In 400 BCE, the Greek admiral Androsthenes wrote* of a tree that “opens together with the rising sun . . . and closes for the night. And the country-dwellers say that it goes to sleep.” Over the next 2000 years, researchers discovered that the daily cycles first observed by Androsthenes fall into 24-hour periods similar … Continue reading
Even if you’re not watching your cholesterol, there are plenty of reasons to avoid eating eggs. Ethical issues aside, industrial eggs provide only about 20% of the energy it takes to produce them. And while some egg substitutes do exist, they often pale in comparison to the real thing. Josh Tetrick, the CEO of Hampton … 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
In our unit on pressure, we used plants as a model system. What makes lettuce crispy? How do you revive wilted lettuce? It’s really all about pressure- turgor pressure, to be exact. We prepared tasting samples of dehydrated grapes (aka raisins) and kale chips to demonstrate the vital role that water and pressure play in … 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
Jordan Kahn came in as our terrific pinch hitter when René Redzepi fell ill the night he was to fly over from Copenhagen for his lecture with Lars Williams. He was the first lecture of the class and provided an introduction to looking at food as molecules. Jordan is the chef/partner at Red Medicine in LA. Jordan brought … Continue reading
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