Geography and Similarity of Regional Cuisines in China

Food occupies a central position in every culture and it is therefore of great interest to understand the evolution of food culture. The advent of the World Wide Web and online recipe repositories have begun to provide unprecedented opportunities for data-driven, quantitative study of food culture. Here we harness an online database documenting recipes from various Chinese regional cuisines and investigate the similarity of regional cuisines in terms of geography and climate. We find that geographical proximity, rather than climate proximity, is a crucial factor that determines the similarity of regional cuisines. We develop a model of regional cuisine evolution that provides helpful clues for understanding the evolution of cuisines and cultures.     

TASTE PERCEPTION OF UMAMI-RICH DISHES IN ITALIAN CULINARY TRADITION

The aim of this research project was to investigate umami taste properties of recipes based on Italian culinary tradition and prepared with umami-rich ingredients, focusing on the impact of the preparation and ingredient combination. Gustative profiles were prepared for a traditional Italian dish, tender beef bouillon, usually consumed with pasta stuffed with beef. Four different samples were designed by changing the ingredients (with or without integrating Parmigiano cheese) and the preparation (cooking time) of the recipe. Panelists were rigorously trained for umami taste evaluation using monosodium L-glutamate (MSG) aqueous solutions and were then asked to evaluate umami sensation in tender beef bouillon with or without added Parmigiano Reggiano . A majority of the panelists were able to distinguish correctly umami sensations induced by MSG. The level of umami enhancement induced by Parmigiano Reggiano was clearly perceived by the panelists, and this enhancement positively affected also other basic tastes; whereas the cooking time had no clear effect on the gustative perception.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

In western countries, people do not know much about umami. This taste is defined as the "savoriness" of the glutamate. Umami-taste substances are present in several foods, but whereas the taste of monosodium glutamate and 5' nucleotides can be without difficulty identified in water solutions, which are usually employed for panel training, the ability to identify this primary taste decreases enormously in more complex matrices like food. This study describes a procedure for screening and training sensory panels and could serve as a guide in teaching panelists to recognize and quantify the umami taste in a multistimuli matrix like a food recipe or product.
It also provides a practical application in a recipe in which the umami taste is modulated by the culinary preparation and ingredients.     

Barossa Dreaming: Imagining Place and Constituting Cuisine in Contemporary Australia

Regional cuisines have become a prominent feature in the consumer landscape of modernised societies. This article describes how a regional cuisine is being socially constituted in the Barossa Valley, one of the most important wine-growing areas in Australia. Initially, I detail how small farmers, winegrowers and other entrepreneurs idealise the Barossa landscape and fabricate the heritage that is integral to the idea of a distinctive cuisine. This is followed by examination of how the notion of Barossa food as having distinctive qualities because of the artisanal ways it is produced is constantly being elaborated by the valley's small-scale enterprises. Lastly, I explore the contribution of wider influences to this cultural process, from the role played by an internationally recognised celebrity chef through to the recent arrival of the Slow Food movement. Local factors and global influences contribute to the social manufacture of the Barossa's regional cuisine, the overall appeal of which to middle class consumers is as much cultural as it is culinary.     

Community dynamics and functional stability: A recipe for cultural adaptation and continuity

This paper applies the methodology of an ecological community analysis framework to the evaluation of a culturally important food recipe found in Vietnamese cookbooks from Vietnam (VN) and the United States (US). The recipe is for the popular Vietnamese dish sweet-sour snake-head mullet soup. The results show that the assemblage of plant species used in the recipes of the VN and US cookbooks are not identical with significant differences in the frequency of some plant-based ingredients. Re-evaluating the species composition of the dish to include the functions of flavor and texture used to create the structure of the dish shows that although the plant assemblage used in the United States is different, all of the traditional functions are maintained and the dish is perpetuated by being adapted for the new environment. The ecological community analysis framework allows for the identification of indicator species that contribute to the structure of dishes. The methodology may be used to design cookbooks for cultural groups living where their traditional food plants are rare or unavailable.     

Social patterns of food sharing in monogamous owl monkeys

Captive owl monkeys (Aotus nancymaae, A. azarai) share food frequently within both families and pairs. In this study food sharing was observed in seven mated pairs and four families (i.e., four mated pairs and their offspring). Patterns of food sharing were examined with respect to age class, sex, and the presence or absence of dependent offspring. Within families, most food transfers were from adult males to developing offspring. Adult males and females transferred food to their mates in caged pairs as well as in family units. Food interactions between adults are as likely to result in food transfers as those between adults and offspring. This pattern of food sharing between mates in a monogamous species may serve both nutritional and social functions that differ from those in polygamous species.     

The application of a fermented food ingredient containing 'variacin', a novel antimicrobial produced by Kocuria varians, to control the growth of Bacillus cereus in chilled dairy products

AIMS: The feasibility of applying variacin, a lantibiotic produced by Kocuria varians in the form of a spray-dried fermented ingredient to control the growth of psychrotrophic Bacillus cereus strains in chilled dairy foods, was evaluated. METHODS AND RESULTS: A range of chilled dairy food formulations modelling commercially-available products were fabricated, to which were added varying amounts of active ingredient. These were subsequently challenged with a B. cereus spore cocktail over a range of abuse temperatures. This work was validated by the inclusion of the fermented ingredient to commercial products. CONCLUSION: Results demonstrate the functionality of the bacteriocin at refrigeration abuse temperatures, and indicate the robust nature of the proteinaceous antimicrobial agent with regard to processing. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: This study indicates the applicability of fermented food ingredients containing naturally-occurring antimicrobials as additional hurdles in food preservation.     

