Festival of Creative Learning 2019 #FCL19

What a week it was this year! Raising eyebrows by running around campus with hand blenders and random kitchen stuff. I think I made almost 10 kg of ice cream in total!
But thankfully I had help with my endeavours! Namely the brilliant participants of my workshop "Cooking with Science: 50 shades of textures". This was all for Edinburgh University's Festival of Creative Learning, in February 2019.

The ice cream wasn't just for eating. The point was to understand a little more about its chemistry and what it takes to get a nice smooth texture. From fat concentration, to churning time and even thickening agents!

A new touch to this event was a fairly uncommon kitchen tool called a whipping siphon. Think of it as a reusable whipped cream canister that can make much more than whipped cream. It's perfect for examining the effect of pressure on food. We made a variety of foams, which admittedly sometimes tasted better than they looked!

It would've been a sad textures workshop, if we hadn't touched upon the fun world of gels. We made some gels that were fluid, and others that were bendable (literally!). All peculiar, no doubt. But used with finesse, they can take culinary sensations to a new level! We were impressed by how the same liquid ingredients would give a very different taste sensation, depending purely on texture.
In the spirit of the Creative Learning Festival, the participants got creative. Inspired by their new superpowers, they concocted new recipes. No doubt, you'll see them at gourmet restaurants soon.

Enjoy the short video with all the highlights!

Many thanks go to the University of Edinburgh Creative Learning Festival Team for supporting this event and to Mihaela for her amazing photos: © Mihaela Bodlovic 2019 Festival of Creative Learning #FCL19

Comments

Fluid gels: Jellous you haven't tried?

We take some lemon juice (liquid), turn it into a gel (solid), then blend it until it turns back into a liquid (almost). We just made a fluid gel! Why bother doing that? Must be a waste of time, right? Well, bazinga! Guess what, fluid gels are incredible! You get a surprisingly different mouthfeel that can turn dishes into a whole new culinary experience. The flavour is released slower than from the original liquid, similar to the pleasant lingering taste of fatty foods. Food scientists would probably call fluid gels “ a suspension of gelled particles dispersed in a non-gelled continuous medium ” [1]. They have unusual properties. They look like a thickened liquid, but retain their shape like a solid. Great for decorating plates or for coating food like a sauce. Fluid gels are versatile. Fruit juices are commonly used, but other liquids work as well. How about some chicken cooked sous-vide style (more on that another time!), and served with some lemon fluid gel on...

Cooking with science: From molecular gastronomy to gourmet cooking #FLC18

Ever wondered how bubble tea is made? Or what's the difference between good old sugar and the perfect caramel you find on a crème brûlée? Come along to our workshop to find out! Dive into the culinary arts and explore how science can improve cooking. This is very different from using cooking to demonstrate scientific principles! Learn how science can be applied in the kitchen to achieve desired flavours and textures. Discover techniques used by chefs to create innovative dishes. Try out specialist techniques used in haute cuisine, and learn how to use them in home cooking. Try something truly creative in #FCL18. Gain a new appreciation for food science, and possibly a new hobby!

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Cooking with science

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