My Experiences With Molecular Gastronomy

I've been pretty much obsessed with food journalism and cuisines since I was in elementary school. My parents have fostered this, and on my birthday every year, they allow me to choose a restaurant. Over the past few years, these choices have skewed more towards modern American cuisine, which in turn has had many dishes rooted in molecular gastronomy. In this entry, I'm going to present three dishes that I've had over the past two years that have had an impact on me.

This first dish is fried milk, with chocolate milk, toasted milk, and milk sherbet, from Uchiko. This dish utilized nitrogenization, a staple process of molecular gastronomy, in the sherbet and the fried milk portions. It tasted like the thesis of ice cream, a benchmark that every other type should be based on. Insanely good.

This second dish is from Congress, a newer haute cuisine restaurant that required me spending my own money to get half the meal to convince a cousin to take me. (Worth it, though) This dish is steak tartare with fried kale; the molecular element comes from the presentation, in which the steak tartare was freeze dried, and then very lightly seared.

  This last dish is seriously the best thing that's ever been in my mouth. It's quail on a bed of carmelized onions with arugula, and while it is simple, the presentation was perfect, and it was just so good. This restaurant is Barley Swine, the brick and mortar branch of the Odd Duck trailer.

Heston Blumenthal

Heston Blumenthal, along with Ferran Adria, is one of the biggest proponents of molecular gastronomy on a world stage. Like Adria, he also has decried the term “molecular gastronomy”. However, where Adria embraces the deconstructivist approach to experimental cooking, Blumenthal has run in the completely opposite direction. At his restaurant (The Fat Duck in Berkshire, England), Blumenthal has created dishes such as an edible watch that dissolves in a cup of tea (a nod to Alice In Wonderland), and a dish called “Sound of the Sea”, which features seafood foam along with an iPod playing ambient ocean sounds.

Blumenthal is a self-taught chef, whose only prior experience was unpaid, impermanent positions at places run by notable chefs such as Marco Pierre White and Raymond Blanc. He reached international prominence with The Fat Duck, his first restaurant, and has since achieved celebrity status, creating a very popular television miniseries called Kitchen Chemistry, as well as being featured in films and television, such as The Trip.

Blumenthal's stated intention is to change the customary perceptions of a diner by assigning different flavors to little used textures, such as bacon and egg ice cream, or sardine on toast sorbet. To achieve this, Blumethals kitchen is more like a laboratory than a traditional kitchen, replete with centrifuges and vacuums. If Ferran Adria seeks to minimalize the art of molecular gastronomy, then Blumenthal is his mad scientist twin, forever looking for ways to maximalize the potential of combining chemistry and cooking.

Alinea and Per Se

Alinea was the first notable American restaurant to fully embrace Ferran Adria’s deconstructivist ideals and apply them to a Continental kitchen style. Located in Chicago, Alinea is one of the few 3-Michelin starred restaurants located in the U.S., and has accomplished this while retaining a distinctly American air. For example, one of the entrees, a pheasant breast, is accompanied by burning oak leaves, adding an olfactory suburban element to a very European dish. Alinea’s chef, Grant Achatz, approaches cooking as a science project, and exemplifies the art of molecular gastronomy in a populist, American way.

While Alinea takes a distinctly American route in its approach towards molecular gastronomy, Per Se, located in NYC, charges down an entirely different route. Thomas Keller, the head chef, takes a very traditional European approach while still utilizing American elements; for example, one of his desserts is donuts and coffee, with an Italian twist, as the coffee is a semi-freddo. Another 3-Michelin Star restaurant, Per Se exemplifies the more maximalist nature of molecular gastronomy used by Blumenthal, utilizing foams and jellies in a glorious excess. 

Ferran Adria

Ferran Adria was the chef at the now-closed el Bulli, which has been detailed in earlier entries. Learning his craft in the town of Castelldefels in the early 1980s, Adria worked under the tutelage of a very traditional Spanish chef, and later served as a cook in Spain’s armed forces. 

He became the head chef of a steady, traditional restaurant in 1985. Located on the Costa Brava in the town of Roses, Catalonia, this restaurant was called El Bulli, named after the French bulldogs of a previous owner. After nearly a decade of providing excellent, but staid fare, Adria and his partner sold 20% of their restaurant to a millionaire named Miquel Horta. The large influx of cash resulting from this purchase allowed Adria and his partner to expand the kitchen and accommodate a new, elite class of customers that ranged from celebrities to politicians to corporate executives. 

