Question: what do you cook and how is it sciency

andy chapman answered on 15 Mar 2016:

Mostly I try to cook pretty health, vegetarian food. Lots of stuff from India, south east asia and Italy. That is never really sciencey but I do consult as a research and development chef and I do get to do sciencey stuff there.

I will give you an example though of how science creeps into everything I cook, even if it is a quick an easy evening meal.

The other night I had asparagus (out of season and from Peru but it was given to me). I would never boil asparagus in water to cook it. Why? Because all the flavor compounds are very soluble in water and would be leached out. Taste the water you cook veg in – if it tastes of something, that is not what you want. I always grill, roast or fry it. If you fry it, the oil you use does not dissolve these flavor compounds and so doe snot remove them. Also grilling it, that is, deliberately burning it a little in places creates many more flavors than you get by simply boiling or steaming it.