![]() At first she studied bread, observing changes in lipids throughout the breadmaking process. That was the very moment Professor Mineki chose to study food structure. The images he then showed me using an optical microscope were beautiful and fascinating: the starch in the bread slice was dyed pink and the gluten was blue”. “At the time, a professor from our neighboring food science laboratory taught me that if you dye bread dough, and then slice the bread baked from that dough, you can visualize the different ingredients. Professor Mineki thought there had to be a more easily understandable way than component analysis-a way that anyone could understand. “But back then, no matter where I looked, I couldn’t find out why.”Īt the time, chemical component analysis was often used as a way to answer these questions. While not so common these days, at that time it was normal to add flour when boiling cauliflower, or to use saltwater when washing strawberries. It made me want some clarity on those questions.” “When students in cooking classes would ask me why we were using a particular cooking method, I often couldn’t answer them immediately. For Professor Mineki, working as an assistant in the cooking laboratory of a women’s college was her first nudge down the path. Professor Mineki’s 40-plus years of research has also focused on systematizing culinary science. Thus, by analyzing the structure of food, culinary science gives us more and more clues.įrom Home Economics to Science: The Why Behind Cooking Choices The presence of underlying structure can also be determined by understanding differences in composition, such as through histochemical detection or X-ray analysis. If the surface and internal structure of a food are different, the texture will differ. This goes to show that structure strongly correlates with taste. Culinary science is about researching taste, but researchers involved in structural observations always say how beautiful the structure of delicious food is.”ĭelicious foods are structured beautifully. “Structural analysis visualizes the structural features of a food that is associated with its physical properties, and makes changes in that food readily understandable for anyone. In Professor Mineki’s words, observing the tissue structure of food is visually appealing and is a method that makes the structure readily apparent to all. What makes something taste good? How is good food made, and what can we do to make it taste better? As mentioned earlier, culinary science seeks to answer these questions. “If we can determine the structure, it might wind up as data for food manufacturers to develop products, for example.” Pudding has such a smooth feeling in the mouth because of the amount of fat it contains and how well it is dispersed.”īasically, this means that if we can clarify how the type of cream (animal-based or plant-based) and its arrangement impacts the tissue structure of the pudding, the taste of a delicious pudding can be reproduced. Food structure in particular provides us with important clues. “What methods will ensure that anyone can cook a delicious meal? And what makes it delicious? Answering these questions scientifically are the challenges of gastronomy. Even the slightest change in the cooking process can produce a difference in taste, and food histology is considered a very powerful tool for determining what produces such differences. ![]() Starting with its definition, food histology involves visually determining the structure and materials present in fresh, cooked, or processed foods with the help of a microscope. The key to such meals is simple: cooking. Safe, balanced and delicious meals are the foundation for a healthy and comfortable life. Exploring the Structure Behind Why a Meal is Delicious
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