Category Archives: food and cooking

Umami, or why MSG tastes so good

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It’s appetizing news for anyone who’s ever wanted the savory taste of meats and cheeses without actually having to eat them: chemists have identified molecular mechanisms underlying the sensation of umami, also known as the fifth taste.

…

The umami receptor’s shape is similar to that of sweetness receptors, he said, and his team’s research could eventually suggest alternatives to sugar. But more work is needed to determine exactly what happens when signals are sent from tongue to brain.

“Molecular mechanism for the umami taste synergism” By Feng Zhang, Boris Klebansky, Richard M. Fine, Hong Xu, Alexey Pronin, Haitian Liu, Catherine Tachdjian and Xiaodong Li. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 106 No. 52, Dec. 30, 2008.

Via Wired, who didn’t link to the article, and so we won’t link to them.
“Science Behind Mysterious ‘Fifth Taste’ Revealed,” By Brandon Kim, Wired Science Blog, December 22, 2008.

Fake Fish and Security

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There was a very interesting article in the New York Times, “Fish Tale has DNA Hook,” in which two high school students used DNA testing to discover that nearly 1/4 of the sushi they tested and identified was mis-labeled. The article only identifies one of the vendors:

Dr. Stoeckle was willing to divulge the name of one fish market whose products were accurately labeled in the test: Leonards’ Seafood and Prime Meats on Third Avenue. John Leonard, the owner, said he was not surprised to find that his products passed the bar code test. “We go down and pick the fish out ourselves,” he said. “We know what we’re doing.” As for the technology, Mr. Leonard said, “it’s good for the public,” since “it would probably keep restaurateurs and owners of markets more on their toes.”

I was amused by this, but Robin Hanson had an interesting comment:

This is a huge fraud rate. Will diners continue to tolerate it? Probably, yes – I suspect diners care more about affiliating with impressive cooks and fellow diners than they do that fish is correctly labeled.

I think that there’s a related phenomenon in software security. It’s hard to accurately identify secure or insecure software. It’s usually easier to look at other elements of what makes a program useful. Which makes for a very fishy market.

Photo: “Dinner at Masa: O! Fishy fishy fishy fish” by mobil’homme.

The Omnivore’s Hundred

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I find it interesting that security people and foodies are strongly correlated. Or at least are strongly correlated among the ones I know. Very Good Taste has a list of things called The Omnivore’s Hundred, a list of things worth trying, modulo this and that. You mark things you have tried, and mark things you would never try or try again.

I found it via Cygnoir, who also gave a pointer to an easy-to-fill-out web page that will give HTML.

My results of that page are below.

—————————————–

The Food tasting meme


  1. Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
  2. Bold all the items you.ve eaten.
  3. Cross out any items that you would never consider eating (or eating again)
  4. Optional extra: Post a comment http://www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

To make the filling out of this form and generating the HTML for it a bit easier, [info]reddywhp has played around with some PHP. Go to http://reddywhip.org/lj/foods/ and fill it out there. After filling it out, you will be given the code to copy and paste into your blog.

Livejournal users, remember to use your LJ-Cuts!

  1. Venison
  2. Nettle tea
  3. Huevos rancheros
  4. Steak tartare
  5. Crocodile
  6. Black pudding
  7. Cheese fondue
  8. Carp
  9. Borscht
  10. Baba ghanoush

  11. Calamari
  12. Pho
  13. PB&J sandwich
  14. Aloo gobi
  15. Hot dog from a street cart
  16. Epoisses
  17. Black truffle
  18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
  19. Steamed pork buns
  20. Pistachio ice cream
  21. Heirloom tomatoes
  22. Fresh wild berries
  23. Foie gras
  24. Rice and beans
  25. Brawn, or head cheese
  26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
  27. Dulce de leche
  28. Oysters
  29. Baklava
  30. Bagna cauda
  31. Wasabi peas
  32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
  33. Salted lassi
  34. Sauerkraut
  35. Root beer float
  36. Cognac with a fat cigar
  37. Clotted cream tea
  38. Vodka jelly
  39. Gumbo
  40. Oxtail
  41. Curried goat
  42. Whole insects
  43. Phaal
  44. Goat’s milk
  45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth $120 or more
  46. Fugu
  47. Chicken tikka masala
  48. Eel
  49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
  50. Sea urchin
  51. Prickly pear
  52. Umeboshi
  53. Abalone
  54. Paneer
  55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
  56. Spaetzle
  57. Dirty gin martini
  58. Beer above 8% ABV
  59. Poutine
  60. Carob chips
  61. S’mores
  62. Sweetbreads
  63. Kaolin
  64. Currywurst
  65. Durian
  66. Frog’s Legs
  67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
  68. Haggis
  69. Fried plantain
  70. Chitterlings or andouillette
  71. Gazpacho
  72. Caviar and blini
  73. Louche absinthe
  74. Gjetost or brunost
  75. Roadkill
  76. Baijiu
  77. Hostess Fruit Pie
  78. Snail
  79. Lapsang souchong
  80. Bellini
  81. Tom yum
  82. Eggs Benedict
  83. Pocky
  84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant
  85. Kobe beef
  86. Hare
  87. Goulash
  88. Flowers
  89. Horse
  90. Criollo chocolate
  91. Spam
  92. Soft shell crab
  93. Rose harissa
  94. Catfish
  95. Mole poblano
  96. Bagel and lox
  97. Lobster Thermidor
  98. Polenta
  99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
  100. Snake

