Gastronomy

Introduction to Gastronomy

When did cooking start?

The use of fire was first recorded around 1.9 million years ago. It is controversial about when our earliest ancestors started to prepare food by cooking. Current estimates place it anywhere between ~2 million and 300,000 years ago. [archeological evidence of earth ovens]

Does food have any impact on your intellect?

Compare : (1) Cows & Horses vs Dogs & Cats (2) Eating vegetables vs meat (3) Eating uncooked food vs cooked food (4) Energy consumption between your brain and other tissues

Human

5.4

Compare human with great apes

2.5 Chimpanzee

Social division of labor, more playful, more ready to learn, few broken teeth, smaller teeth, yet bigger... pedomorphic (juvenile) apes

7.3

Bonobo

14 Gorila

Orang-utan

Self domestication

Gastronomy is practiced by chimpanzee

Munching soil after eating leaves of Trichilia rubescens generates anti-malarial compound [Food for health, survival, enjoyment, establishing a culture]

Krief et al., (2004)

Original image by tiswango

Gastronomy is practiced by bonobo

Bonobo catching termites as food with a stick coated with saliva [Food for health, survival, enjoyment, establishing a culture]
Rafert and Vineberg, 1997. Original image by suneko

Gastronomy is practiced by elephant

African cave elephant needs salt intake through eating vegetation. When there is too much rain washing away the minerals from the plant, they eat salt from caves.
Hold et al., 2002, J. Mammalogy

[Food for health, survival, enjoyment, establishing a culture]

Original image by digitalart

Gastronomy is practiced by Sea Otter on eating abalone

A real preference, a culture or a skill set

Gastronomy in human beings

Culture vs Geographical location

By Waitak at en.wikipedia Later version(s) were uploaded by Splette at en.wikipedia.[see page for license], <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AClimateMapWorld.png">from Wikimedia Commons</a>

Molecular gastronomy
1. Investigations of culinary process or know-how; 2. Proposal to rationalization and improvements; 3. New products, new tools, new methods, chemicals that could be used to modify the taste of the dishes, and some others could be useful in managing texture; 4. To invent new dishes using knowledge from the previous three aims; 5. To learn about the match and mix of food. 6. To use the appeal of food to promote science.

10 Tips for Practical Molecular Gastronomy

by Martin Lersch
Source: http://blog.khymos.org/2007/01/27/ten-tips-for-practical-molecular-gastronomy/

1. Use good and fresh raw materials of the best quality available. 2. Know what temperature youre cooking at.
A dip probe thermometer with a digital read out is a cheap way to bring science into your kitchen

3. Get a basic understanding of heat transfer, heat capacity and heat conductance.
Heat transfer high temperature. It also applies to the understanding of freezing/thawing.

4. Learn how to control the texture of food. 5. Learn how to control taste, flavor and color. 6. Prolonged exposure to a flavor causes desensitization, meaning that your brain thinks the food smells less strongly even though its still present in the same amount.

7. Be critical to recipes and question authority they do not necessarily represent the truth. Nevertheless, you can certainly learn a lot from the experts. 8. Dare to experiment and try new ingredients and procedures. 9. Keep a written record of what you do! 10. ..and finally.HAVE FUN!