Gourmet Scientist

Fancy knowing how the environment affects our food choices? Or how our physiology changes as we eat? Combining science, technology, and healthy gourmet cooking, we have a modern food laboratory (in the Netherlands). Some may think Big Brother has found yet another way to permeate into our lives, but I think it's an awesome idea. Monitoring weight, heartbeat, what diners choose, how they eat as well as tracking how changing the environment--lights, color, sound, smell, etc--affects their choices for the next 10 years may be a daunting experiment, but the results should be enlightening.

How neat would it be to be one of the researchers or even the chefs?? Oh! I sooo want to be involved! Maybe this is a way I can combine my RD with my PhD research skills...

Check out the website itself!

Finally, the day of the highly anticipated (by me ) BBC Good Food Show in London arrived! I could feel pure bliss coursing through my body as I stepped through the doors. Seriously, it was happiness, home, heaven... I LOVE FOOD!

The floor map was unfortunately useless to me since most of the company names were foreign to non-natives; so, I walked in a fairly systematic manner--row by row. For the Ground floor exhibit area, the perimeter mainly consisted of cooking tools. The far end carried all the alcoholic drinks, including a toffee vodka (very tasty) and a dairy-free cream liquor (a bit disgusting...). The farthest corner was the gourmet restaurant dining experience. And the rest of the main floor were the food stalls consisting of meat (fresh and cured), seafood, dairy products (cheese, yogurt, smoothie), olives, savoury/sweet pastries, biscuits, chocolates, teas, etc. The first floor circulating the perimeter offered a cooking theatre as well as several more food stands.

I think about a quarter consisted of sauces, spices, oils, and chutneys. I didn't venture to try most because I knew if I started, I'd have to try all of them in order to obtain an accurate assessment. Still, that's not to say I have no interest...

Other than those, I probably tried nearly all the available samples. The Godminster cheese offered a unique grainy texture while another stall had a variety of flavour-infused cheddar; the garlic and herb one was very nice. One stall even had its own oven to warm up their freezer-to-oven savoury pies which were quite tasty. Yet another baked a fresh chocolate cake using vegetables and no oil; it definitely didn't taste indulgent, but it was quite light, airy, and moist. (I'd like to research further the scientific basis behind the hype of its special cookware; apparently, the design helps control temperature and cooking to retain moisture and eliminate the need for oil and salt.) Of the chocolates, I was fairly amazed by Vanini, an Italian-based company that offered a surprisingly creamy 70% dark chocolate. The chocolate covered desiccated fruits by Zeina were surprisingly nice! The dehydration process gives a more tart flavor with an airy crunchy texture. One carried a decent wine-infused milk chocolate (merlot, shiraz, and pinot noir), while the sugar free chocolate of another seemed more enticing in the concept rather than the taste from the lower grade quality of chocolate.

Obviously, there were lots more. There's definitely a noticeable regional difference in the types of food exhibited when compared to the American Dietetics Association (ADA) Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo (FNCE) one I attended a few years back. Neither was it as big nor did it provide as many free samples. Still, it was a VERY enjoyable experience; so enjoyable, it took me nearly 30 minutes to finally drag myself out the door. It wasn't a harvest (since I'm so stingy ), but I did get some stuff. Will I go again next year? I think I might, just for the fun of it since I LOVE trying things.

Exhibition area (Grand Hall Olympia, London)

My small harvest (Purchased: Toasted Oats, Flavours of the World chocolate fruits; Rest: free)

Harvest from ADA FNCE 2005 for comparison (everything was FREE! and that was day 1 of 3!)

God is simply amazing! I was just thinking about having to buy bread when I found a package from Glutafin waiting by my front door. Several days ago, I had signed up for a free sample of their gluten-free wheat bread; and voila, here it was!

Me being me, I couldn't resist digging in immediately. The loaf definitely felt a bit softer, although still dense, than the brick-like ones I encountered back at Whole Foods. The texture resembled the slight chewiness of a untoasted crumpet but with a subtle nutty flavor. It was a bit dry, but it was not at all too far off from a normal wheat bread.

I am genuinely surprised. We'll see what happens after freezing and toasting. Now I wonder how the other gluten free bread taste...

My college, St. John's, has been propagating a string of tastings this year, and I have definitely been a big fan of it. A few weeks ago, we had a tea tasting with a Cambridge graduate who returned to open a tea shop carrying teas from all over the world. It was definitely a first for me, and I enjoyed it very much.

Tonight, we had a cheese tasting of 5 cheeses made by small local regional English farms:

1. Sharpham Rustic (South Devon) -- Made from Jersey cows and aged for 6-8 weeks. It's a very creamy, soft, and mild-flavored Brie that spread almost like butter. I didn't taste much of the metallickiness that I find in many mass-produced Brie, although it did have a slight bitter aftertaste.
2. Golden Cross (East Sussex) -- Made from goat's milk and matured for 4 weeks. Soft, more creamy than crumbly goat's cheese rolled in ash. It tasted almost like eating lamb. Unique and delightful
3. Wigmore (Risley Berkshire) -- Made from sheep's milk and aged for 2 months. Semi-soft with very very mild flavor.
4. Lincolnshire Poacher (Alford) -- Cheddar cheese aged for 12 month. Definitely has a sharp matured flavor with an oaky taste.
5. Suffolk Blue (Suffolk) -- Made from Guernsey cows. Very mild for a blue cheese without the characteristic sharp mold flavor and saltiness.
   

In addition to the cheeses, we had Miller's Damsels, wafer thin biscuits with a deep wheat flavor that dissipated finely and added a hearty richness to the cheeses. We also had a nice sharp Bramley apple juice made from Cheshire.

Overall, the evening was much more fancy than expected and extremely enjoyable. I absolutely loved the Golden Cross; and the Sharpham Rustic went lovely with the biscuits. Seriously, we are so spoiled at John's!!