mercredi 1 janvier 2014

A message and answers

Today, received this : 
Dear Mr.This



My name is XXXX and I attend a high school named Enskilda gymnasiet in Stockholm, Sweden. I’m studying a natural science program and right now I’m doing a project regarding chemistry. I’m investigating if molecular gastronomy is going to be included in meals of a family’s’ daily life.



The past evolution of food shows that we are always trying to develop food so that it will be as easy, comfortable and quick as possible for a common family to put food on the table.



I’ve read an extremely interesting article where you participated in a Swedish magazine called ”Forskning & Framsteg”. Furthermore, I was wondering if you could take a tad of your time and help me with my project by answering a few questions.



1.    1.  Do you think molecular gastronomy will be included in a future family’s everyday meals? If so, in what way?

2.     2. How do you think catering will look like in the future? What will be its contents? Is there a possibility that we might have a powder that we will mix with water, which will give us meatball dough?

3.     3. Do you think there will be some kind of replacement for todays’ protein? If so, how and what?

4.     4. Do you think the molecular gastronomy has to develop further to prepare the society in case of a cataclysm or a long term cut of electric power? If so, in what way?

5.     5. In 20 years, how would you imagine a lunch for a stressed, hard working person would look like? Is there a possibility that this person will only have to take a pill to get all the nutrition we need to survive?



Thank you in advance.
Here the answer : 

Thanks for your message. Please do look at https://sites.google.com/site/travauxdehervethis/, as the English section contains a lot of questions+answers.
Specifically :
1.   Do you think molecular gastronomy will be included in a future family’s everyday meals? If so, in what way?

Molecular gastronomy is science, that you confuse probably with molecular cooking. Indeed, some years ago, I would had say yes, but I am now proposing something much more important, called "note by note cooking". And yes, for sure, note by note cooking is the future of our food, for many reasons that I am explaining in a book in French (English version in October).

2.     How do you think catering will look like in the future? What will be its contents? Is there a possibility that we might have a powder that we will mix with water, which will give us meatball dough?

Catering in the future ? Note by Note. By the way, the idea of pills, or powder, or capsules is a fantasm. If you calculate the needed energy for just survival, it takes more than 300 g using the most energetic compounds  (which is fat) ! Except if we find a more energetic (and edible) compound...


3.      Do you think there will be some kind of replacement for todays’ protein? If so, how and what?

Remember that we need nitrogen ! And that as living organisms are concerned, we have to take the biology of evolution into account.


4.     4. Do you think the molecular gastronomy has to develop further to prepare the society in case of a cataclysm or a long term cut of electric power? If so, in what way?

Molecular gastronomy has to develop in order to make new discoveries, but science has nothing to do with society issues. Only technology does. And the Note by Note project has to spread. Many questions have to be studied. Ten billions people in 2050, plus predicted crisis for water and energy!!!


5.     In 20 years, how would you imagine a lunch for a stressed, hard working person would look like? Is there a possibility that this person will only have to take a pill to get all the nutrition we need to survive?

Answered above.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year

Dear Friends

The world is not restricted to my  small surrounding, but 2013 was not so bad:
- we went on with our monthly seminar of molecular gastronomy (after 13 years), and we got many thankflul messages from the culinary world
- note by note cooking developed explosively, and it goes on in this way
- we actively fought against "fear merchants", in particular in the frame of the French Academy of agriculture
- using blogs, we explained broadly that science is different from technology and technique
- we tested many new educational methods, et we proposed broadly many educational new ideas
- we helped the regional Science and Food Culture Circles to develop and work
- we looked for more "Light" through articles, internets sites, posts...
- we went on our scientific studies, with many colleagues and students
- we had the 20th group for the Institutes for Advanced Studies in Gastronomy
- we contributed to develop molecular gastronomy in many countries of the world
Many of these works were achieved with your help : thanks !

Let's walk toward more Light in 2014.
Happy New Year to you