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Modernist Cuisine: A Multisensory Experience. Hayden Hall Art & Organism, Spring 2014 University of T ennessee-Knoxville Senior in BCMB .
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Modernist Cuisine: A Multisensory Experience Hayden Hall Art & Organism, Spring 2014 University of Tennessee-Knoxville Senior in BCMB
Could you imagine people eating a painting— if they could introduce a painting into their bodies? It's probably the artist's dream, and we have the opportunity to do so. - Ferran Adriá
Key Terms • FLAVOR: the combination of smell through the nose, and taste and texture through the mouth • MODERNIST CUISINE: a shift in gastronomy starting in the late 1980s toward a more aesthetic experience and new techniques
DEEP Analysis • DEVELOPMENT- How does flavor perception change over an individual’s lifetime? • ECOLOGY- How does the environment and past experiences change flavor? • EVOLUTION- How does this flavor perception increase our biological fitness • PHYSIOLOGY- How is flavor perceived and how does that change one’s behavior?
PHYSIOLOGY • Basic reason for food is to satisfy the physiological need for nourishment • FLAVOR = TASTE + AROMA + TEXTURE • Flavor input and detection: • Taste: chemoreceptors on gustatory receptors cell on the tongue • Aroma: olfactory receptors of the nose • Texture/temperature: chemesthesis, or chemical and nerve stimulation in the tongue
Taste • Five different detections of taste: • Sweet, Sour, Salty, Bitter, Umami (savory) • Historical “tongue map” is loose association at best • Sent to brainstem through facial and Glossopharyngeal nerves of the tongue and Vagus nerve of the epiglottis
Aroma • Over 10,000 different aromas are detectable by the human olfactory system • Olfaction is only human sense that connects directly to forebrain
Texture • Temperature • Acidicity/alkalinity • Touch • Pain/sharpness
DEVELOPMENT • You are what you eat! (And your mother) • Food preferences can be affected in utero as well as through breast milk • Possibly connected to food allergies • Flavor preferences as a young child extend throughout lifetime • Sense of taste decreases as we age, due to decrease in gustatory receptors
ECOLOGY • Because food and dining is a multisensory experience, it is greatly affected by environment • Abiotic: temperature, sounds/music, lighting, seating arrangement, decor • Biotic: the food itself, the staff
EVOLUTION • We may prefer sweet taste due to its connection on energy-rich sugars • Bitter is the most sensitive taste • Possibly to detect poisons • “Supertasters” – those who are more sensitive to flavor • Women have a heightened sense of taste • Possibly due to role as gatherers
MOLECULAR GASTRONOMY • Study of the scientific properties of food and ways to manipulate those properties using new technology • Hervé This, a French chemist, started the scientific molecular gastronomy movement • This outlined the areas of study in molecular gastronomy: • Social phenomenon linked to cuisine • Artistic aspects linked to cuisine • Technical aspect linked to cuisine
Ferran Adriá • Spanish chef of the famous El Bulli • Started as a dishwasher • Not classically trained • Was practicing molecular gastronomy before it even had a name • Focus on “deconstruction” of food • “Cookbooks” about process of creating a concept • “Technoemotional” cuisine
Adriá on deconstructionin elBulli 1994-1997: “It consists of taking a gastronomic reference that is already known, embodied in a dish, and transforming all or some of its ingredients by modifying its texture, shape, and/or temperature. This deconstructed dish will keep its essence and will still be linked to a culinary tradition, but its appearance will be radically different.”
Heston Blumenthal • Chef at the British restaurant, The Fat Duck • Self-taught • Runs his own developmental kitchen • Hundreds of videos on the science behind cooking • Huge supporter of sous vide cooking technique
Blumenthal on Creating a Dish “Development is where my heart is focused because eating is the only thing that we do that involves all the senses. We eat with our eyes and our ears and our noses.”
Blumenthal on Using Memories “You think about some of the most memorable meals you've ever had; the food will be good but it will often be about locating a mental memory and taste is inexorably linked to all the other senses and memory, so ultimately it is all about taste.”
Modernist Cuisine as Art • Unity: modernist cuisine transforms old memories to create new ones • Variety: modernist cuisine emphasized the multisensory experience • Contrast: expectation of one flavor then sensing another
Resources Acknowledgments References "El Bulli Restaurant." El BulliRestaurant. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2014. Greenberg, Neil. "A&O - General Overview." A&O - General Overview. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2014. Myhrvold, Nathan, Chris Young, MaximeBilet, and Ryan Matthew. Smith. Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking. Bellevue, WA: Cooking Lab, 2011. Print. College of Arts and Sciences BCMB Department Dr. Neil Greenberg Jeffery DeAlejandro