Adria began to develop new techniques, utlizing foam in many dishes and creating “mimetic” products, such as olives made entirely of gel and olive oil, or peanuts made of peanut gelatin. These techniques allowed Adria to get the purest possible flavors for his creations, harkening back to his stated intention to “deconstruct” traditional Catalan and Spanish cuisine. Key to understanding Adria’s style of cooking is recognizing his traditional training, and subsequent mastery of the style. The molecular gastronomical elements of Adria’s cooking represent an endless creative quest, driven by an absolute master in his craft.

Catalonian Cuisine

• Catalan cuisine is influenced as much by Spanish cuisine as it is by cuisines from other varied locales, including Balearic, Valencian, and Southern French. This mixture reinforces the separate cultural identity that Catalonia retains from the rest of Spain, and has contributed to the growth of experimental techniques there.
  Geographic disparity also plays a role in Catalan cooking. The state ranges from coastal regions to mountainous regions, and this is reflected in the variety of dishes, from pork-based stews to dishes dominated by fish and coastal vegetables. A central sauce in Catalan cooking is Allioli, a sauce made of garlic and olive oil.
  Some other important dishes in Catalan cuisine include cod served with pine nuts and raisins, escalivada (grilled vegetables), and embotits, a term used for different types of pork sausage. Catalan cuisine is very Mediterranean, utilizing citrus and olive oil. The basic nature of its tastes (savory and hearty, sweet and creamy, earthy) lend themselves very well to the deconstructivist nature of molecular gastronomy, as evidenced by el Bulli and countless copycat restaurants.  

  

Roses, Catalonia

Catalonia is an autonomous community located in northeastern Spain, directly south of France. It is comparable to Quebec in Canada in that it has a distinctive language and culture that is not shared with the rest of Spain. This extends to cuisine, but I'll go into that further in my next entry. 

el Bulli was located in Catalonia, and adapted many of its traditional flavors and dishes into something wholly unique that inspired an entire generation of chefs. 

Catalonia is a different beast than the rest of Spain. Its culture is rooted less in machismo and more in artistic achievement. An example of this is the banning of bullfighting, a Spanish tradition, in all of Catalonia. The focus on the arts has led to the regions status as a creative center, in mediums such as architecture (La Sagrada Familia) and dance (Patum de Berga); this extends to cuisine, where traditional Catalonian dishes have been adapted within the structure of molecular gastronomy into a kind of culinary meme, replicated worldwide.

 

el Bulli

el Bulli was a Michelin 3-star restaurant (the highest rating) that was located in Roses, Catalonia. It gained international fame for the deconstructivist and molecular cooking styles of its head chef, an outspoken man named Ferran Adria who slowly became the face of Spanish cuisine on an international stage. 

el Bulli is important because it was the first restaurant focused entirely on progressive styles of cooking firmly rooted in molecular gastronomy with the intention of adapting traditional Spanish tastes into something deeply imaginative. 

Cuisine at el Bulli was dicated by texture. A famous dish was a frozen globe of ricotta cheese, presented to the diner with a hammer, which was then used to shatter the globe into bite-size pieces. Another was a spring made of congealed olive oil, placed on the finger and left to dissolve in the diners mouth. These dishes exemplify basic traditional tastes in Spanish cuisine, molded to fit a haute format, but still defined as much by their taste as their presentation. 

el Bulli marked a shift in haute cuisine from an obsession with expensive ingredients and elaborate presentation into one marked by an obsession with taste and texture, with interesting presentation just a by-product of presenting the best possible dish made of simple flavors. 

How Molecular Gastronomy Has Permeated The Culinary World Today

Fans of molecular gastronomy are quick to say that their cuisine is deconstructivist; that is, that it breaks down traditional meals into their purest, separate parts. This way of thinking about molecular gastronomy has led to its breakthrough in international cuisine, as a way to distill traditional flavors into their most basic form.

This manner of thinking about molecular gastronomy has led to a wary, but more widespread acceptance of molecular gastronomy in cuisines around the world that are steeped in tradition. A major example of this is the restaurant wd-50 in NYC. At this restaurant, Wylie Dufresne, the head chef, works to adapt traditional American dishes, such as eggs Benedict or a chicken dinner, into more adventurous formats. For example, the eggs Benedict at wd-50 consists of jellied egg yolks, ham crisps, and deep fried cubes of Hollandaise sauce.

At its most basic, this is the purpose of molecular gastronomy; to transform the expected textures of a dish into something that still retains its qualities, but in a different manner than the consumer expects. 

Why Half Of Spain Doesn't Hate Molecular Gastronomy

The culinary obsession in Spain, however, has also resulted in a considerable number of aficionados openly embracing international trends. This group has been quick to accept adaptations of Spanish cuisine to fit current trends, in stark contrast to the traditionalists. 

