This week marks the beginning of UCLA’s Spring Quarter, which can only mean one thing… It’s time for the Science & Food undergraduate course! We have a stellar lineup of chefs and farmers slated for our third annual offering of Science & Food: The Physical and Molecular Origins of What We Eat. Although the course is … Continue reading
Local grower Alex Weiser stopped by the 2013 Science & Food course discuss all things potatoes and parsnips. We heard all about Weiser’s experimental plant varieties (Laker Baker, anyone?) and even learned why parsnips always taste just a little bit better in the winter. Check out the highlights: About the author: Vince C Reyes earned … Continue reading
Veterinarian and goat cheese expert Dan Drake introduced UCLA students to the science of cheesemaking as part of our 2013 Science and Food course. Did you know that good cheese starts with healthy, happy goats? Check out the highlights: About the author: Vince C Reyes earned his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering at UCLA. Vince loves … Continue reading
Dr. Dena Herman stopped by the 2013 Science and Food course to make smoothies and teach us about the molecules of food and nutrition. During her lecture, Dr. Herman shared several fascinating facts about eating healthfully. Here are 5 interesting facts relating to nutrition: Continue reading
Nutrition specialist Dr. Dena Herman introduced UCLA students to the molecules of food and nutrition as part of our 2013 Science and Food course. We learned all about essential nutrients, were introduced to the exciting new world of phytonutrients, and even got to make smoothies! Check out the highlights: About the author: Vince C Reyes … Continue reading
In our unit on microbes and exponential growth, we learned about the role of microbes in altering flavor and mouthfeel. One of our favorite microbial foods is cheese: Cheese would just be spoiled milk if it were not for microbes. To kick off the class, we challenged the students with a taste test featuring four … Continue reading
In our unit of pressure, we learned about the difference between a mealy and crisp fruit or vegetable. It turns out that bubble wrap is a good analogy. We already know that water inside the vacuole of a plant cell and the cell wall work together to keep the cell firm and rigid. When cells are … Continue reading
Josiah Citrin visited class to discuss viscosity’s role in sauces and its effect on flavor and mouthfeel. Josiah is the chef/owner of Mélisse in Santa Monica and co-owner of Lemon Moon in West LA. Using the sauces that he brought for us to taste, Josiah traced out the evolution of sauce making from pre-1970s to … Continue reading
This week’s lecturer is Gary Menes. He is the chef at Le Comptoir, a pop-up restaurant at Tiara Café in LA. Gary Menes and sous-chef Wesley Avila weighed in on our topic of the week, “Pressure,” with their version of the veggie platter. There were 20-odd vegetables and fruits present, including pickled onions, the season’s first … Continue reading
Barbara Spencer of Windrose Farm in Paso Robles was our lecturer on the topic of phase transitions. “Why are carrots harvested after winter particularly sweet?” Plants use sugar as an internal antifreeze. This is an example of the concept of freezing point depression. When a solution freezes, the molecules into a crystalline structure. However, when … Continue reading
scienceandfooducla 