Experimental Cuisine Collective

Resource Review

Description

Launched in 2007 by Kent Kirshenbaum (Chemistry) and Amy Bentley (Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health) of New York University and Chef Will Goldfarb (of WillPowder), the Experimental Cuisine Collective includes scientists, chefs, writers, performance artists and food enthusiasts. Its stated aim is "to develop a broad-based and rigorous academic approach that employs techniques and approaches from both the humanities and sciences to examine the properties, boundaries and conventions of food".

Curriculum / Qualifications links

This site would be useful for Science and Technology teachers – Food Technology teachers in particular would find it helpful in discussing the Technological Knowledge and Nature of Technology strands in The Technology Curriculum (2007) with their students. (And teachers of Portuguese or French could use the Gastronomy Lab or Hervé This links as reading practice for their students.)

Content

Content on the site includes:

Latest News
In the Media – articles such as Time magazine's Kitchen Chemistry
Resources – Books and articles
Articles & Videos –links to relevant information on other websites:

Curious Cook – tests, for example, whether cold or hot brewed iced coffee/tea gives a better flavour
Future Food – Planet Green videos (1-4 minutes) e.g. Making apple pie from apple peel/cores
Khymos – discusses molecular gastronomy
Modernist Cuisine – about the six-volume cookbook
Kitchen Alchemy, from Popular Science,has articles such as:

The Anatomy of a Marshmallow
Making Vinegar at Home
Cooking green vegetables sous vide
How to Make Quick Pickles
Chocolate Chip Science
Blowing up Cheese with Nitrous Oxide
Pectin: Not Just for Jelly
Cooking under Pressure

Polyscience – video on the Sous Vide Professional cooking system

Chefs and Restaurants
Food Culture Resources – New York University Food Studies Department
Science Resources
Organisations
Techniques
EEC Founders

Ease of use

The site is reasonably straightforward to use although some section titles are a little obscure, and because much of the content comes from other websites there isn't a standard format for finding information.

Rating

Although, with its focus on scientists and chefs, the U.S.-based Experimental Cuisine Collective doesn't specifically mention food technologists, the content of the site links directly with Food Technology in our schools. Teachers of senior students could direct them to articles which show the science behind some of the foods we make, techniques such as freeze-drying food or thawing frozen meat quickly, and explanations for the processes used in the recipes, such as how lining a marshmallow mould with cornflour helps it set quickly, makes it easier to handle and increases its shelf life.