| CODE | LAS1048 | ||||||
| TITLE | Kitchen Chemistry | ||||||
| UM LEVEL | I - Introductory Level | ||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Centre for the Liberal Arts and Sciences | ||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This Unit will be showing the intrinsic links between cooking and chemistry. Everyday items – ice-cream, cured foods, mayonnaise, jams, bread – will be looked at from a chemical point of view. Why is ice-cream creamy, and why does mayonnaise not split into oil and water? And why can jams be spread, and don’t go mouldy? What happens at a molecular level when we fry, bake, roast, grill our foods? And why do eggs and bacon, but also white chocolate and caviar, taste good together? The chemical basis of all this as well as a look at some natural vs artificial ingredients will be investigated. The basic chemistry principles discussed in this unit will be covered in the first lecture and no specialist chemistry knowledge is expected prior to this unit. The lectures will include a number of demonstrations to better explain the topic being discussed. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the Unit the student will be able to: - Explain the basic chemical processes occurring in a range of food products and cooking processes; - Understand what constitutes a foam, gel, emulsion and in which products these are found; - Discriminate between the different basic tastes when presented with a range of foods. 2. Skills: By the end of the Unit the student will be able to: - Pair ingredients on the basis of their flavour chemicals; - Preserve food in a safe wholesome manner; - Use chemical and natural leaveners to achieve aereation. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: - Joachim, D., Schloss, A. Handel, A. P. (2008) The science of good food: the ultimate reference on how cooking works . Robert Rose. - McGee, H. ( 2004) On Food and Cooking. Scribner. - Segnit, N. (2012) The Flavour Thesaurus. Bloomsbury. - Stuckey, B. (2013) Taste: Surprising Stories and Science about Why Food Tastes Food. Astria. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Robert Cordina |
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The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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