Lmst

#KitchenChemistry

Tonight I took a recipe my mom had for date oat bars and made a whole bunch of substitutions and tweaks to make a cranberry oat crumble that is dairy-free and gluten-free. It's delicious 😋

I have a lot of fun doing this sort of recipe tinkering. I keep a kitchen lab notebook for the recipes I create or modify. My spouse suggested that I show it to my chemistry students. I use a lot of the same habits

#baking #kitchenChemistry

@Take_A_Bow @xvf17 oh awesome!
Reminds me of something similar (on a webpage) I used to show kids in my #KitchenChemistry class. ( oh that nearly 15 yrs ago).
Thanks for the link!!

I'm incredibly blessed with so many great memories 👆🏽 of my late friend Bob Wolke (and we did meet late in our lives, much earlier in mine tho).
I knew of him before I moved to Pittsburgh - didn't realize he was here until just before I was introduced to him by a colleague.

You too can gain much, as I did, from his wisdom and expertise through his books on #Food + #Science
It's what led me (before we met) to use #KitchenChemistry to teach #Chemistry through food

https://bookshop.org/p/books/what-einstein-told-his-cook-kitchen-science-explained-robert-l-wolke/16617662?ean=9780393329421

Robert Wolke, white haired and goatee, in a red checked flannel shirt, smiling at the camera, with a bookshelf in the background

Last one in what ended up as a short thread on umami response
Proteins breakdown and many of the amino acids, not just glutamate, produce an umami response.

There's glutamate in mother's milk, and enhanced umami (glutamate) in say vegetable soup produces a more favorable response from babies

#Taste #KitchenChemistry
https://www.umamiinfo.com/what/whatisumami/#cont02_area

Proteins made up by linking many amino acids have no taste response, but broken down, the individual amino acids have taste responses - sweet, umami and bitter

Chart of amino acids in mother's milk 7 days after birth

Infant taste responses showing a baby being fed sweet sour and bitter.
In the last 2 pics pics show the baby is not really into vegetable soup only, but seems happy to drink vegetable soup with added umami

In case you know of umami but don't know about differences in response to glutamate (there's a lot in kombu) and inosinate (there's a lot in katsuoboshi) and guanylate (there's a lot in shiitake, especially dried) - know that there is a synergy between these.
Hence my mixing of the 3 for the dashi 👆🏽<technically 2 would have been ok>

Here's a good review article
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26247011/

#Taste #Chemistry #FoodScience #KitchenChemistry

Graph of umami response to glutamate and inosinate mixtures. The response increases toma max when there is a mix of both (more than 20% of 1)

Details are everything.
The sole difference when making Indian Paneer versus Mexican Queso Fresco is 30°F in when you add the acid to the milk.
The chemistry at the two different temperature is so profoundly different that they both have different cooking and melting properties once completed.
Paneer is harder and resists melting and the Queso Fresco is soft and melts (think quesadillas).
#inthekitchen #IndianCuisine #MexicanCuisine #kitchenchemistry #fromscratchkitchen

Last couple of times (latest was in March) my Science of Taste & Flavor class for #PhippsConservatory here in #Pittsburgh went really well. Their Botany Hall Kitchen space is a terrific venue.
Phipps has me on again - Sept 19th - registration is open I'm told.

https://my.conservatory.org/6320/scienceoftasteandflavorfall2024

#Science #CommunityOutreach #KitchenChemistry

Ok so to coincide with the #Picklesburgh festival here in #Pittsburgh this weekend the university social media people put this *shocking* clip out on Instagram reels.
Great editing job on this unplanned (besides "can you do something related to pickles") unscripted few moments with a few items I grabbed from home. (Besides the variac)

#KitchenChemistry

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C9n4d3suf5C/?igsh=ZDN4bXFtc2l5anNr

https://www.instagram.com/carnegiemellon/reels/

The yellow glow from sodium ions as electricity passes through a pickle, same kinda yellow that tells us that some stars are made of sodium

(Fun doing a quick little demo for my Univ social media folks. Only remembered to pull my phone out just before I stopped)
#KitchenChemistry #ScienceOutreach

A large dill pickle with nails through each end that are connected to alligator clips and wire. A bit of smoke is coming out of one end and the middle of the pickle has bright yellow glowing spots

5/4 lagniappe with a bit of #KitchenChemistry about those ajitsuke - soy marinated - quail eggs.