The application of a fermented food ingredient containing 'variacin', a novel antimicrobial produced by Kocuria varians, to control the growth of Bacillus cereus in chilled dairy products

T. O'MAHONY, N. REKHIF, C. CAVADINI AND G.F. FITZGERALD. 2001 .
Aims: The feasibility of applying variacin, a lantibiotic produced by Kocuria varians in the form of a spray-dried fermented ingredient to control the growth of psychrotrophic Bacillus cereus strains in chilled dairy foods, was evaluated.
Methods and Results: A range of chilled dairy food formulations modelling commercially-available products were fabricated, to which were added varying amounts of active ingredient. These were subsequently challenged with a B. cereus spore cocktail over a range of abuse temperatures. This work was validated by the inclusion of the fermented ingredient to commercial products.
Conclusions: Results demonstrate the functionality of the bacteriocin at refrigeration abuse temperatures, and indicate the robust nature of the proteinaceous antimicrobial agent with regard to processing.
Significance and Impact of the Study: This study indicates the applicability of fermented food ingredients containing naturally-occurring antimicrobials as additional hurdles in food preservation.     

Food grade microbial synthesis of the butter aroma compound butanedione using engineered and non-engineered Lactococcus lactis

The design-build-test-learn (DBTL) cycle has been implemented in metabolic engineering processes for optimizing the production of valuable compounds, including food ingredients. However, the use of recombinant microorganisms for producing food ingredients is associated with different challenges, e.g., in the EU, a content of more than 0.9% of such ingredients requires to be labeled. Therefore, we propose to expand the DBTL cycle and use the “learn” module to guide the development of non-engineered strains for clean label production. Here, we demonstrate how this approach can be used to generate engineered and natural cell factories able to produce the valuable food flavor compound - butanedione (diacetyl). Through comprehensive rerouting of the metabolism of Lactococcus lactis MG1363 and re-installment of the capacity to metabolize lactose and dairy protein, we managed to achieve a high titer of diacetyl (6.7 g/L) in pure dairy waste. Based on learnings from the engineering efforts, we successfully achieved the production of diacetyl without using recombinant DNA technology. We accomplish the latter by process optimization and by relying on high-throughput screening using a microfluidic system. Our results demonstrate the great potential that lies in combining metabolic engineering and natural approaches for achieving efficient production of food ingredients.     

HISPANIC AND NON-HISPANIC RESPONSES TO CONCEPTS FOR FOUR FOODS

Hispanics and non‐Hispanics Americans participated in four sets of studies dealing with health‐oriented foods, with the goal to identify how they respond to food categories relevant in any cuisine. Each study comprised a conjoint analysis using 36 elements followed by a self‐profiling questionnaire to learn more about Hispanic and non‐Hispanic food responses to concepts for four different product categories (morning bread, bottled water, healthful salad dressing and popcorn as a snack). The study identified patterns of preference of marketing statements in the areas of health information, sensory characteristics, emotional benefits and endorsements. Conjoint utility values generated by both Hispanics and non‐Hispanic respondents correlated highly, suggesting that their food attitudes are quite similar for“non‐signature”products despite the differences in their original cuisines.     

Cumin (Cuminum cyminum L.) from Traditional Uses to Potential Biomedical Applications

Cumin (Cuminum cyminum L.) is a small annual and herbaceous plant belonging to the Apiaceae family. It is a multipurpose plant species cultivated in the Middle East, India, China, and several Mediterranean countries, including Tunisia. Its fruit, known as cumin seed, is most widely used for culinary and medicinal purposes. It is generally used as a food additive, popular spice, and flavoring agent in many cuisines. Cumin has also been widely used in traditional medicine to treat a variety of diseases, including hypolipidemia, cancer, and diabetes. The literature presents ample evidence for the biological and biomedical activities of cumin, which have generally been ascribed to its content and action of its active constituents, such as terpens, phenols, and flavonoids. The present paper provides an overview of phytochemical profile, biological activities, and ethnomedical and pharmacological uses of Cumin.     

腌制肉中亚硝酸盐抑菌机理的研究进展

亚硝酸盐是内制品中常用的食品添加剂,具有发色、抑菌、改善风味和质构等作用,特别是亚硝酸盐能够有效的防止内毒梭状杆菌的生长,但是亚硝酸盐具有毒性,亚硝酸根与肉类中的胺类物质反应生成致癌物亚硝胺,使亚硝酸盐的使用受到限制。已有许多亚硝酸盐抑菌机理的研究报道,本文综述了亚硝酸盐作用的微生物、腌制成分和其它因素对亚硝酸盐押菌作用的影响、以及亚硝酸盐抑菌分子机理的研究进展,并对亚硝酸盐作用机理的研究方向进行了展望。     

