Whatever you call it, it’s the process of making gels, foams, freeze drying, carbonating, doing all kinds of crazy cool stuff that hopefully makes for interesting dinners.

Here’s a list of everything an aspiring molecular gastronomist can’t do without:

Agar – makes a gelatin-like substance. But don’t mix with fruit, use beef broth (grass fed organic, of course) to create thin beef sticks, or hot pepper sauce or indian spices or good boozes.

What you need to play with your food

Methylcellulose – dissolve this stuff in hot water and it becomes a syrup or a gel. But when it cools, it becomes a liquid again. Use to make cool hot solids. Try a HOT vanilla hot cream (opposite of ice cream) that is hot, but dissolves in your mouth as it cools. Also a very good soluble fiber.

Soy Lecithin - A bonding agent that makes things stick together that shouldn’t. This is what the pros use for asparagus, milk/turmeric and other crazy foams.

Xanthan Gum – helps keep oil and water emulsified for long periods.

Tapioca Maltodextrin – make any fat or oil into a powder that releases its juicy goodness when it dissolves on the tongue.

Activa RM (meat glue) – This stuff will make proteins stick together. Use it to clue different cuts of the same meat together. Or to make a literal surf and turf with a lobster tail seared to a filet mignon.

Sodium Alginate & Calcium Chloride – This is how they make the “caviar” of weird things like wine and chai tea and carrot juice and whatnot. Simply mix a liquid with sodium alginate and immerse the droplets using a syringe.

Or…buy a ready-made kit that includes a lot of these ingredients – and more not mentioned. Either way, have fun!

Also of note, there is one cookbook set which is the DEFINITIVE GUIDE. Definitely read our article about this one…

Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking

This book, Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking by Nathan Myrvhold is nothing short of amazing. Essentially, a successful and technical obsessive compulsive decides he wants to figure out how to make the best…everything. From french fries to burgers, braises and more. Myrvhold worked with chefs Chris Young and Maxime Bilet to determine the science behind cooking just about everything. What is it that gives steak that juicy sear and how is it best attained? How to make the best pasta. What causes color change when cooking? What are the best pots and pans (answer: the cheap ones). All of these he takes on with a scientific mind and the wherewithal you’d expect from a former Chief Technology Officer for the largest software company in the world.

What Myrhvold has created is nothing short of a bible for how to cook and prepare food of all kinds. Sure, he uses a lot of what is referred to as molecular gastronomy. Sous vide and whatnot, but really it’s all in the cause of determining what makes the most tender _______ or the most juicy ________ or the most flavorful _________.

Even better, this book is illustrated (as in the image here) with amazing photographs that explain the concepts in a clear, concise and visually appealing manner.

Is this a glowing review? Yes, it may seem like we are going off a bit. But we are not alone: this book has been praised by just about every celebrity chef out there from Ferran Adra to Wylie Dufresne as well as food writers like Tim Zagat himself.

We think this is a must for every serious home (and professional) cook out there.

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Get the essence and make...Osso Bucco popcorn? Or something.

OK. So I’ve never actually heard of anyone using this, though I’m sure it’s been done. Think about it, you can take any food item and evaporate it’s essence and have it reconstitute in extract form. What you could do with that would be astounding.

Lasagne ice cream.

Creme Brulee pasta (served in creme Anglais, of course).

Osso Bucco popcorn.

You get the idea.

I have no idea how much it costs, but the Web site says it’s the “affordable” or “value” model. I’m guessing it’s still a couple grand, but worth a call, no?

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Tubalicious ice cream...

So back in the day, for those (like myself) who don’t remember, Thrifty Drugstores (now Rite Aid) were the bastions of all things ice creamy. Think of the counters filled with beskirted girls and rough and tumble boys sipping root beer floats and living their Norman Rockwell-ian lives.

Back in those days, if you were to order an ice cream, they would grab a special little device that looks like some kind of food safe (and mostly harmless) weaponry, stab it into those giant cardboard tubs, and then spit it out into a cylindrical form atop (and somewhat into) a cone.

Now they just use a regular old scoop (and yes, they still have Thrifty ice cream stations in many Rite Aids).

Ahh the good ol’ days.

Well, thanks to our friend @mylastbite and the Warm Olives and Cool Cocktails blog, we have found a new device that will do the same for us – at home. She also says it can be used for cutting cookies, filo dough and other “snacks” into cylindrical form.

I suspect we could do some cool molecular gastronomy with it…

$15

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Use this to carbonate and foam anything up...try FRUIT!

The latest food trend: carbonated fruit. Yeah, sounds weird, but it’s actually a really fun way to make simple desserts. Here’s how it works:

1) Stuff one of these carbonators with fruit. Make sure you get a good one that handles some pressure.

2) Insert a C02 cartridge and charge it up.

3) Open the top carefully and empty the fruit. Serve with some ice cream, chocolate, whatever – or just eat it plain.

The fruit bubbles, the CO2 sets the color. It’s a pleaser for all the senses.

P.S. – you can have all kinds of other fun with this little charger – try charging booze like absinthe or vodka for interesting martinis, try foaming whatever crazy thing you can think of. Just chuck some liquids in here and see what comes out…

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The good vacuum sealer

Sous vide. A revolutionary process of heating meats and vegetables by submersing them in heated water, up to 140 degrees, over a long period of time. This technique is part of the whole “molecular gastronomy” movement – where gourmet chefery meets science.

People who cook sous vide say it’s the best way to make really moist fish, that it brings out the colors and lively fresh flavors in vegetables and that cooking a steak sous vide renders the most tender delicious meat that melts in your mouth like meat flavored ice cream.

The process of cooking sous vide is fairly straightforward: you seal the food in plastic to keep the water out (we are not poaching it, we wan’t to keep the flavor in) – it is recommended to use a vacuum sealer and to sear each side after the sous vide soak using a fry pan or grill to get that brown crispy outside.

Food Sealer:

1) Deluxe: FoodSaver® Vacuum Sealing Kit

2) Affordable: FoodSaver V2440 Advanced Design Vacuum-Packaging System

3) Ghetto: ZipLoc Freezer Bags

The next step is to heat the water. The key will be to keep a consistent temperature so it gradually raises the heat. The more accurate you can be the better. Chefs in a kitchen will employ the use of a water bath or a special immersion circulator that will heat/cool as necessary. You can use a stove top and thermometer, but it will require attention to keep it at the correct temperature.

Water baths:

1)Ultra Deluxe: Sous Vide TW20 Water Bath (note: it can even get more deluxe than this…but this is more than AMPLE for homes)

2) Deluxe: Immersion Water Heater: Sous Vide ED Heating Immersion Circulator

3) Ghetto: Stove top. This method requires attention as it’s crucial to keep the temperature steady.  You’ll want a decent thermometer, a large pot and some cold water or ice nearby (in case it gets too hot…)

From there out, you monitor the food…cook it for a decent amount of time (this will vary depending on what you’re cooking) (here is a great article on it)…but really that’s it.

A good cookbook on the process is one by Thomas Keller called Under Pressure: Cooking Sous Vide

Warning: cooking food like this can grow botulinum bacteria…be careful and know the safety guidelines.

Let us know how it turns out!