21st century eggs, bacon, chips and beans

Chris Heathcoteinteresting2007

Hello.I like food.A lot.I want to make things taste better.Some of this involves some chemistry.

(Western) foodWe’ve conquered pretty

much every taste from around the world.

We’ve pushed current techniques, textures and combinations as far as possible.

How can we make things taste more of themselves?

DeconstructionWe can deconstruct ingredients

into flavours and textures.Memories.Some ingredients are about the

idea or preparations behind it.

ReconstructionThen we can put them together in new

combinations.Food = taste + texture + presentation.

An example

EBCB

My notes.

EggsEggs are difficult.Hard to amplify the flavour, often used

for texture changes.(if anything, an egg yolk sauce).But what about the idea of an egg?

Deconstructing eggsYolk, white, shell.Raw, whipped whites, meringue,

boiled, fried, poached, scrambled, omelette.

Cyberegg

El Bulli

WD50

BaconBacon: Fat, protein.Fried.

BaconBacon powder, bacon

jelly, bacon grease, bacon jam, bacon toast, bacon leather, bacon air, bacon crisp.

PowdersFat + maltodextrin.Ground crispy bacon.

ChipsTaste: potato, fat. Texture: crispy/fluffy.

PotatoPotato bread, pommes puree, potato crisp,

fried potato slice, mash, potato foam.

FoamsDairy + liquid + Nitrous oxide = foam.

Beans

Beans meanz Heinz.(I don’t really like beans).Where is the taste? Mainly in the

juice. (it tastes of tomato soup).

SpherificationInvented by the

food processing industry.

Discovered by Ferran Adria.

Calcium salt + sodium alginate = jelly.

Inverse spherificationFlavoured liquid + calcium

gluconate and calcium lactate + xanthan gum.

Bath of water + sodium alginate + sodium citrate.

“Poach”.

Reconstructed EBCBPotato “white” + baked bean “yolk”.Bacon “salt and pepper”.

Forkbot & thanksMe: chris@anti-mega.comFood: forkbot.org (soon, soon)Chemicals: texturas.com,

infusions4chefs.co.ukBooks:

El Bulli cookbooks, Ferran Adria et al

Egg, Lyndsay & Patrick Mikanowski

Websites:Hungry in HogtownEgulletIdeas in Food