Solutions are solutions, and gels are almost solutions

Abstract

Molecular gastronomy is the scientific discipline that looks for mechanisms of phenomena occurring during dish preparation and consumption. Solutions are studied because most foods, being based on animal and plant tissues, are gels, with a liquid fraction and a continuous solid phase. This is why food can be studied in situ using liquid NMR spectroscopy in the frequency domain (isq NMR). Using such tools, processes of the kind F@M → F' @ M' (where F stands for the food matrix, M for its environment, and @ for inclusion) were investigated for various processes as classified using the complex disperse system/non-periodical organization of space formalism (“disperse systems formalism”, DSF). As an application of these studies, “note by note cuisine” was promoted as a new paradigm for culinary activities.