Few weeks back, I attended a Molecular Gastronomy workshop conducted by Dr. Linda. Molecular gastronomy is a movement that incorporates Science and new techniques in the preparation, transformation and artistic presentation of food. It is the study of molecules, especially on how the physical and chemical transformation of ingredients that occur in cooking can affect the overall taste/texture of food.

Figure 1. Certain processes in food (taken from workshop slides)

I was introduced to certain terms regarding food processes (Figure 1). It was indeed fascinating to know how each of the different ingredients has an important role to play in food preparation.

In this workshop, there was also hands-on activities which involved making Chocolate Mousse and Ribena Sorbet!

Chocolate Chantilly 

The steps to making Chocolate Chantilly, also termed as Mousse, is relatively simple. It involves melting 100g of chocolate into 85mL of hot water, followed by stirring it vigorously while letting the mixture bowl sit on a bed of ice. The end result should be give an airy and creamy texture.

So what is the science behind making Chantilly?

When hot water is added to the chocolate, an oil-in-water emulsion is formed. The hot water acts as the continuous phase, whereas the melted chocolate (oil cocoa fat) is the dispersed phase. By whisking the mixture vigorously, air bubbles is introduced into the emulsion and the oil molecules subsequently coats the air bubbles. Then, cooling the mixture in an ice bath allows the oil molecules to solidify into fat crystals and further trap the air molecules. This can be observed by an increase in viscosity of the chocolate mixture, and subsequently forming the airy creamy texture.

Based on these simple steps, it can be seen how simple ingredients could work together to create an airy and creamy chocolatey chantilly! No other ingredients, such as egg white, which normally gives food a fluffier texture due to the formation of foam is required 🙂

     Figure 2.  Chocolate bar used (left) and my group’s failed Chantilly (right)

My group’s Chocolate Chantilly definitely did not turn out how it should be – airy and creamy 🙁 Instead, what we obtained was just a watery chocolate texture… Despite whisking long enough, the mixture did not turn viscous. This could be attributed by type of chocolate used. As the chocolate we used contained 0% sugar, it could have attributed to this undesirable outcome.

Ribena Sorbet

Unlike ice cream making which involves the use of milk to give that additional creamy texture, sorbet making does not involve the use of milk. Hence, it is much easier to prepare, which only requires 2 main ingredients. The fruit flavour (in this case Ribena) and dry ice (solid carbon dioxide).

Figure 3. Ribena sorbet

Crushing the dry ice into smaller pieces and pouring the Ribena juice, followed by intense mixing, Sorbet is produced 🙂

While making the sorbet, it is important to crush the dry ice into smaller pieces so that the resultant sorbet has a better mouthfeel, rather than larger crystals that will feel coarser and grittier in the mouth.

Another observation made is that the sorbet tasted slightly fizzy, which is attributed by the dry ice. As the dry ice would sublime into carbon dioxide gas, it causes the Ribena juice to be saturated with carbon dioxide bubbles and thus, provides that fizzy taste.

And that’s it, another fun and fulfilling workshop which involves food and science!