Cooking with Brains

by Mark R. Vogel

This afternoon my friend Scott dropped by for a visit. I was busy preparing a creamy spinach soup and soon we were engrossed in comfort food and stimulating conversation. Scott is a thinker on an illimitable quest for knowledge.

He never ceases to be fascinated by the nature of things. Although cooking is by no means one of his passions, he queried me on such issues as the composition of evaporated milk, if microwave heating can cause cream based sauces to break, and why egg whites whip to a greater volume in copper bowls. All of this in turn, got me thinking.

The increased interest in food and cooking over the last couple decades has spawned a corollary fascination with food science. Some people not only want to know the hows, they want to know the whys.

Humans are curious by nature and most of us need to know the underlying reason for phenomena. Why are older eggs better for hard-boiling? Why do severed apples, pears, and artichokes turn brown when exposed to air? Why can't you cook acidic foods in aluminum pans? Why are custards cooked in a water bath?

In order to cook something properly you don't have to know the why, if you've got the how down pat. For example, you may not know that when an alkaline substance and an acid are combined, the byproduct is carbon dioxide, a leavening agent.

Yet ignorance of this fact will not prevent your biscuits from rising, assuming you added the proper amounts of buttermilk and baking soda to the batter. Some individuals don't care about the why as long as the end result is successful.

But, (you know by now there's always a but coming with me right?), knowledge of food science can make you a better cook. If you are simply mechanistically following a recipe you should be OK.

But what if you are called upon to improvise, are supplied a shoddy recipe, or are forced to make something unfamiliar from scratch? Then my dear friends, you will need a deeper understanding of the products and processes at hand. Here are some examples how, or should I say, why?

IMPROVISING

Your friends are arriving soon for an afternoon of burgers, beers, and reposing in the sun. You decide to make your tried and true onion rings to accompany the burgers.