Science and cooking: the era of molecular cuisine

Molecular cuisine, despite popular opinion, is not science that is performed in the kitchen. It is the application of scientific understanding to the development of new cooking techniques and traditions.In January 2009, I participated in a round-table discussion, “Does ‘Molecular Cuisine'' Exist?”, at Madrid Fusion, the largest gastronomy conference in the world. It was the most popular event at that conference, which is impressive considering that, until 20 years ago, the adjective molecular was never used in conjunction with the words gastronomy, cooking or cuisine. Indeed, when the poster for the first “International Workshop on Molecular and Physical Gastronomy”, held in Erice, Italy, appeared in 1992, many people at universities around the world thought it was a joke. Actually, its original title was simply “Science and Gastronomy”, but it had to be changed to sound less ‘frivolous'' and more academic for the printed announcement of the workshop. The term molecular was chosen as molecular biology was the hot scientific field at the time (McGee, 2008).The interactions between science and cooking are as old as science itself…The participants in the first Erice workshop included not only scientists, but also chefs and writers. The goal of the meeting was to explore four points: “to what extent is the science underlying these [cooking] processes understood; whether the existing cooking methods could be improved by a better understanding of their scientific bases; whether new methods or ingredients could improve the quality of the end-products or lead to innovations; whether processes developed for food processing and large scale catering could be adapted to domestic or restaurant kitchens.” As such, the novelty of the workshop with respect to other food-science meetings was the emphasis on gastronomy and real kitchens, rather than industrial processes and products.The interactions between science and cooking are as old as science itself: the French physicist Denis Papin invented the pressure cooker in 1679 and described it in a book that can be considered the first modern text on ‘science and cooking'' (Papin, 1681). However, at the end of the twentieth century, cooking was increasingly considered a frivolous and unimportant subject for scientists, and science itself had become detached from people''s everyday lives. Nevertheless, the recent, impressive advances in biochemistry and soft-matter physics have helped scientists to analyse and comprehend culinary processes in a way that would have been unthinkable a few years ago. One of the first indications that the scientific analysis of culinary phenomena could be improved was the publication of the now classic book On Food and Cooking: the Science and Lore of the Kitchen by Harold McGee (McGee, 1984), which is still a reference for cooks around the world.However, at the end of the twentieth century, cooking was increasingly considered a frivolous and unimportant subject for scientists…Meanwhile, the young Spanish chef Ferran Adrià started the greatest culinary revolution of the century by using the siphon—originally designed to make whipped cream—to produce mousses and foams with unusual ingredients, such as vegetables, fruits, fish and meat. Adrià was looking for novelty in every area of cooking, and he started to experiment with new techniques and new ingredients, but did not interact with science or scientists. In parallel, the Erice workshop took place five more times in 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001 and 2004, and was mainly devoted to exploring the more scientific aspects of traditional cooking, namely understanding the science underlying cooking processes and ways to improve existing techniques by applying this knowledge.True collaborations between chefs and scientists only started at the beginning of the past decade: in France, chef Pierre Gagnaire teamed up with Hervé This; Heston Blumenthal in England with Peter Barham; in Spain, Andoni Luis Aduriz and later Dani Garcia with Raimundo Garcia del Moral, and Ferran Adrià with Pere Castells. In Italy, I started collaborating with Ettore Bocchia and, in 2002, we presented an experimental menu of innovative Italian cuisine that was based on scientific investigation. We declared that it was inspired by molecular gastronomy, but a newspaper article introduced a new expression: molecular cuisine (Paltrinieri, 2002).This term was unusual, but we decided to use it nonetheless because ‘cuisine'' sounded more practical and realistic than ‘gastronomy'', and it was better suited to describing our work (Cassi, 2004). In the following years, the term was unexpectedly successful, and people began to use it to describe any type of cuisine arising from collaborations between chefs and scientists. It goes without saying that each of the chef–scientist pairs mentioned above produced different types of cuisine. To more accurately define our style, we therefore decided to call it “Italian molecular cuisine”, and we published the Manifesto of Italian Molecular Cuisine (Cassi & Bocchia, 2005a,b; Sidebar A).

Sidebar A | The manifesto of Italian molecular cuisine

Italian molecular cuisine aims to develop new techniques for cooking and to create new dishes, remaining firmly loyal to the following principles.

1. Every innovation must expand, not destroy, the Italian gastronomic tradition.
2. The new techniques and the new dishes must enhance the natural ingredients and the high-quality raw materials.
3. It will be a cuisine attentive to the nutritional values of food and to the well-being of those who eat it, not only to aesthetic and sensory aspects.
4. It must meet its goals by creating new textures with ingredients chosen according to the above criteria. It will create new textures by studying the physical and chemical properties of the ingredients and planning, from these, new microscopic architectures.