This culture of progression is best evidenced by the professional chefs of Spain. Therein lies the divide between the two groups; on one hand there are the chefs forever seeking the glory of a Michelin star, constantly adapting to shifting global culinary trends. On the other side are the traditionalists, the home chefs, rooted in a consistent cuisine that can honestly stake its claim as one of the worlds best.

One more thing; just to be clear, molecular gastronomy is no longer a cutting edge culinary trend. Present since the mid-1990s, to some it is an afterthought, a stunt that has been eclipsed by encroaching trends. In my opinion, however, this is not the case. Instead of being a flash in the pan, molecular gastronomy has integrated itself into global cuisine, with its techniques supplementary to a complete cuisine, rather than a flashy centerpiece. 

Why Half Of Spain Hates Molecular Gastronomy

As I've mentioned before, food in Spain is some serious stuff. Fine wine and otherworldly food are Spain's lifeblood, and much of this is based around centuries of tradition and carefully cultivated cultural development. Many of Spain's chefs are traditionalists, foregoing food trends in order to stick it out for the long haul, subtly advancing their ancestors recipes one tiny step at a time so that their cuisine is no flash in the pan.

To be flashy and trend-pursuant is a mortal sin in a culture so populated by traditionalist chefs, which is why the most radical thing to happen, EVER, in Spanish cuisine, was to make everything smaller and serve it as tapas. The most radical, that is, until the introduction of molecular gastronomy into Spanish cuisine, beginning in the late 20th century.

The introduction of this new radical style of cooking solicited an immediate response, and as you can imagine, it was a pretty harsh one. The few practitioners were decried as taking the vibrancy out of cooking, replacing its virility and passion with the cold, sterile feel of a laboratory. These fears proved to be unfounded; I'll delve into why a few entries in the future. The important thing to note is that despite the humongous strides that molecular gastronomy has made, it is still quite far away from winning the hearts and minds of those deeply into the traditional nature of Spanish cuisine (read: half of Spain).

Spanish Cuisine

Spanish cuisine is one of the most distinctive, and subjectively one of the best, on the planet. Characterized by the incredible diversity of the Iberian peninsula, from arid highlands to temperate coasts to expanses of deciduous forest, and a robust culture that celebrates the act of feasting and wine-drinking, Spain's cuisine has developed an international reputation second only to that of its neighbor, France.

Two of the most prolific facets of Spanish cuisine are jamon iberico (Iberian ham) and paella, a hearty rice dish studded with seafood and seasoned with saffron, a highly expensive spice that is a remnant of the hugely profitable spice trade present in the Mediterranean centuries before.

Spanish ham has a well-deserved reputation of being the world's best. This isn;t just conjecture, either; twice the IFFA Delicat has selected jamon iberico as "The Best Ham In The World". Jamon iberico is characterized by a unique dry aging process, and a diet of acorns that is fed to the pigs. (Quick anecdote here; when my cousin Zac spent a semester in Madrid, one assignment was to interview locals about local culinary traditions. One of the questions was "Who produces the best ham in the world?", and the immediate response was always "Espana!", coupled with an affronted look. And when he would ask "Who has the second best ham in the world?", the bewildered interviewee would stare at him again and say "Espana!". Such is the confidence in their own cuisine.) .

All in all, Spanish cuisine is highly important on a world stage, mainly based on its sense of tradition; this point will allow me to segue into my next post, where I will talk about the proliferation of molecular gastronomy in the Spanish culinary universe, and why this is a huge deal, on a cultural and international front.

What is molecular gastronomy?

Molecular gastronomy is the most well known subset of the burgeoning field of food science. The term was created by Nicholas Kurti and Herve This, two elite physicists and chemists respectively. The style of cooking itself is a seamless meld of chemistry and culinary arts, and utilizes many recent scientific advancements in its practices, such as nitrogenization of foods and the use of compounds such as transglutiminase in order to create cuts of meat that were previously impossible (for example, a boneless chicken that is made up seamlessly of white and dark meat).

The actual fusion of culinary arts and scientific study can be traced back all the way back to the second century BC, where a papyrus scroll has been recovered that compares the qualities of fresh and fermented meat in an observational, scientific manner. Further developments followed during the Enlightenment in Europe, where a small but devoted number of scientists applied the explosion of scientific knowledge to the art of cooking.

In modern times, many chefs despise the term "molecular gastronomy", but still practice it; this just goes to show how far the practice has integrated itself with traditional notions of cooking.