousand visitors. The restaurant has only been open for six months, and for the rest of the season, Adria and his employees are working on new dishes, locked in their laboratory. This restaurant rightfully deserves the title of trendsetter in molecular gastronomy, because where, if not here, artistic imagination relies on science and gives impetus to the development of cooking. This becomes clear as soon as you enter the establishment. Due to the complex and lengthy cooking process, visitors are not given the opportunity to choose from the menu; some dishes take 24 hours to prepare. The sequence of serving dishes, and there are from 20 to 30 of them, is planned in advance. Each dish fits in a spoon, and the average bill of this establishment is 2,000 euros. According to Adria, visitors come to his restaurant not to fill their stomachs, but for new experiences and impressions.

No less famous is The Fat Duck restaurant, which belongs to Heston Blumenthal. Of course, not every restaurant is awarded the Order of the British Empire for its contribution to the development of national gastronomy. It features such eccentric dishes as oatmeal with the taste of snail, ice cream with the taste of bacon and scrambled eggs, and puree with the smell of a leather car interior made from black olives. Blumenthal has achieved the title of culinary alchemist by focusing on creating dishes that can evoke all the senses at once.
In the near future, molecular gastronomy is not predicted to become widespread, but every self-respecting chef is familiar with this cooking technique. It already exists in many restaurants around the world, and in others there are at least hints of its appearance in the future. The main thing is that too troublesome independent preparation, high cost and lengthy preparation of serving do not leave this exotic round of cooking only as an object from the realm of fantasy.

Molecular cuisine is one of the most exotic and controversial modern trends in culinary art. It is difficult to find a person who has never heard of it, but so far there are very few people who have tried real molecular dishes in a restaurant or practice preparing them in their own kitchen. Today we will tell you what molecular gastronomy is, what its features are, and what techniques are applicable at home.

History of molecular gastronomy

The progenitor of the scientific method of cooking was the Anglo-American scientist and inventor Benjamin Thompson, who lived at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. He made a great contribution to the study of thermophysics phenomena and invented several innovative kitchen appliances for his time, in particular, a kitchen stove and a geyser coffee maker (percolator). The rapid development of fundamental and applied branches of physics and chemistry in the late 19th - early 20th centuries provided the basis for the development experimental cooking, based on scientific knowledge about the molecular composition of food. In the 1970s, through the efforts of the British physicist of Hungarian origin Nicholas Kurti and the French chemist Hervé Thys, who were united by a passion for the art of cooking, the concept and term “molecular gastronomy” appeared. Scientists began studying the physical and chemical changes that occur during cooking and began to invent new methods for creating dishes with unusual shapes, textures and tastes. “To get a new and unusual gastronomic experience, you need to isolate the compounds responsible for the smell of the ingredient, extract them with water, and then turn this “food” into jelly. Such jelly can be modified by giving it a different texture or coloring to obtain a more appetizing appearance,” wrote Hervé Thys.

PosudaMart One of the "fathers" of molecular gastronomy Herve Thys

In 1992, in Italy, Nicolas Curti and Hervé Thies conducted a series of seminars for scientists and practicing chefs under the general title “Molecular and Physical Gastronomy.” At these meetings, new cooking methods were discussed, and for the first time it was publicly suggested that by understanding the physical and chemical processes involved in food preparation, traditional cooking methods and techniques could be improved. The famous phrase of Nicholas Curti, uttered at one of the seminars, has entered the world history of cooking: “The trouble with our civilization is that we are able to measure the temperature of the atmosphere of Venus, but we have no idea what is going on inside the soufflé on our table.” During the practical part of the seminars, scientists demonstrated how you can cook meringue in a vacuum chamber, sausages using a car battery, and making “Baked Alaska” in reverse - cold on the outside and hot on the inside - using a household microwave oven. At the same time, Hervé Thys proposed isolating protein-dissolving enzyme from pineapple juice and using it to turn meat into liquid jelly. The participants in these scientific and practical meetings, who adopted the philosophy of Kurti and Thies, became a kind of gastronomy futurists in their desire to replace the “archaic” methods of cooking with a precisely calibrated scientific method. These include the current stars of molecular gastronomy - the chef of the Catalan restaurant "El Bulli" Ferran Adria and the British restaurateur and culinary specialist, owner of the legendary "The Fat Duck" Heston Blumenthal.

PosudaMart Heston Blumenthal - one of the leading practitioners of molecular gastronomy

By the way, the term “molecular gastronomy” is not the only one; along with it in the literature you can find the concepts “experimental” and “modernist”. In turn, Ferran Adrià, who has collaborated with Hervé Thys for many years, prefers the term “deconstructive” or “provocative” to all others; its main goal is to discover non-obvious connections and contrasting tastes and aromas that can surprise and shock guests.