These first examples of collaborations seemed to fulfil the third point of the goals of the Erice meeting—to apply new methods and ingredients to improve the quality of food and create new dishes—but eventually they also fulfilled the final point: to bring food processing techniques to domestic and restaurant kitchens. From 2003 to 2005, the European Union funded a project called INICON (Introduction of Innovative Technologies in Modern Gastronomy for Modernisation of Cooking), which helped to transfer ingredients and techniques from industrial food technology to restaurant kitchens. The most relevant result of this project was the introduction and popularization of food additives—mainly texturizers—to the haute-cuisine world and ordinary restaurants. It also created the first problems for molecular cuisine; as the greatest chefs used these additives in a creative way, an increasing number of other cooks misused them, simply for special effects.Soon, the media associated molecular cuisine with food additives, making no distinction between the great chefs and their bad imitators. As a consequence, many top chefs dissociated themselves from molecular gastronomy and molecular cuisine. At the end of 2006, Ferran Adrià, Heston Blumenthal and Thomas Keller, together with Harold McGee, published a statement on the ‘new cookery'': “The fashionable term ‘molecular gastronomy'' was introduced relatively recently, in 1992, to name a particular academic workshop for scientists and chefs on the basic food chemistry of traditional dishes. That workshop did not influence our approach, and the term ‘molecular gastronomy'' does not describe our cooking, or indeed any style of cooking” (Adrià et al, 2006).…the media associated molecular cuisine with food additives, making no distinction between the great chefs and their bad imitatorsSoon after came the first attacks on molecular cuisine, on the basis of allegations that additives dangerous to health were being used. In 2008, the Spanish chef Santi Santamaria published a book called La Cocina al Desnudo (‘The Bare Kitchen''; Santamaria, 2008) and, in 2009, the German journalist Jörg Zipprick published, in Spain, an even more explicit book, the translated title of which is I Don''t Want to Go Back to the Restaurant! How the Molecular Cuisine Serves us Wallpaper Paste and Fire Extinguisher Powder (Zipprick, 2009). In the same year, a satirical Italian television programme started an aggressive campaign against molecular cuisine and the use of additives in restaurants, which even prompted the health ministry to issue an order restricting their use. Although all the additives used in restaurants are authorized by the European Union for human consumption and are no different to the additives we eat every day in industrial products, those campaigns had a great effect on public opinion, and many people became aware of molecular cuisine only through these attacks.The round table discussion in Madrid in 2009 was organized to discuss this situation. The participants—myself, Ferran Adrià, Heston Blumenthal, Andoni Luis Aduriz and Harold McGee—agreed on two basic points: the term ‘molecular cuisine'' does not indicate a specific style of cooking, as the chefs labelled as ‘molecular'' have very different styles; and the role of science in cooking is usually limited to the development of a new technique or a new recipe and there is very little ‘science'' in the final preparation of a dish. In other words, one can learn a new technique that is the result of scientific experimentation and apply it without knowing the science, just as we can use a computer without knowing anything about the electronics inside. It is therefore necessary to distinguish between the scientific phase—or ‘scientific cooking'', in which we explore new techniques and dishes—and the practical phase, in which we realize that dish in a kitchen.It is undeniable that during the past decade, a scientific approach to cooking has produced a huge number of new techniques and recipes—more than in any other period of history—and introduced new ingredients and devices. These techniques and dishes are what the media and commentators on the internet commonly call ‘molecular cuisine''.It is undeniable that during the past decade, a scientific approach to cooking has produced a huge number of new techniques and recipes—more than in any other period of history…Many of these inventions are probably short-lived fads, but it is certain that many others will come to be commonly used in restaurants and in home kitchens, and become part of the culinary tradition. In fact, culinary tradition is not a fixed and unchanging list of old recipes, it is a structured set of ingredients, dishes, techniques and rituals, united by a common spirit, that evolves continuously to adapt to present needs.During the past few decades, it has become apparent that we need to change our diet for several reasons. First, our lifestyles have dramatically and rapidly changed, but our diet has not. Second, scientific inquiries and epidemiological data have shown that some elements of our diet—notably fats and carbohydrates—should be reduced, whereas other should be consumed in larger amounts, to meet nutritional requirements. In addition, new ingredients have become available and others are now more difficult to find in markets and supermarkets. Lastly, our tastes and our way of viewing food are changing continuously. All this takes place at an increasing rate, fostered by the greater ease of international travel and the fast dissemination of information through the media and the internet.…culinary tradition is not a fixed and unchanging list of old recipes…To better understand the need for change and adaptation with regard to food and the role that science can play, it is illuminating to consider what Auguste Escoffier, the father of modern French cuisine, wrote more than a century ago: “If everything is changing, it would be absurd to claim to fix the destiny of an art based, in many respects, on fashion, and as unstable as it. If taste is becoming more refined, the culinary art too has to conform to it. To contrast the effects of modern super activity, cooking will become more scientific and precise” (Escoffier, 1903).Even if it is impossible to determine which innovations will become an integral part of culinary tradition, we can make some predictions. The relationship between the world of haute cuisine—in which most innovations have been developed—and that of common cooking, is similar to the relationship between Formula 1 racing and the consumer car market; inventions only enter into common use if they meet certain basic requirements. Specifically, they have to be sufficiently simple to use, widely applicable, easily available and affordable, and in line with the main trends of the consumer market. Of course, trends tend to change and evolve over time, but general trends have a much longer lifespan than mere fashions. For several years, these trends have been a nutritional-dietetic trend (food for health), a natural-biological trend (no ‘chemistry'', no synthetic ingredients), and an aesthetic trend. Taking into account these requirements, we can now discuss the main innovations introduced by molecular cuisine, and evaluate which ones are most likely to survive.Texturizers are generally easy to use and allow the chef to, for example, simply and quickly transform a liquid into a gel or foamInnovations can be broadly grouped into three classes: ingredients, tools and devices, and processing techniques, even with usual ingredients. New ingredients are generally food additives—which is the main focus of the criticism levelled at molecular cuisine. However, the definition of a food additive is not scientific, but legal: the European Union defines these as any substance not normally consumed as a food in itself—even if it has nutritional value—and not normally used as a characteristic ingredient in food, but which is added for a technological purpose in the manufacture, processing, preparation, treatment or packaging. This definition also does not say anything about the origin or possible health risks of these substances, which can be very different from each other.These new ingredients are mostly texturizers—that is, substances that give food a desired texture—and they are usually sold as powders. It is not difficult to understand the reason for their success among cooks. To add taste, flavour or colour to a dish, we just add a pinch of a powder or a few drops of a liquid. Creating textures is considerably more complex: texture depends on the microscopic arrangement of molecules, and altering it can require both the addition of ingredients and the use of specific procedures. Texturizers are generally easy to use and allow the chef to, for example, simply and quickly transform a liquid into a gel or foam. The main categories of texturisers used in molecular cuisine are gelling agents, emulsifiers and thickeners. If they are used well, chefs can obtain results that are not possible with traditional ingredients (Sidebars B, C).