How about a little fire?

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pizza-fire.jpg

At WD-50 I saw something done to the potatoes that makes a cook scream, “yes!” A method of cooking the potatoes with an explanation using true understanding of the molecules inside the potatoes and the effects of heat on them.

The potatoes are peeled, sliced, and cooked in a water bath at 65 degrees celsius for 30 minutes. The potatoes are transferred to an ice bath to cool completely. At this point the potatoes are still crisp, seemingly unchanged. Once cooled, the potatoes are cooked just as you would have had you just peeled them. If the potatoes are seemingly unchanged, you might ask what on earth did they just do?

For the answer, you’ll have to read Today’s Secret Ingredient…Heat at TastingMenu.

And the McGee article she refers to is “The Invisible Ingredient in Every Kitchen.”
There are few things more chaotic than fire, and few emergent results more yummy than a nice pizza cooked in a brick and wood oven.

Photo: January 6th by Lili’s One-a-Day.

New Cookery: Emergent Chaos in the Kitchen

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Ferran Adria, Heston Blumenthal, Thomas Keller and Harold McGee have issued a statement on the New Cookery:

In the past, cooks and their dishes were constrained by many factors: the limited availability of ingredients and ways of transforming them, limited understanding of cooking processes, and the necessarily narrow definitions and expectations embodied in local tradition. Today there are many fewer constraints, and tremendous potential for the progress of our craft. We can choose from the entire planet’s ingredients, cooking methods, and traditions, and draw on all of human knowledge, to explore what it is possible to do with food and the experience of eating. This is not a new idea, but a new opportunity.

Mmmm! I love what happens when constraints are removed. Sometimes it may get a little silly, but often, it’s sublime.


Both McGee and the French Laundry has been alluded to and mentioned in “The French Chef Model of Intellectual Property,” a subject mentioned in the statement:

We also believe in the importance of collaboration and generosity among cooks: a readiness to share ideas and information, together with full acknowledgment of those who invent new techniques and dishes.

Photo by Tamzen on eGullet.

Judging Wines By Their Labels

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Stefan Geens has an entertaining post about “how to judge a wine by its label:”

Therein lies the secret as to why you really can judge wine by its label: Companies where the management has an atrocious taste in labels tend to be the old-school type, uncertain about innovation, parochial about marketing and under the impression that serifs imply prestige. Anyone relying on serifs to get a leg up in the wine stakes is suspect, methinks. A surfeit of colors or an overly florid arrangement of castles and gold leaf also bodes ill for the wine, much like a painter who prefers his works in elaborate gilded frames. Instead, extensive testing confirms that a sans serif font and white space on a wine label constitute a secret sign, a wink by the vintner that their approach to winemaking matches your approach to typography and graphic design. Use this knowledge as a shortcut to good wine.

It’s too bad he’s wrong. Look at that label. Just look at it. Serifs everywhere! Curlicues galore on a burgundy backing. Gold foil! And even two gilded frames! Every single listed element of “atrocious taste in labels.” So if anyone would like to trade one of those for some Albak de Elviwines 2003, I’m happy to help you out.

Would it tip my hand to offer to go two-for-one?

Minh: Great Vietnamese in Arlington, VA

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I had lunch yesterday at Minh, at 2500 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, VA, and it was excellent. The spring rolls were crispy, tender, and not greasy. I had mint scallops as a main, and they were subtle and well prepped. The dessert, which I think was made offside was a hollowed out tangerine filled with tangerine sorbet. Very nice presentation, everyone enjoyed their food. It seemed pretty empty, and I thought I’d give them a recommendation.

Evidence based…cooking

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The curiosity that fueled the experiments in Mr. McGee’s first book is undiminished after 20 years, and his approach to cooking is still skeptical. He tries to take as little as possible for granted, asking at each step: Why am I doing this? Is there a better way? All this questioning has yielded conclusions, some more useful than others, and many of them heretical in culinary circles.

The second edition of “On Food and Cooking” was published yesterday. The above is from the New York Times article.