Lecture 35: Science of New Dishes and New Organisms

Science of New Dishes and New Organisms .................................

Lecture 35

I

n the 20th century, new forms of energy and food science completely

transformed the food most people ate on a daily basis, but it was not

until the latter part of the century that science was systematically applied

to gastronomy at the level of fi ne dining. Many of the techniques were

borrowed from the food industry and were actually quite common. They had

not, however, been applied to creating new foods that no one had ever seen

before. This lecture focuses on the scientifi c side of our food supply—not

only genetically modifi ed food, but also other technologies, including those

that have infl uenced gastronomy.

Molecular Gastronomy and Scientifi cally Engineered Food

 In the beginning of the 20th century, attempts to apply science to

fi ne dining were largely pathetic. The whole idea was to embrace

the era of the machine, speed, and violence, but in the end, most

attempts to do this were laughably silly. It was not until toward the

end of the century that science was successfully applied to creating

new and actually edible foods at the level of fi ne dining.

 Ordinary food has been scientifi cally engineered for the past

century. Manufacturers are not required to label foods that are

genetically modifi ed, so we are largely unaware of the extent to

which our food supply has been changed. The U.S. government has

decided that it would be better for us not to know, lest out of fear we

reject these foods, as has happened in Europe.

 Genetically modifi ed food is not in and of itself anything new.

Humans have been altering the genes of plants through artifi cial

selection for the past 10,000 years. Instead of nature calling the

shots—through natural selection or sexual selection, allowing

those adaptations that are best suited for a given environment to

survive—we have been selecting them to get what we want.