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The Science of Food

July 24, 2025

The Saffron Scam: Food Fraud and How to Spot Fake Saffron

Discover why saffron is the world’s most expensive spice, its 3,000-year history of food fraud, the chemistry of its unique flavor, and how to test for purity. Continue reading

antioxidants, botany, food fraud, saffron, spice

antioxidants, art, carotenoids, crocin, Food, food fraud, food science, nutrition, picrocrocin, recipes, saffron, safranal, spice, terpenes
July 8, 2025

What is a Redox Reaction? Chemistry and Your Health

Discover how reduction-oxidation (redox) reactions work, from browning fruit and iron smelting to free radicals, antioxidants, and everyday kitchen science. Continue reading

antioxidants, chemistry, redox reactions

antioxidants, biology, chemistry, food chemistry, food science, free radicals, health, iron, oxidation, oxidative stress, oxidising agent, redox reaction, reducing agent, reduction-oxidation reactions, Science

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About Me

I’m a scientist with over twenty years of experience as a medical researcher. I’m also an amateur cook. Tired of bumbling around the kitchen and being misled by weird internet recipes I decided to see if science could help me be a better cook. This blog is the result.

You can read more about me here, if you are interested.

Bluesky
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Recent Posts

Ramen and Race Relations
Absinthe: Does The Green Fairy Have No Clothes?
How To Cook Fish
How To Stay Healthy In a Salty World
Do We Love Mum’s Cooking Because She Made Us as Well as Dinner?
Tomatoes and Fake News
Helminths Exposed: Inside the Sometimes Gross World of Food Borne Parasites
Phylloxera: The American Grape Vine Pest That Almost Ruined My Saturday Nights
Vanilla II: The Curing and the Chemistry
Vanilla I: Botany and Bad Behaviour
The Brassica: Cabbage, Broccoli and Other Childhood Nemeses
Why is Kobe Beef So Good?
Are Michelin Stars All in Our Mind?
Custard, Avgolemono and Carbonara: The Science of Using Eggs to Thicken Sauces
The Microbiome II: Every Microbiome Is Happy in Its Own Way
The Microbiome I: A New World is Discovered
Acids, Cooking and Inconvenient Corpses.
Darwin, Lamarck and the Murder Scientist
Genes, Gluttony and Gout
Food Science Book
The Science of Egg White Foams: How Denaturation, Bowl Choice and Ingredients Impact Whipping
Quick Bite: New research lets us know who to thank for our chocolate
Mad honey or how the Poison King and some bees outwitted the Romans
Quick Bite: Can an asthma drug really protect people from food allergies?
Quick Bite: New research shows what was on the menu 2 million years ago
Aphrodisiacs: Can food make you sexy?
Quick Bite: You say tomato, I say potato
Hunger games: Why we get hungry and why we overeat
Quick Bite: Ultra-processed foods give you lung cancer? Maybe not
Quick Bite: How to avoid death by Listeria
The Saffron Scam: Food Fraud and How to Spot Fake Saffron
Vitamin D and Human Individuality: Why One-Size-Fits-All Nutrition Fails
The Science of Bacterial Growth: How to Keep Your Food Safe and Avoid Food Poisoning
What is a Redox Reaction? Chemistry and Your Health
Trophic Shadows: How the Energy Pyramid Controls Our Food Systems
Is Pork a Red Meat? The Science Behind Meat Colour and Myoglobin
Eugenics and Genetic Diversity: What Bananas Can Teach Us
Why Bacon Causes Cancer (And Why I Still Eat It): The Science of Nitrites
The Science of Slow Cooking: How to Tenderise Tough Cuts of Meat
What Are Ultra-Processed Foods? (And Are They Really Bad for You?)
Everything you ever wanted to know about cream (the food not the band)
Why Most Nutrition Science is Wrong (And How to Spot Flawed Diet Claims)
The Science and Flavour of Mushrooms: Their Culinary Chemistry Explained
Quick Bite: How salt enhances the flavour of our food
What Is Umami? The Science Behind the Fifth Basic Taste
Starch and Gelatinisation in Everyday Cooking: The Science of Thickening
The Science of Pasteurisation: Raw Milk Safety vs. Health Claims
The Science of Milk: Emulsions, Lactose, and Casein Chemistry
Caffeine: The science behind the buzz
The Science of Beer Fermentation: Biochemistry, Malting & Brewing Chemistry
Quick bite: A cooks tour of fats and oils, the good, the bad and the ugly
Understanding Emulsions II: Mayonnaise and The Science of Emulsification
Mastering the Science of Sugar: From Simple Syrups to Caramel
The Science of Chilli Burn: Why We Love the Pain of Capsaicin
Understanding Emulsions I: The Science Behind Your Favourite Sauces
The Science of the Perfect French Fry
Quick bite: The secret life of vegetables
Quick bite: A cooks tour of protein chemistry
Quick bite: Osmosis and your next BBQ
Anatomy, heat and the perfect steak
The Pasta Making Guide for Non-Nonnas
The Science of Frying an Egg
Why Every Cook Should Understand Food Science

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