Science of Cooking

The application of scientific knowledge to cooking and gastronomy has become known as molecular gastronomy. This is a sub-discipline of food science. Important contributions have been made by scientists, chefs and authors such as Herve This (chemist), Nicholas Kurti (physicist), Peter Barham (physicist), Harold McGee (author), Shirley Corriher (biochemist, author), Heston Blumenthal (chef), Ferran Adria (chef), Robert Wolke (chemist, author) and Pierre Gagnaire (chef).

The culinary triangle

The culinary triangle is a concept thought up by Claude Lévi-Strauss involving three types of cooking; these are boiling, roasting, and smoking, usually done to meats.

The boiling of meat is looked at as a cultural way of cooking because it uses a receptacle to hold water, therefore it is not completely natural. It is also the most preferred way to cook due to the fact that neither any of the meat or its juices are lost. In most cultures, this form of cooking is most represented by women and is served domestically to small closed groups, such as families. 

Roasting of meat is a natural way of cooking because it uses no receptacle. It is done by directly exposing the meat to the fire. It is most commonly offered to guests and is associated with men in many cultures. As opposed to boiling, meat can lose some parts, thus it is also associated with destruction and loss. Smoking meat is also a natural way of cooking. 

It is also done without a receptacle and in the same way as roasting. It is a slower method of roasting, however, which makes it somewhat like boiling.