Sidebar B | Guggenheim Bilbao (Quique Dacosta)

Ingredients (serves 4)Shellfish stock400 g cockles200 g barnacles25 g shallots3 oystersHalf a clove of garlic with skin1 l mineral water25 g aloe veraBase of the plate0.5 dl shellfish stock0.3 g agar2 drops lemon juice0.2 g silver powder2 ml aloe vera juiceSilver and titanium veil100 g shellfish stock0.7 g agar2 g gelatine5 ml centrifuged aloe vera juice0.2 g silver powder0.2 ml liquid titaniumSilver and aloe vera sheet200 g shellfish stock35 g tapioca1 g silver powder35 g aloe veraOysters4 large oystersJuniper emberPreparationShellfish stock. Clean all ingredients, cover with water and bring to the boil. Skim and simmer for 1 h over a low heat, without boiling. Let the stock stand for 2 h, then strain.Base of the plate. Boil the shellfish stock with agar, then add the juice of centrifuged aloe vera, cool to 40 °C and add the silver powder with the lemon juice. Pour 12 g of this preparation on to the bottom of the plate and let it solidify.Silver and titanium veil. Boil the shellfish stock with agar and gelatine. Remove from the heat and let it cool to 40 °C, then add silver and titanium. Pour it into a pan, to form a 1 mm-thick layer. Let it stand until a gel forms that can be handled and heated under the grill.Silver and aloe vera sheet. Bring the stock to the boil, add tapioca and aloe vera juice and cook for 15 min. Blend, strain and add the silver, stirring with a whip to get a thick paste. Roll it up on a sheet of parchment paper. Bake at 60 °C and let it dry until you get a crispy, thin and brittle layer.Oysters. Shuck the oysters and heat them on the grill for 30 s, using juniper ember to flavour them.Final preparationArrange the heated oysters on the plate, cover with the veil, heat under the grill for 30 s, let thicken and decorate with the silver and aloe vera sheet (Meldolesi & Noto, 2006).​).

Sidebar C | Encapsulated olive oil with virtual Iberian bacon (Ferran Adrià)

