Cooking is Science!
“The science and magic of pastry” written by Andy Connelly is an article which explains in detail the reactions that are happening when we make pastry. After reading this article, we realise all the things that could go wrong when we cook. The slightest difference in concentration of a certain ingredient may lead to a big difference in the product. Therefore, when we cook, we shouldn’t be too hard on ourselves if something goes wrong.
Surprisingly, cooking involves many scientific methods that we are unaware of. For example, the diffusion of water particles and the relaxation of gluten in dough while it is kept in the fridge. Many of these methods relate to chemistry such as the way we measure out of a liquid measuring cup and how we mix different ingredients together. The definition of chemistry, as written by the Merriam-Webster dictionary online, is:
“a science that deals with the structure and properties of substances and with the changes that they go through.”
In a way, this is basically what we do when we cook. We follow a recipe which has a list of ingredients and the steps that go with it. In chemistry labs, we practically do the same since there is a list of materials and a procedure to follow. Although, the materials aren’t the same since in cooking we use more common substances such as sugar, flour and water. But in chemistry (with the exception of water that is the same) we use hydrochloric acid, sodium hydroxide and ammonia only to name a few.
I think that this is a very interesting subject about the transformation and manipulation of our food. To all the cooks who are reading, next time you have to cook, just think that you are actually performing a type of science and you could be considered as a cooking scientist!
To read the detailed article on how to make pastry, visit: http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/feb/20/recipe-fat-flour-water-science-pastry?CMP=twt_gu