Developments, applications, and trends of molecular gastronomy among food scientists and innovative chefs

ABSTRACT

Molecular gastronomy (MG) is a relatively new scientific discipline, which focuses on food preparation mainly at domestic and restaurant levels. The number of scientific papers on MG has increased in the past few years. It is, however, difficult to differentiate specifically between the MG discipline or other research areas in food science and technology. Otherwise, molecular cooking, i.e., an application of MG principles, seems limited to a few “fancy” techniques supported by famous chefs. This paper aims to critically review the recent developments of MG, the most interesting applications, and the outcomes obtained from the fruitful collaboration among food scientists and innovative chefs. The controversies and merits associated with MG are also presented, e.g., the principle of food pairing and consumers’ appreciation of innovative dishes, and a few research papers promising exciting future developments.

KEYWORDS:

• Cooking methods
• food pairing
• food processing
• food science
• molecular cooking
• molecular gastronomy
• new food products

Acknowledgments

Drs. Alessandro Genovese and Solomon Melides are kindly acknowledged for the discussion and manuscript proofreading, respectively.