Features of molecular gastronomy

Unusual shapes and taste combinations - in a gastronomic restaurant, on one plate you can find hard borscht, Borodino bread in the form of foam and meat in the form of caviar.

The use of special equipment that differs from traditional cooking methods - convection cookers, blast freezers, vacuum drying ovens, dehydrators, vacuumizers, sous vide thermostats, rotary evaporators, centrifuges, homogenizers, siphons that convert products into foam, etc.

Innovative methods and technologies. For example, molecular chefs fry food in water by adding special vegetable sugar, which increases the boiling point to 120 degrees. Methods of long-term low-temperature heat treatment in a vacuum or instant cooling of products and dishes with liquid nitrogen are often used.

Attention to proportions - molecular cooking requires the highest precision; an error of a couple of grams can hopelessly ruin the dish. This is why amateur experiments at home often end unsuccessfully at first.

High labor intensity and financial costs. Some molecular dishes may take several days to prepare. In addition, the purchase of special equipment and ingredients requires significant financial investments. This is why dishes in gastronomic restaurants are much more expensive than traditional ones. The bill at the El Bulli restaurant can reach 3,000 euros per set!

PosudaMart Molecular cuisine requires special tools

Basic Molecular Cuisine Techniques

Espumization

A common method of converting solid and liquid products into stable airy foam, while all the taste properties of the product or dish are preserved 100%.

PosudaMart Espuma - light and airy but durable foam

Spherification and gelatinization

These essentially similar techniques are based on the technology of turning products into a gel using gelatin and sodium alginate, a stabilizer that increases the viscosity of products obtained from kelp algae. Well-known marmalade and jellies, as well as artificial caviar, are made using the same technology, but molecular chefs create much more varied and perfect masterpieces - orange spaghetti, edible coffee spheres, whiskey caviar, etc.

PosudaMart Molecular balsamic caviar and basil spaghetti

Emulsification

This technique is based on the transformation of various products into a liquid emulsion consisting of water, fats and other substances. This method is used to make vinaigrette in the form of sauce, various mayonnaises, desserts, etc.

PosudaMart Emulsions are often used in molecular gastronomy

Vacuum technology (sous-vide)

Products packaged in a vacuum bag are subjected to long-term low-temperature processing, resulting in particularly soft meat, juiciness of fish, crunchiness of vegetables and tenderness of fruits. In order to select the optimal time and temperature for cooking products using the sous vide method, there are special temperature tables.

PosudaMart Sous vide technology allows you to prepare delicious and healthy food

Low temperature method

Extremely low temperatures, achieved by using liquid nitrogen and dry ice, are used in the preparation of ice cream, mousses and similar desserts. Baking foods at sub-zero temperatures is also widely used.

PosudaMart Liquid nitrogen and dry ice are used for cooking and beautiful serving

Transglutaminase

It involves using transglutaminase (special enzymes capable of gluing muscle tissue together) to model unusual shapes of meat or fish dishes.

PosudaMart Spectacular forms of dishes are the calling card of gastronomic restaurants

Is molecular gastronomy healthy and beneficial?

The unfamiliar names of ingredients and food additives added to molecular dishes to create bizarre shapes, textures, aromas and colors involuntarily suggest that this is not a natural or healthy food stuffed with chemicals. However, this is nothing more than a misconception. Food, like any other substance on planet Earth, consists of chemical elements, which include natural dyes, flavor and aroma enhancers, preservatives, etc. The substances used for preparing molecular food are completely natural chemical compounds and natural ingredients, just give a few examples to see this.

The sodium alginate mentioned above (designated as additive E401) is an absolutely natural, harmless substance that is obtained from kelp algae. It has been used in the food industry since the 19th century to create jellies, gels, thicken liquids and stabilize emulsions.

Calcium chloride (designated as additive E509) belongs to the category of natural emulsifiers, and at the same time is a medicinal substance that replenishes the lack of this salt in the body. Calcium chloride removes toxins from the body, alleviates inflammatory and allergic reactions of the body; preparations based on it are sold in pharmacies for oral administration.

Lecithin (soybean, sunflower) is a natural substance obtained from vegetable oils; its animal counterpart is found in large quantities in egg yolks. Without exaggeration, lecithin can be called the fuel of the human body, since its basis is phospholipids, which are a building material for membranes and cells.

Liquid nitrogen, which is used to quickly freeze food and serve it effectively in a gaseous state, is a major component of the air we breathe.

The cooking method also demonstrates that molecular cuisine is a healthy kitchen. An example would be dishes prepared in sous vide. Cooking in a vacuum without contact with oxygen and at low temperatures produces a dish with a natural taste and appearance, while retaining most of the nutrients that are destroyed during traditional cooking.