Ingredients (serves 4)For the solution of sodium alginate0.5 l water3 g sodium alginateFor the solution of calcium chloridel 1 water10 g calcium chlorideFor the olive oil capsules500 g solution of sodium alginate1 kg solution of calcium chloride60 g olive oilFor the ham consommé250 g scraps of Iberian ham0.5 l waterFor the melted ham fat100 g Iberian ham fatFor the hot ham jelly2.5 dl Iberian ham broth4.5 g agarMaldon salt to tastePreparationFor the solution of sodium alginate. Mix water and sodium alginate in a blender until sodium alginate is completely dissolved and store in refrigerator for 24 h.For the solution of calcium chloride. Dissolve the calcium chloride in water and set aside.For the olive oil capsules. Encapsulate the olive oil with an encapsulator, producing spherical capsules of 4 mm diameter. Prepare 15 g of capsules per person and store in refrigerator.For the ham consommé. Cut the ham into small pieces and cover with water. Boil over medium heat for 15 min, skimming constantly. Filter and degrease the broth.For the melted ham fat. Remove the lean part from the ham fat. Cook on a low heat for 20 min. Pour and store the liquid fat.For the hot ham jelly. Dilute the agar in the ham consommé at room temperature and bring to the boil, stirring with a whisk. Remove from the heat and skim. Pour the gelatine on a flat plate and roll it up to get the sheets 1 mm thick. Let it solidify in the fridge for 2 h.Final preparationMelt the fat of Iberian ham and brush the sheets of jelly with the consommé. Place 15 g of oil capsules on the bases of four oval gold tray and sprinkle with Maldon salt. Heat the jelly under the grill and place 8 pieces of gelatine of approximately 2.5 cm above the capsules, to simulate the appearance of bacon. Heat under the grill and serve (Meldolesi & Noto, 2006).​).Until a few years ago, the only gelling agents used in the kitchen were gelatine and pectin for jams. Gelatine produces pleasant gels such as aspic, but it melts at 35 °C and therefore does not allow the creation of hot gels. When Ferran Adrià realized that agar, a common ingredient in the Far East, melts at 85 °C, he began to use it for a new class of preparations that were unusual for Western cuisine. Since then, other gelling agents with specific properties have been introduced into the kitchen: the most popular ones are carrageenans, gellan gum, methylcellulose and sodium alginate. The latter two enabled the creation of very original dishes. Methylcellulose behaves oppositely to gelatine: at temperatures above 55 °C it forms a firm gel that melts as it cools. It is used to prepare so-called ‘hot ice cream''. Sodium alginate polymerizes into a gel in aqueous solutions that contain calcium ions: one calcium ion replaces two sodium ions and links two polymer chains together. Adrià uses it in a peculiar technique called spherification: sodium alginate is added to a liquid, which is dropped into an aqueous solution of calcium chloride. The alginate at the surface of the droplet becomes a gel and forms a thin film around the liquid inside.The most widely used emulsifier is soy lecithin. It is useful not only for creating a variety of sauces based on fat-in-water emulsions, but also for producing extremely soft foams called ‘airs''. The latter contain a small amount of liquid with respect to their air content, have a pleasing appearance and are particularly suitable for diluting aromas and flavours to distribute them evenly in a dish. However, soy lecithin is not suitable for water-in-fat emulsions and air-in-oil foams; for this kind of preparation mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids are commonly used.…science can help us to think of new ways to transform food, even in traditional contextsThickeners—substances that increase the viscosity of sauces and, more generally, of liquids—are already widely used in traditional cooking, most commonly flours and starches. However, large amounts of these traditional thickeners are usually required, which is a problem from the gastronomic point of view, because they dilute tastes and flavours. Cooks have therefore started to use xanthan gum, which produces a significant thickening effect, even in small amounts.All of these new ingredients are generally not too expensive and could become popular in household kitchens, despite attacks in the media against food additives. The biggest problem probably relates to methylcellulose, which is a synthetic compound and not a natural substance. At present, most of these additives can only be purchased at specialty retailers—with the exception of soy lecithin, which is sold in supermarkets in Italy—and this does not help their dissemination. In addition, they are not part of traditional food culture and people do not know how to use them. It is likely that their use will become more common when a sufficient number of recipes are published by trusted chefs, or a sufficient number of dishes that make use of them are prepared on television cooking programmes.Turning to new tools and devices, it is important to consider those that have wider applications. A good example of science applied to cooking is the microwave oven, which can now be found in nearly every kitchen. It also demonstrates the point that most people only invest in equipment that they will use regularly. If we limit ourselves to considering devices that might be used often, the most interesting new techniques are sous-vide cooking and ultra-rapid cooling in liquid nitrogen. The former was first used in France in 1974 by Georges Pralus, but only began to spread to restaurant kitchens in the 1990s. It involves cooking food—usually meat, poultry and fish—in vacuum-sealed plastic bags that are immersed in a water bath for long periods of time. The temperature is accurately maintained and is usually much lower than 100 °C—typical cooking temperatures for sous-vide range between 50 and 70 °C—and the cooking time can extend to three days. The vacuum-sealed bags are mainly used to prevent oxidation and exchange of matter between food and water, but the key point of this technique is temperature control, which makes it possible to produce a variety of textures and flavours.The main reason for the slow uptake of this technique apart from in restaurants has been cost: the price of the most popular digital thermostat with thermal immersion circulator exceeds €1,500. However, one year ago a water oven was launched that costs only €600, and Heston Blumenthal announced a sous-vide cooking device for €300. At this point, it is easy to imagine that sous-vide cooking will arrive in home kitchens in the coming years, as the microwave did years ago.Becoming more experienced, the interested cook can develop new custom dishes by applying the techniques that he or she has learned, or more general scientific principlesThe second technique uses liquid nitrogen to cool food at a speed that is impossible by any other method. It allows not only deep-freezing of food at home—even just-cooked food, preserving all its flavours—but also new textures and dishes to be produced. Ultra-rapid cooling of a liquid below its solidification temperature generally produces many small crystals rather than a few big crystals, but it can also give rise to glassy structures with peculiar mechanical and thermal properties. Without going into more detail, by using liquid nitrogen cooks can make a smooth ice cream from almost any liquid—fruit juice, wine or beer, a cup of coffee or soup—without the use of additives such as thickeners or emulsifiers.The main problems for the uptake of this technique are the availability and price of Dewar containers for storing liquid nitrogen—these usually cost a few hundred Euros. However, no special tools are required to use liquid nitrogen in a home kitchen, and these problems could be solved by selling it in small quantities, which can be stored for a day in a common metal thermos flask.Several other interesting devices have been introduced in top restaurants, such as vacuum-pressure cookers, rotary evaporators and lyophilizers. However, their prices make them unaffordable for most restaurants and even more so for home users. Nevertheless, some small manufacturers have begun to successfully market food that has been processed with these devices, thereby increasing the availability of new ingredients.In any case, it is not necessary to use new ingredients or new tools and devices to create new foods. We can invent new processing techniques for normal ingredients using normal tools and devices. This is one of the distinguishing features of the Italian approach to molecular cuisine. Indeed, science can help us to think of new ways to transform food, even in traditional contexts.In 2002, I was looking for ‘frying'' methods that do not use fats. I needed a liquid that could be heated to temperatures high enough to generate Maillard reactions without evaporating or burning. The solution was molten glucose: glucose powder that is molten in a pot on fire. It conducts heat and retains flavours better than oil, and the results were excellent, from a gastronomic point of view.Other good examples of new foods are the egg curd and marinated egg-yolk, which are created by using room-temperature techniques to denature and coagulate the egg proteins. For the former, we pour alcohol on the egg, stir and then wash the curd in cold water and wring it in cheesecloth. The second method, introduced by the Italian chef Carlo Cracco, denatures and coagulates the egg-yolk proteins in a mixture of salt, sugar and dry bean puree.Another product in line with the Italian tradition is the legume-flour pasta that I introduced in 2007 with the chef Fulvio Pierangelini. The gluten-free legume flour is cooked for several hours at 90 °C in a dry oven and, once cooled, it is mixed with water and kneaded. The heat denatures the legume proteins, thereby facilitating the formation of bonds between them in the presence of water during kneading. This gives rise to a network structure without gluten. Subsequent cooking in boiling water reinforces the network and produces a unique al dente texture.Moreover, it could encourage people to spend more time preparing and enjoying their food and, hopefully, adopt a healthier diet along the wayFor obvious reasons, this type of innovation is the easiest to disseminate and it can be done in the home kitchen with common ingredients and tools. Anyone who is intrigued by this novel dish might then ask about its basis and might be stimulated to learn more about the underlying science. Becoming more experienced, the interested cook can develop new custom dishes by applying the techniques that he or she has learned, or more general scientific principles. He or she can, for example, produce emulsified sauces without cholesterol, by using egg white or soy lecithin instead of egg yolk. He or she can also invent vegetarian versions of prawn crackers, by frying retrograded starch gels.All of this is useful for both the popularization of science and the creation of new foods. It also enables the creation of a new cooking culture, in which the consumer is able to adapt cooking processes to his or her dietary needs and taste. Moreover, it could encourage people to spend more time preparing and enjoying their food and, hopefully, adopt a healthier diet along the way. The application of science to cooking has another dimension: as scientists increasingly analyse what we eat, why we prefer certain foods and what we should eat to be healthier, it is therefore logical that science should also investigate and help us to improve the ways in which we prepare our food—not just for the culinary pleasure of haute cuisine, but for everyone who enjoys cooking.? Open in a separate windowPhoto by Bob Noto, from the book Grandi chef di SpagnaOpen in a separate windowPhoto by Bob Noto, from the book Grandi chef di SpagnaOpen in a separate windowDavide Cassi