Made them quite a few days ago, they had soft yolks.
Here's how: 3 min into boiling water and immediately into cold water (with a bit of ice). Then once cool, about 20 mins in a bit of vinegar - the spots will come off and shell will get a bit soft. Rinse and peel easily...

Marinate in fridge in soy + water + sugar + mirin (skipped sake, but use some)

#Food #CookingTips

Quail eggs in clear liquid (water) to rinse off after a vinegar soak. The eggs are all (except one) white with no brownish coat with spots.

Peeling the shell off a quail egg. The shell is soft and flexible and comes off in a strip

2.5kg of cherries stoned and sitting in brandy. There's a bottle of the cherry brandy from last year's crop too. #alcohol #kitchenChemistry

Two kilner jars 2/3rd full of cherries and brandy and a bottle of last year's cherry brandy.

@wallamidyl @xvf17 @msbellows @blogdiva frozen is good plan. If not frozen, it gets too bitter - but a good way to avoid that excess reaction is to first rub/dab the microplane with lemon or lime juice or vinegar (that like the cold retards the reaction)

#KitchenChemistry

Microplane with minced garlic below and a clove of garlic and a half cut lime on top

An interview with Prof. Michelle Francl @MichelleFrancl [unfortunately not active here - yet] on on her book, “Steeped: The Chemistry of #Tea,” which is out today!

#Food #Chemistry #FoodScience #KitchenChemistry

https://www.inquirer.com/food/tea-chemistry-michelle-francl-science-20240119.html

If you don't want it to go limp in the cold - some science to help you

#KitchenChemistry

https://www.science.org/content/article/hate-droopy-carrots-here-s-how-keep-them-crisp

Stirr thoroughly to mix in the cream and butter. We're aiming for a glossy, pale brown (darkening on standing) turbid mixture.
Unlike most chemistry, tasting and smelling the reaction mixture is strongly suggested.
Now is the time to add in more capsaicin or sodium chloride to your preference.
The mixture is now returned to a low oven for another 20 minutes.
#KitchenChemistry #CookingWithDavid

A steel pot with a light brown lentil stew dish in it.

For the next step, I'm dividing out the mixture into a smaller pot, to allow space for further reactants.
Then add in rather a lot of butter and cream.
#KitchenChemistry #CookingWithDavid

Two steel pans the smaller on the left. They contain the lentil dish I've been cooking in this thread.

A large steel pan, there's a brown lentil stew dish but it's mostly covered up by several blocks of butter and a lot of cream waiting to be stirred in.

Getting back to the #KitchenChemistry after a day off. The lenti-onion-tomato-garlic-ginger concoction has rested to infuse and slowly react. Now it's time to resuspend the solids and stir over a low heat for another hour.
Add approximately 400ml of water at this point.
#cookingWithDavid

A steel bowl containing a lot of brown stuff

After adding water and stiring it is already looking better.

And Christmas is perhaps when I miss my dear old friend whom I met late in both our lives (but thankful I did). He passed on in 2021 but we sure shared some great times - #Chemistry & #Food - my greatest #KitchenChemistry inspiration.
A couple of pics from Christmas lunches long past in Pittsburgh when I'd whisk him away from his home.

Here's to you Bob Wolke! 🍸
Merry Christmas (imma go get some bao from 711 or something)
#ChristmasChinese

An elderly gentleman holding chopsticks in one hand and a bottle of Tsingtao beer in the other with Chinese food on the table in a Chinese restaurant

An elderly gentleman with white hair holding chopsticks and smiling with his arms held up with a number of Chinese dishes on plates in the table in front of him.

Two people sitting with small drink cups raised and smiling at the camera at a Chinese restaurant

A martini glass with an olive and a sticker on the glass that reads Here's to you Bob Wolke. An author picture of a Robert Wolke, author of What Einstein Told his Cook (and other books) is in the background

After stiring well, the whole thing goes into the oven at 180C for 3 hours. Checking periodically and adding water to keep the reaction fluid.
#KitchenChemistry #CookingWithDavid

More garlic and ginger and spices added.
#KitchenChemistry #CookingWithDavid

#KitchenChemistry

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