FOOD

well as they say..

once hungry always hungry

so after alcohol, or even better, before, or in parallel with alcohol, food is what I believe to be my TOP priority. I;m not going to present as my first post about food a site of weird recipes, or exotic dishes, but a most scientific matter.
It is called,

molecular gastronomy

just Google it and you'll see what I'm talking about. But, you are lazy bastards, so I'm going to make a brief presentation of it.
It all started when chemistry has advanced so that it could determine what kind of chemical reactions could take place while a food is being prepared (yes it is called molecular gastronomy but actually not like molecular biology, chemistry and physics are the main aspects). So a good fellow, Hervé This, with another good fellow, Nicholas Kurti, started what at the begining was refered as Molecular and Physical Gastronomy.
The basics of it as described at This theses are:

(1) investigating the culinary and gastronomical proverbs, sayings, old wives tales…
(2) exploring the recipes;
(3) introducing in kitchens new tools, ingredients and methods
(4) inventing new dishes based on 2
(5) using Molecular Gastronomy to help the general public understand how science can contribute to the well being of the society.

the reason behind this idea and the “International Workshop on Molecular and Physical Gastronomy” were as it was described by This himself:

Each aspect of our environment is studied by a specific scientific discipline, using the experimental method, introduced Francis Bacon and later by Galileo Galilei. Why should gastronomy be an exception?

So to continue, his idea is to collect old fashion cooking recipes, and put their statement under the harsh experimental procedures, and also introduce new methods to ameliorate the cooking experience (I mean the aftertaste). Nicholas Kurti is no longer with us, but This is active and also recently had a publication on EMBO regarding molecular gastronomy.
To give you an example lets find out what happens when you do BBQ. Meat turns brownish. NO SHIT!!!. What happens inside meat to turn to brown? Well at about 65 Celsius degrees, aminoacids compine with reducing sugar by no enzymatic means, producing Schiff bases, as posted by Maillard in 1912, Maillard reaction, and that results in the changing of color. The point is that during this reaction meat gets its flavor.

Also, for the industry, the goal is to maximize food flavor through the heat-induced Maillard reaction without impairing nutritive value or creating carcinogenic heterocyclic amines, which are formed during high temperature cooking of foods like meat and chicken that contain high amounts of protein

. And again, the reaction will give different flavor according to the chemical substances of meat, not all meat are the same. So, chefs around the world try to find ways to increase the flavor of cooked meat, without being either raw or harmfull, overcooked (the Greek way).
So how good it is? Now that is the question. Well, first of all one of the achievements of molecular is to successfully combine ingredients, that according to tradition are incompatible, with amazing results. One of this is the combination of caviar and white chocolate. I do not know if it tastes as good as they say, but it should be good, as combining cheese feta with chocolate from papadopoulou biscuits γεμιστά (one of my achievements as a youngster). And if you think about anything else let me tell you that in Fat Duck restaurant at Bray-on-Thames, a meal costs about 120 euros per person (or that's what i've read from somewhere else)...and to eat there you should reserve a table ages ago.
JAW DROPPING

interview
molecular gastronomy news
a brief listing of links
blog dedicated to molecular gastronomy
molecular gastronomy is dead?
article on Heston Blumenthal, chef of Fat Duck
Fat Duck, images form dishes served