Science & Society Series on Food and Science

This article is part of the EMBO reports Science & Society series on ‘food and science'' to highlight the role of natural and social sciences in understanding our relationship with food. We hope that the series serves a delightful menu of interesting articles for our readers.     

Lap Shear and Impact Testing of Ochre and Beeswax in Experimental Middle Stone Age Compound Adhesives

The production of compound adhesives using disparate ingredients is seen as some of the best evidence of advanced cognition outside of the use of symbolism. Previous field and laboratory testing of adhesives has shown the complexities involved in creating an effective Middle Stone Age glue using Acacia gum. However, it is currently unclear how efficient different adhesive recipes are, how much specific ingredients influence their performance, and how difficult it may have been for those ingredients to be combined to maximum effect. We conducted a series of laboratory-based lap shear and impact tests, following modern adhesion testing standards, to determine the efficacy of compound adhesives, with particular regard to the ingredient ratios. We tested rosin (colophony) and gum adhesives, containing additives of beeswax and ochre in varying ratios. During both lap shear and impact tests compound rosin adhesives performed better than single component rosin adhesives, and pure acacia gum was the strongest. The large difference in performance between each base adhesive and the significant changes in performance that occur due to relatively small changes in ingredient ratios lend further support to the notion that high levels of skill and knowledge were required to consistently produce the most effective adhesives.     

Synonymous codon ordering: a subtle but prevalent strategy of bacteria to improve translational efficiency

Background

In yeast coding sequences, once a particular codon has been used, subsequent occurrence of the same amino acid tends to use codons sharing the same tRNA. Such a phenomenon of co-tRNA codons pairing bias (CTCPB) is also found in some other eukaryotes but it is not known whether it occurs in prokaryotes.

Methodology/Principal Findings

In this study, we focused on a total of 773 bacterial genomes to investigate their synonymous codon pairing preferences. After calculating the actual frequencies of synonymous codon pairs and comparing them with their expected values, we detected an obvious pairing bias towards identical codon pairs. This seems consistent with the previously reported CTCPB phenomenon, since identical codons are certainly read by the same tRNA. However, among co-tRNA but non-identical codon pairs, only 22 were often found overrepresented, suggesting that many co-tRNA codons actually do not preferentially pair together in prokaryotes. Therefore, the previously reported co-tRNA codons pairing rule needs to be more rigorously defined. The affinity differences between a tRNA anticodon and its readable codons should be taken into account. Moreover, both within-gene-shuffling tests and phylogenetic analyses support the idea that translational selection played an important role in shaping the observed synonymous codon pairing pattern in prokaryotes.

Conclusions

Overall, a high level of synonymous codon pairing bias was detected in 73% investigated bacterial species, suggesting the synonymous codon ordering strategy has been prevalently adopted by prokaryotes to improve their translational efficiencies. The findings in this study also provide important clues to better understand the complex dynamics of translational process.     

Consumers' hedonic liking of different labeled and conventional food products in Slovenia

In recent years, like others in Europe, the Slovenian government has introduced national and European quality schemes and launched a campaign to inform consumers and boost demand for local products. Very few studies consider consumers' hedonic liking of different food products labeled with Protected Designation of Origin (PDO)/Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) indications. This study therefore aims to fill this research gap and identify whether information affects the hedonic liking of various typical Slovenian PDO/PGI‐labeled products compared to their alternative conventional food products, whether Slovenian consumers like different typical Slovenian PDO/PGI‐labeled food products relative to their conventional food products, and which food products they sensorically prefer. The study findings show consumer hedonic liking is identical for all PDO/PGI‐labeled regional products, yet their sensory preferences reveal some significant differences between the analyzed products by age, gender, and education. Accordingly, studies should employ different sensory analyses for different food products and not generalized consumer hedonic liking/preference based on just one food product.

Practical applications

The finding that consumers do not hold hedonic preferences for either PDO/PGI‐labeled or conventional products when both informed and blind has significant implications for the Slovenian government, the marketers of labeled products and consumer policy aiming to promote better labeled products. For transition countries like Slovenia that have recently introduced food products labeling meeting EU standard but have a relatively small food industry based on local ingredients, traditional recipes, and production methods, our findings reveal the need to extend and intensify promotion and communication activities that highlight the guaranteed quality and use of local ingredients to boost consumers' preferences for PDO/PGI‐labeled products like cheese, ham, and honey.     

