The Science of Pie – June 1, 2014 Best Overall Pie & People’s Choice Pie Alina Naqvi & Ashley Lipkins-Scott (Team Apple Queens) This duo of student scientists aimed to create a pie with the crunchiest apple filling by experimenting with four different types of apples: Granny Smith, Red Delicious, Pink Lady, and Fuji. To … Continue reading
The Science of Pie – June 1, 2014 Honorable Mention Pie Alexis Cary & Matthew Copperman (Team On the Road) If you’ve baked an apple pie, you have probably encountered the dreaded problem of a soggy pie crust. The student scientists of Team On the Road sought to solve this pie-baking mishap by determining the … Continue reading
“Anyone can cook!” declared Chef Auguste Gusteau in the classic animated film Ratatouille. We’ll go a step further: with a little cooking know-how and access to a kitchen anyone can do science. Each spring the students of the Science & Food undergraduate course prove us right as they research and experiment their way toward apple … Continue reading
“There’s so much great food yet to discover that we can grow, so I just love discovering new varieties, crops, things that our customers and myself have never tried before.” – Alex Weiser, 2013 Science & Food course Continue reading
Chocolate-covered strawberries have an innate beauty in their simplicity, making this snack both sweet and decadent. But this gourmet treat does not have to be expensive nor only savored at special events. Although it’s not quite as simple as dipping strawberries into soupy chocolate sauce, you can easily make chocolate-covered strawberries in your very own … Continue reading
If you take a look at the Nutrition Facts panel on your favorite snack, you can learn a lot about the different molecules in your food. These molecules—fats, proteins, carbs, vitamins, and minerals—are essential for our health: they provide energy for our bodies and can be recycled to form the molecular building blocks of our … Continue reading
Continuing our Science of Pie adventure, we’ve invited Elsbeth Sites of Team Chia to share her pie science project, which examines the use of a very unconventional thickener to tune the viscosity of pie filling. Elsbeth is an undergraduate student of physiological sciences at UCLA who is passionate about food and writing, especially writing about … Continue reading
On foraging for local ingredients in your college dormitory… Our Judge’s Favorite winner of the 2013 Science of Pie event showed how beer and vodka affect pie crust color and texture. But they weren’t the only students who experimented with alcohol in their pies. Two other teams—Team Super Rum and the Beam Team—also used alcohol … Continue reading
If you have ever enjoyed the savory flavor of soy sauce or the rich, full flavor of Parmesan cheese, then you have experienced the taste sensation known as umami. The term “umami” was first coined in 1908 by Dr. Kikunae Ikeda to describe the unique savory taste of seaweed broth [1,2]. Although umami was initially … Continue reading
The Science of Pie – May 19, 2013 People’s Choice Award Elan Kramer, Caleb Turner (Team “Insert Team Name Here”) This student duo thought outside the box with this creative apple and peanut butter pie. To create the ultimate peanut butter experience, the team experimented with the effect of egg white content on the texture … Continue reading
scienceandfooducla 