It's a matter of taste

"Nothing takes the taste out of peanut butter quite like unrequited love." - Charlie Brown (by Charles Schulz). Actually Charlie Brown is slightly mistaken here, but we can forgive him because we all know what unrequited love can do. I'm sure he can still taste his salty tears as he can the saltiness of his peanut butter. However, the apparent odour might be affected. Taste and smell are distinct senses, but they are easily entangled in common experience. Of course, it is our sense of smell that is impaired by our blocked nose, either from tears or from a cold, which affects the flavour. In this episode some background theory to the sense of taste. 

Five dimensions of perception

It has been a while since the previous edition, however there is a perfectly good reason for that. I have been absorbed by reading parts of the Modernist cuisine. A comprehensive work about almost everything you have ever wanted to know about preparing food, and couldn't even think of asking! It is a five part compendium of techniques and analysis of ingredients and preparation methods in order out find out why the things work the way they do in the kitchen. Former physicist Alan Myhrvold took it upon himself to develop this cookbook and with thousands of pages of stunning pictures and recipes it is absolutely gorgeous. I don't want to discuss the book, but rather take things one step further. The formalisation of the the art of cooking. It seems a rather daunting enterprise to describe the science of cooking in such a way, and it may not even be possible. When Bertrand Russell tried to formalise logic in the beginning of the previous century he encountered severe problems that changed views on logic forever. Nevertheless the journey often enlightens. Myhrvold took a right step, but it's possible to take one step more. Let's make a roadmap and see where we end up.

Gel

Did you ever wonder about how a wobbly pudding is wobbly, almost liquid, yet stays on your plate? When you shake it, wonderful waves go across its surface, as if it were a pool. But stop and it is a solid again. This wonderful crossing between a liquid and solid is called a gel. In this episode I hope to make you curious about what they are and how they are made.