Sodium Hexametaphosphate and You

Perhaps the obvious first step in cooking is gathering the ingredients. While fine cuisine is most certainly about how a dish is put together, any true chef will tell you that a great meal begins with quality ingredients. Personal experience shows this to be true: would you rather have salad from a prepackaged bag or from vegetables from a farmers' market? A typical shopping trip would involve a drive to the grocery store and poking at the avocados and pears for fifteen minutes trying to decide which ones are riper. As Molecular Gastronomy is a modernization of past methods, there is only one place to go to buy the required ingredients. The Internet of course!
I can see what you are thinking. 'Did he just say the Internet? I am not buying my milk on craigslist!' Well, that is what you said in my mind anyways. The ingredients required for a connoisseur of Molecular cooking are slightly different than those found in an average kitchen. Names like Tapioca Maltodextrin and Low Acyl Gellan Gum tend to invoke images of chemicals rather than things you would want to eat. They also sound hard to find and use.
Even Molecular Gastronomists have to go shopping. But rather than going to a Fry's or Albertson's, many chefs go to Modernist Pantry. This website caters to (almost) all of your possible molecular needs. They have it all. Emulsifiers, pH Buffers, foaming agents, gelling agents, thickeners, even meat glue! Although I have yet to be brave enough to try the meat glue. Today I ordered a plethora of different ingredients from Modernist Pantry in anticipation of the official start of my project next week. There are a few things that I noticed that appeal to the home chef in this process.
1. Price
Most chemical ingredients used in Molecular Gastronomy are used in tiny increments. Often less than a quarter of a teaspoon for a whole meal, depending on the ingredient and dish. Even the most expensive components only run around $5-$15 for 50 grams. Although this may sound like very little, because such small quantities are used, the 50 grams can often last months depending on the frequency of use, and most ingredients have a near limitless shelf life.
2. Ease of understanding
All of the ingredients on Modernist Pantry are well labelled and almost always explained in the description. For the truly adventurous chef who is looking to try new and different techniques, this is invaluable. Agar Agar does not mean anything to the average chef without a science degree. But, luckily, they tell the buyer that it "Will form gels at 88 F and will not melt below 136 F." That makes a lot more sense for someone who is not used to the world of Molecular Gastronomy.
While I wait for my ingredients to arrive, I'm happy to answer any questions anyone has, just leave a comment and I'll get back to you as soon as I can! Stay tuned, next week the great experiments begin, and pictures will be plentiful!

When Is Food More Than Just Food...

...When it's art. And Science. Combined into a delicious concoction that is called Molecular Gastronomy. My name is Steven Howell, I am a senior at BASIS Scottsdale High School, and I love to cook; and, more importantly, to eat. And when I found out that my love of food could be linked to my love of chemistry and physics, I was instantly hooked. Molecular Gastronomy has recently arisen in the culinary industry as a new avante guarde way of cooking. It is taking cuisine that people have come to love and expect, and turned it on it's head, dipped it in liquid nitrogen, and served it on a platter in tiny frozen pieces. It is as unexpected as the previous sentence.
During the course of my project over the next few months, I will investigate whether these lofty culinary ideas like Sous Vide and Spherification are actually viable and useful to a home chef. Some people have heard of Molecular Gastronomy, but how many average cooks have taken it upon themselves to try it out? The answer is not enough. In only the past few months, Nathan Myhrvold, the genius behind the paradigm shattering set of books Modernist Cuisine, released a new volume entitled Modernist Cuisine at Home, a book that intends to try to change the current stereotypes of cooking in the home and bring it into the true modern era of cooking.
In the coming weeks, I will address three main concerns that have been perceived as prohibitive to home chefs and Molecular Gastronomy: financial feasibility (Roto Stator Homogenizer, that sounds expensive!), necessary understanding of scientific concepts (there's a difference between Calcium Chloride and Calcium Lactate?), and difficulty of culinary preparations (there is a fine line between a chiffonade and julienne). I will explore, experiment, and explain how all of these can be overcome, so stick around, put your napkin in your lap, and Bon Appétit!