Molecular Gastronomy - Applications

Like all scientific disciplines, molecular gastronomy has both educational and technical applications. As far as educational applications are concerned, all levels are involved, from primary general education to continuing education. For primary schools, activities called Ateliers expérimentaux du goût (experimental taste workshops) were introduced in 2001, associating science with other areas of knowledge decided to be the responsibility of the school, notably artistic activities; in a way, these experimental workshops are a parallel program to the actions of La Main à la Pâte, for general science teaching. For secondary schools, the Ateliers science et cuisine (science and cooking workshops) are in-depth themes that teach technology and provide useful support for supervised personal work. At university level, molecular gastronomy activities are often used as concrete support for physics, chemistry or biochemistry, especially at undergraduate level, in many countries. In this article, however, we will confine ourselves to technical innovations, looking first at applications in molecular gastronomy, distinguishing between materials and processes. We will then look at "note-to-note cooking", which is likely to become an important form of food in the future.

A glossary at the end of the article covers the most important terms.