My Science School

Food is one of the biggest components of garbage produced by humans. Decomposing food emits methane, a gas that contributes hugely to global warming.

One might think that food thrown away by people can be fed to livestock. However, it is shunned by farmers, because it was found to cause infection in animals.

China has found a solution. Cockroach farms! Before you go "Ugh!" consider this: almost a billion cockroaches live in a plant run by Shandong Qiaobin Agricultural Technology Company in Jinan. They munch their way through 45 metric tons of food scraps in a day, waste that would otherwise have gone to a landfill.
Food collected from restaurants is cleaned of stray plastic, glass or metal pieces and ground into a mushy paste. The paste is piped into the cockroaches living quarters, which are kept dark, damp and warm. The insects flourish on the perpetual garbage buffet.

Dead roaches, a good source of protein, are crushed into food for farm animals such as pigs. Dried roach powder is also widely used in Chinese medicine, in skin creams to treat bums and to cure gastric problems.

In fact, the biggest farm in China breeds 6 billion adult cockroaches annually. Seven years ago, the farm in Sichuan was vandalised and a million roaches escaped and ran riot in the streets, sending people scurrying for cover. Now you can go "Ugh!"

Picture Credit : Google
 

 

Trained chefs can blend science into the art of cooking to create delightful experiences for the taste buds and all the other senses too.

Molecular gastronomy is a modern style of cooking in which chefs use scientific principles and technology to enhance the flavours and alter the textures of food items. The term molecular gastronomy was coined by Hungarian physicist Nicholas Kurti and French chemist Herve in the 1980s. To practise the techniques of molecular gastronomy. chefs have to be specially trained one of the well-known techniques is spherification. It is the process of shaping a liquid such as fruit juice

A DISH TO BE JUDGED BY ITS COVER The packet of nuts in this chutney-soaked savoury is to be eaten along with its plastic wrapper, called 'obulato' in Japanese. The liquid is first mixed with sodium alginate, a chemical. This mixture is then dripped, drop by drop, into a bowl of a cold solution of calcium chloride. Each drop turns into a small ball, called a 'caviar.

When popped into the mouth, these fruit caviars crumble and crackle on the taste buds, delivering an intense mouthfeel. Using liquid nitrogen to freeze dishes instantly is another technique.

Liquid nitrogen has a temperature of -196°C (321°F). When used in ice cream, the mixture freezes very quickly. This reduces the formation of ice crystals, resulting in a creamier ice cream.

Coats and capsules

Special types of foams can also be created with this technique. Traditionally. foams are made with a whisk or an espresso machine (to make coffee froth). But in molecular gastronomy, the substance to be foamed is usually mixed with a stabiliser such as lecithin and then squeezed out through a whipped cream can fitted with a nitrogen oxide capsule. Using this method, chefs can make truffle foam as a topping for a meat dish or pickle foam as a spicy coating for curd rice.

Picture Credit : Google