Thus, in all the processes of preparing molecular cuisine there is nothing supernatural or dangerous that should really be feared, especially if we keep in mind the dominance of all kinds of “chemicals” on our tables and in everyday life in general.

Simple molecular gastronomy recipes for home use

Molecular egg fudge

PosudaMart Unusual, healthy and satisfying breakfast

A very simple recipe that requires only eggs and a household thermostat, a multicooker with a manual temperature setting “multi-cook” or an oven with a similar mode.

Take a few eggs and place them in a thermostat container, a multicooker bowl, or a metal pan with water (if you are cooking in the oven). Cook the eggs for two hours at 64 degrees. If this condition is met, the contents of the egg will turn into the most delicate fudge, which can be spread on bread or made into an unusual topping based on it.

Molecular lemon cloud

PosudaMart A stand-alone dish or a spectacular decoration

A lemon cloud can be used to decorate fish, meat, fruit mousses and jellies very effectively.

Ingredients:

• Lemon juice - 100 ml
• Water - 100 ml
• Soy lecithin - 3 tsp.

Recipe:

Mix lemon juice, water and soy lecithin, beat the mixture with a mixer until a light, stable foam forms. If desired, you can add a little beetroot or carrot juice to the lemon juice to make a colored foam.

Melon caviar on prosciutto ham

PosudaMart Variation on the theme of the famous Italian snack

Ingredients:

• Prosciutto ham - 200 g
• Melon juice - 250 g
• Water - 500 g
• Calcium chloride - 2.5 g
• Sodium alginate - 2 g

Recipe:

1. Mix water and calcium chloride solution in a bowl or saucepan.

2. Mix melon juice and sodium alginate with a blender, strain through a sieve to remove the air.

3. Take a syringe without a needle, fill it with melon juice and squeeze it a little into a container with an aqueous solution of calcium chloride. In a minute you will see that the “eggs” have acquired their final shape.

4. Remove the “eggs” from the bowl with a slotted spoon, place them in a sieve and rinse thoroughly under running cold water. Don't neglect this step because calcium chloride has an unpleasant salty-bitter taste.

5. Place melon caviar on slices of ham rolled into small rolls.

If you want to cook something unusual yourself and taste the cuisine of physicists and chemists, then you can start with simple recipes. To prepare these dishes you will not need complex equipment, and the taste can be as close as possible to that of a restaurant. These are the simplest dishes of a seemingly extravagant cuisine that you can easily see in your own kitchen. At the same time, a large amount of nutrients is preserved and imagination is shown. And if you like it, you can go further and try more complex recipes. So go ahead, experiment lovers!

molecular cloud

If you add soy lecithin to lemon juice and water, a persistent foam cloud is formed, which can be either a separate dish or a decoration for another. Masters of molecular gastronomy call this process “emulsification,” but the cloud recipe is not at all complicated: mix half a glass of lemon juice and water, add three teaspoons of soy lecithin. The resulting mixture is whipped with a mixer and a lemon foam is formed, which can be used to decorate cheeses, fish and meat.

molecular egg

Those who want to try a new way of cooking eggs will definitely appreciate this recipe. You can boil eggs not only on the stove, but also in the oven. To do this, you need to take from one to three eggs, place them in a pan with water and put them in the oven for two hours. An important point in this regard is temperature. It should be exactly 64 degrees. Eggs prepared this way will be much more tender and softer.

Sorbet

Molecular sorbets are distinguished by a silky structure and a new taste of a familiar product. And it should be prepared like this: dry ice is added to freshly squeezed juice, then the mixture is thoroughly mixed until the ice is completely dissolved in the juice. The secret is that at a temperature of -72 C, the molecular structure of the substance (in this case, juice) changes and instead of liquid, you get a mousse with a creamy texture. This dish is not only unusual, but also saves time: it only takes three minutes to prepare the sorbet.

Strawberry spaghetti

Various fruits and vegetables can be used to make unusual spaghetti. In this case, silicone tubes are used; if there are none, then you can buy ordinary flexible tubes for droppers at the pharmacy. To prepare spaghetti you need: 400 ml of strawberry juice or puree, as well as sugar syrup, thick strawberry syrup and a gelling agent in a ratio of 3:1:1. All products are mixed and heated, but not to a boil. The silicone tube is filled with the resulting fruit broth using a syringe and immersed in cold water for 3 minutes. And the last stage: squeezing spaghetti out of the syringe using the air coming from the syringe.

Carrot oil

If you are already tired of the usual butter for breakfast, you should try carrot oil. It is made easily and from only two ingredients: 6 medium-sized carrots and 500 g of butter. Melted butter and squeezed carrot juice are mixed in a blender until smooth. Next, the mixture is brought to a boil over moderate heat (the foam should be removed along the way), and then poured into a mold and sent to the refrigerator to harden. The resulting butter can be melted and used as a sauce.