Molecular Gastronomy Lab

Where design meets science meets culinary arts, that would be the ultimate dream food experience. There is something incredibly mesmerizing about how anything is possible, all rules go out the window, when it comes to molecular gastronomy. It’s food, in its craziest, artsiest, aesthetically deceiving way. Things no longer taste like what they seem. And to bring the chemistry geek out in anyone, it takes the “cooking is science” argument to a whole new level. When melons can look like neon orange caviar that simply bursts in your mouth. When a cucumber can be even crispier than fresh from the ground… yet when you bite into it, you’ve just taken in a full ounce of the strongest gin martini of your life. When the brown pasta with what appears to be a cream sauce, ends up being chocolate tagliatelle with a custard creame, your senses do a double take, and just aren’t sure what to expect. And then comes plating… the way you can physically and visually design these meals once you’ve mastered the science - oh, the possibilities are nearly endless.

And it doesn’t even end there… sure you can taste it (culinary), learn how to make it (scientific), and present it well (design)… but don’t forget the machinery and the mad scientist lab (i mean *kitchen*), that you’d need to concoct all these mysteriously delicious plates? Can you imagine the interior design opportunities here? Or the outfits that you’d need to match this whole mad scientist/cooking experience? Hmmm… dreaming up my ideal food experience sure has me hungry and dying to experiment now!

As a starting point, you have to check out this LA Times article on Edible Cocktails - where these images came from.