Changes in Bacterial and Fungal Communities across Compost Recipes,Preparation Methods,and Composting Times

Compost production is a critical component of organic waste handling, and compost applications to soil are increasingly important to crop production. However, we know surprisingly little about the microbial communities involved in the composting process and the factors shaping compost microbial dynamics. Here, we used high-throughput sequencing approaches to assess the diversity and composition of both bacterial and fungal communities in compost produced at a commercial-scale. Bacterial and fungal communities responded to both compost recipe and composting method. Specifically, bacterial communities in manure and hay recipes contained greater relative abundances of Firmicutes than hardwood recipes with hay recipes containing relatively more Actinobacteria and Gemmatimonadetes. In contrast, hardwood recipes contained a large relative abundance of Acidobacteria and Chloroflexi. Fungal communities of compost from a mixture of dairy manure and silage-based bedding were distinguished by a greater relative abundance of Pezizomycetes and Microascales. Hay recipes uniquely contained abundant Epicoccum, Thermomyces, Eurotium, Arthrobotrys, and Myriococcum. Hardwood recipes contained relatively abundant Sordariomycetes. Holding recipe constant, there were significantly different bacterial and fungal communities when the composting process was managed by windrow, aerated static pile, or vermicompost. Temporal dynamics of the composting process followed known patterns of degradative succession in herbivore manure. The initial community was dominated by Phycomycetes, followed by Ascomycota and finally Basidiomycota. Zygomycota were associated more with manure-silage and hay than hardwood composts. Most commercial composters focus on the thermophilic phase as an economic means to insure sanitation of compost from pathogens. However, the community succeeding the thermophilic phase begs further investigation to determine how the microbial dynamics observed here can be best managed to generate compost with the desired properties.     

Design and analysis of multiple choice feeding preference data

Traditional analyses of feeding experiments that test consumer preference for an array of foods suffer from several defects. We have modified the experimental design to incorporate into a multivariate analysis the variance due to autogenic change in control replicates. Our design allows the multiple foods to be physically paired with their control counterparts. This physical proximity of the multiple food choices in control/experimental pairs ensures that the variance attributable to external environmental factors jointly affects all combinations within each replicate. Our variance term, therefore, is not a contrived estimate as is the case for the random pairing strategy proposed by previous studies. The statistical analysis then proceeds using standard multivariate statistical tests. We conducted a multiple choice feeding experiment using our experimental design and utilized a Monte Carlo analysis to compare our results with those obtained from an experimental design that employed the random pairing strategy. Our experimental design allowed detection of moderate differences among feeding means when the random design did not.     

From Disgust to Desire: Changing Attitudes toward Beringian Mushrooms

From Disgust to Desire: Changing Attitudes toward Beringian Mushrooms. Separated by national borders and the International Dateline, the native communities inhabiting the Bering Strait regions of Russia and Alaska share a common natural environment, myriad cultural similarities, and long-standing social ties. Their subsistence diets also are similar, except that wild mushrooms are revered on the Russian side of the Bering Strait (Chukotka) and are feared and avoided in Alaska. This paper explores the origins of this dietary difference and probes the social dimensions of food and cuisine with respect to the culinary utilization of wild mushrooms.     

Why vegetable recipes are not very spicy

Spices are aromatic plant materials that are used in cooking. Recently it was hypothesized that spice use yields a health benefit: cleansing food of parasites and pathogens before it is eaten, thereby reducing food poisoning and foodborne illnesses. In support, most spices have antimicrobial properties and use of spices in meat-based recipes is greatest in hot climates, where the diversity and growth rates of microorganisms are highest. A critical prediction of the antimicrobial hypothesis is that spices should be used less in preparing vegetables than meat dishes. This is because cells of dead plants are better protected physically and chemically against bacteria and fungi than cells of dead animals (whose immune system ceased functioning at death), so fewer spices would be necessary to make vegetables safe for consumption. We tested this corollary by compiling information on 2129 vegetable-only recipes from 107 traditional cookbooks of 36 countries. Analyses revealed that spice use increased with increasing ambient temperature, but less dramatically than in meat-based recipes. In all 36 countries, vegetable dishes called for fewer spices per recipe than meat dishes; 27 of these differences were significant. Of 41 individual spices, 38 were used less frequently in vegetable recipes; 30 of these differences were significant. Proportions of recipes that called for >1 spice and >1 extremely potent antimicrobial spice also were significantly lower for vegetable dishes. By every measure, vegetable-based recipes were significantly less spicy than meat-based recipes. Within-country analyses control for possible differences in spice plant availability and degrees of cultural independence. Results thus strongly support the antimicrobial hypothesis.     

The nutritional value of holothurians

In the current decade, holothurians are becoming more popular among researchers due to the recently obtained data about the chemical structures and physiological activities of bioactive ingredients that are extracted from these marine invertebrates. In Southeast Asia, Japan, Korea, and China, the use of these animals as a valuable food product and an object of traditional folk medicine has had a long history. At the same time, in western countries, as well as in Russia, products from sea cucumbers are little known and are often considered as an exotic oriental cuisine. This paper provides an analytical review of the literature that is dedicated to the nutritional value of holothurians as a potential source of components for functional food and nutraceuticals.