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Ramen and Race Relations
Immigration in any society is a complex and controversial subject. It’s something that is likely to get tempers flaring and people marching on the streets. I don’t normally have much to say on the topic, it’s normally a dead end. Like pineapple on pizza, people tend to do a lot of talking about immigration and… Continue reading
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Egg whites: The art and science of edible foams
When considering the great florescence of thought and ideas that was the Enlightenment we tend to focus on the big ideas, the big innovations and the big thinkers like Voltaire, Locke and Adam Smith. But, as in any other time of great intellectual or technological change, there are other, smaller, ideas that fly under the… Continue reading
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Oxygen, electrons and Scottish chefs: How understanding redox reactions could save you from a bollocking
Many years ago I was working in a restaurant in Scotland and in an effort to save myself some time I prepped a stack of apples we were using as a garnish hours before we needed them. Thinking I’d done something clever I was radiating smugness until a coworker pointed out that the apples would… Continue reading
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Pork, another red meat
Fear is a great motivator and, being in the business of motivation, advertising has always been very quick to take advantage of human uncertainty to build demand. An example of this is the famous “The other white meat” campaign for pork that ran in the States in 1987 and was copied here in Australia during… Continue reading
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The Science of Milk: Emulsions, Lactose, and Casein Chemistry
Discover the complex chemistry of milk—from fat globule emulsions and lactose intolerance to casein micelles and how dairy behaves in the kitchen. Continue reading
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The Science of Beer Fermentation: Biochemistry, Malting & Brewing Chemistry
Discover the science of beer fermentation. Learn how yeast converts sugar into ethanol, the biochemistry of ATP and malting, and how brewing turns starch into beer. Continue reading
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Quick bite: A cooks tour of fats and oils, the good, the bad and the ugly
In my last post on emulsions I was a pretty loose with my terminology when referring to fats, oils, lipids, cholesterol etc. In this Quick Bite I just want to explain some of the terminology and start getting a bit more precise about what I mean when I say ‘fat’ (or an oil which is… Continue reading
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Mastering the Science of Sugar: From Simple Syrups to Caramel
Learn the science of sugar in cooking. Discover how solubility, supersaturation, and crystallisation transform simple syrups into rich caramels and fudge. Continue reading
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Understanding Emulsions I: The Science Behind Your Favourite Sauces
Learn the science of food emulsions! Discover how oil and water mix, why vinaigrettes split, and the physics behind stable kitchen sauces. Continue reading
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Quick bite: A cooks tour of protein chemistry
If you have read any of the posts on this blog you are probably starting to realise that when we are talking about chemistry in cooking a lot of the time we are actually talking about proteins. For this reason it is important that we have a clear idea of what a protein is, how… Continue reading