The Meaning of Molecular Gastronomy

Molecular gastronomy
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Molecular gastronomy is the application of science to culinary practice and more generally gastronomical phenomena.

The term was coined in 1988 by Hungarian physicist Nicholas Kurti and French chemist Hervé This, both vocal advocates of applying modern science to culinary problems.

The idea of using techniques developed in chemistry to study food was not a new one; it goes back to the 18th century [1]. Kurti and This decided that a new, specific discipline should be created within food science, and looked for a name. The initial proposal was "molecular gastronomy", but Kurti, being a physicist, insisted on adding "and physical", which is why the discipline was at first called "molecular and physical gastronomy" (this was also the title of This's doctoral dissertation).

When Kurti died (in 1998), This simplified the name to "molecular gastronomy", but Kurti's name was given to the continuing series of workshops that Kurti and This had directed every two years in Erice, at the Majorana Centre for Scientific Culture. The name "was dreamt up in 1992 by a physicist called Nicholas Kurti who needed a fancy name for the science of cooking so he could get a research institute to pay attention to his work", according to Heston Blumenthal[2].

The fundamental objectives of molecular gastronomy were defined by H. This in his doctoral dissertation as:

* Investigating culinary and gastronomical proverbs, sayings, and old wives' tales
* Exploring existing recipes
* Introducing new tools, ingredients and methods into the kitchen
* Inventing new dishes
* Using molecular gastronomy to help the general public understand the contribution of science to society

Many people who feel Molecular Gastronomy is important ask the skeptics, "In what art or science could improvements be made that would more powerfully contribute to increase the comforts and enjoyments of mankind?"