Science and Cooking at Harvard

Naveen Sinha, Otger Campas, Amy Rowat, Joan Abrams, Joshua Bridger, Kathryn Hollar, Daniel Rosenberg, Pia Sorensen, Heloise Vilaseca, Michael Brenner, David Weitz

Thanks to:Christina AndujarJason Doo, Geoff Lukas, Dan SouzaChop Chop Magazine

HOW DO WE INSPIRE STUDENTS TO THINK ABOUT SCIENCE IN THEIR EVERYDAY LIVES?

1.

Undergrad High school Grades 5-7

Cooking is a universal activity that can captivate audiences and encourage experimentation.

Geoff LukasDan Souza

Recipes can be effective starting points for demonstrating scientific concepts.

AC Rowat, D Rosenberg, K Hollar, and A Stone (2010)

The scientific approach can explain how the ingredients in a recipe interact.

Joan Abrams

Developing new recipes is a an accessible example of engineering design.

Julie Monrad

CHEF/SCIENTIST COLLABORATIONS OPEN NEW EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

1I.

The Harvard Science and Cooking course shows the potential of chef/scientist collaborations.

Prof. David Weitz Prof. Otger Cámpas

Ferran Adria Prof. Amy Rowat

Many chefs can be eager to explain their recipe development process.

Chef José Andrés

Chefs can also appreciate learning the reasons behind why their recipes work.

Chef Bill Yosses Pia Sorensen

The professors provided context for the lectures and demonstrations from the chefs.

Prof. Michael Brenner Daniel Rosenberg

Non-scientists learn how to apply quantitative approaches to cooking.

Undergrads learn basic measurement techniques to apply to food.

Ice cream Hot iced tea Spherification Molten cake

Students then apply these techniques to their own research projects.

What is the optimal ratio of flours for a gluten-free pasta?

Can you use rotary evaporation to extract the stinky smell from a durian?

Can use use gelling agents to make ice cubes that sink?

How can you mathematically model the cooking times for a chocolate cake?

Can you use transglutaminase to make heat-resistant ice cream?

Are their vegan substitutes for using gelatin with transglutaminase?

A final project fair gives them experience in presenting their work to others.

photo by Eliza Grinnel / SEAS

Gashaw Clark ’14 (from left), K. Lanier Walker ’14, and Rebecca Ruskin ’13 prove that their jellied meat stock is stable enough to withstand direct flame without melting.

The public lectures are filmed freely available on both iTunes and YouTube.

Chef Grant Achatz,

CHEF/SCIENTIST COLLABORATIONS INSPIRE NEW RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES

1II.

Sous vide cooking can enable research into the effect of protein denaturation on texture.

Dave Arnold, Cooking Issues

How does the tenderness of meat scale with the cooking time, for a given temperature? – inspired by Nathan Myhrvold

Breville has numerous research projects related to their kitchen equipment.

30 s 60 s 90 s 120 s 150 s

Natalie Sandman

How can we accelerate the egg whisking process?

Cookies illustrate the complex interactions between ingredients in a recipe.

America’s Test Kitchen provided their facilities and expertise to investigate ingredient ratios.

Geoff LukasDan Souza

The standard recipe is crispy brown outside and soft and chewy inside.

With extra flour, the cookie becomes more like a crumbly biscuit.

With extra sugar, the cookie crystallizes and becomes fragile.

With extra butter, the cookies feels greasy and leaves an oily residue.

With extra egg, the cookie becomes floppy, similar to an omelet.

Undergrad High school Grades 5-7

Design Challenge: Create a healthy cookie

• What are the macromolecules in a sugar cookie?

• What are the physical and chemical changes that occur during the baking process?

• How do the macromolecules contribute to health?

• How can you modify the composition of a cookie to improve the nutrition, while maintaining the texture?

Students study their own cookie “mutants” during their recipe development.

Joan Abrams

Undergrad High school Grades 5-7

CHEFS AND SCIENTISTS CAN WORK TOGETHER TO TEACH KIDS TO THINK LIKE SCIENTISTS IN THE KITCHEN

1V.

How can we link science lessons with food to create into memorable experiences?

Anna Wang Ben Wolfe

Students learn both science and cooking skills they can use in their everyday life.

Rolando Robledo Bill Yosses

Gabe Bremer / Daniel Rosenburg

Science and Cooking for kids: SCHEDULE

8:00 to 8:30 pm students arrive

8:30 to 10:00 amscience/cooking

lesson10:00 to 10:30 am snack10:30 to 11:00 am recess11:00 to 11:30 am math11:30 am to noon lunch prepnoon to 1:00 pm lunch1:00 to 2:00 pm physical activity2:00 to 3:00 pm expert

Science and Cooking for Kids:2012 Curriculum

Week 1 Week 2

Intro Acidity

Microbes Foams

Pickling Emulsions

Flavor Thickeners

Gelling BBQ

Science and Cooking for Kids:2013 Curriculum

Day Learning OutcomeMonday Use ratios to understand how to balance

flavors.

Tuesday Apply analogies from phase transitions to explain culinary transformations.

Wednesday Apply heat diffusion concepts to understand cooking methods

Thursday Use chemical reactions to create new flavors and textures in food.

Friday Use soft matter concepts, like gels and emulsions, to describe Modernist cooking techniques.

THE CULINARY WORLD IS FULL OF POTENTIAL NEW EDUCATION VENTURES

V.

World-class chefs + Harvard faculty Eq. of the Week

Local chefs + students Experimental research

Test Kitchen + high school teacher Engineering design

Local chefs + Harvard scientists Lessons for kids

…what’s next?

Science and math are not just important for scientists; cooking shows how these skills apply to everyday life or other careers.

seas.harvard.edu/cooking

(in development)scienceandcooking.seas.harvard.edu

nsinha@seas.harvard.edu

We’d love to discuss more ideas for combining science and cooking.

Unexpected results, not perfect execution of a recipe, drives student learning.

Chefs and scientists work together to show these “failures” as a valuable source of knowledge.

Culinary technologist Dave Arnold frequently collaborates with author Harold McGee.

Dave ArnoldHarold McGee

Chef Wylie Dufresne consults with food scientist Ted Russin during recipe development.

Chef Wylie Dufresne

Ted Russin