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Science & Cooking Public Lectures

Lecture archive for the 2011

Note: The 2011 Science & Cooking lecture series is now over. This page serves as an archive. Check back in the coming months for details on events in 2012-13.

Chef Lecture Dates

Inspired by the Harvard College General Education course “Science and Cooking: From Haute Cuisine to the Science of Soft Matter," members of the public are invited to attend a series of lectures by world-class chefs and food experts. The lectures, while related, are not a replication of the course content.
  • All talks will take place in the Harvard Science Center (1 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA).
  • All talks will begin at 7.00 p.m. (unless otherwise noted).

  • Each talk will begin with a 15 minute lecture by a member of the course staff, which will discuss one of the scientific topics from that week's class.

  • Seating for all lectures (except the ticketed lecture with Ferran Adrià on December 4th) is first come, first seated. Last year, many of the talks were already full before they started, but we have a larger lecture hall this year and can therefore accommodate more people.
  • Questions regarding the public lecture series:  candujar@seas.harvard.edu
  • Lectures will be available for viewing online. See below for links to live video streaming and check iTunes and YouTube for recorded lectures.

  • Science and Cooking aprons will be available for purchase at all public lectures. $15.00 (cash or check)

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Historical Context and Demos Illustrating the Relationship of Food and Science

  • Speakers: Dave Arnold (Food Arts magazine's Contributing Editor for Equipment & Food Science), Harold McGee (author of On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen and columnist for The New York Times) and David Weitz (Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics and of Applied Physics at Harvard)
  • Watch the lecture online at
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJe3iPV1mTs

Monday, September 12, 2011

Precision cooking: enabling new textures and flavors

    Monday, September 19, 2011

Monday, September 19, 2011

The Many Faces of Chocolate

Monday, September 26, 2011

Exploring thickeners to manipulate mouthfeel

  • Speaker: Carles Tejedor (Via Veneto), Fina Puigdevall and Pere Planagumà (les Cols)
  • Oil lab by Carles Tejedor.  Visit www.oilab.es to download oil lab app for iPhone.
  • Watch the lecture online at
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PV0WwYXZSTY

 Monday, October 3, 2011

Food Texture and Mouth Feel

Monday, October 10, 2011

Gelation

Monday, October 17, 2011

Mixing the Unmixable

Monday, October 24, 2011

Proteins & Enzymes: Transglutaminase

Monday, October 31, 2011

Playing with Taste through Browning

  • Speaker: Carme Ruscalleda (Sant Pau, Sant Pau de Tòquio)
  • Location: Science Center C
  • Watch the lecture online at
    http://youtu.be/Gsde9K1aDE8

Monday, November 7, 2011

Molecular Differences Between Production Methods

Monday, November 14, 2011

Food Microbiology: An Overlooked Frontier

Monday, November 21, 2011

Science in the Kitchen

  • Speaker: Nathan Myhrvold (former Microsoft CTO; co-founder and CEO of Intellectual Ventures; and author of Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking)
  • Location: Science Center C
  • Watch the lecture online at
    http://youtu.be/KcnW49luEGQ

Monday, November 28, 2011

Lip Smackin' Science: Crystals, Emulsions, Foams, and Pink Vanilla Cupcakes

Sunday, December 4, 2011

The New Culinary Think Tank - el bulli 2.0

Sponsors

We are grateful to our sponsors who help make the public lecture series possible.

The Course

The Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and the Alícia Foundation developed a General Education science course, “Science and Cooking: From Haute Cuisine to the Science of Soft Matter,” which debuted in the Fall of 2010. The course uses food and cooking to explicate fundamental principles in applied physics and engineering. (Watch a video about the course.)

Limited to currently enrolled Harvard undergraduates, the class brings together eminent Harvard researchers and world-class chefs.

Instructors

  • David Weitz (Faculty lead)
  • Pia Sörensen (Preceptor)

Lab Design/Implementation

  • Pere Castells, Alícia Foundation
  • Héloïse Vilaseca, Alícia Foundation (Lab Director)

In the News

Videos

Videos of the past public talks are available on iTunes U and  YouTube

This year's talks will be made available online periodically throughout the semester. Please check back here (and on iTunes U/YouTube for the latest.)

Cooking & Harvard

Cooking as Practical Science

Harvard and cooking go way back. Learn about the invention of baking powder in the mid-1800s and discover recent research on how honey coils.

Profile of Otger Campàs

One of the founders of the Science & Cooking course, Otger Campàs knows all about conquering language barriers. As a native of Barcelona, he grew up speaking Catalan and Spanish. While an undergraduate at the University of Barcelona, he studied the elegant language of theoretical physics. He dabbled in cooking there, too, and heard about unconventional techniques like “spherification” and “culinary foams.”

Profile of Amy Rowat

Amy was one of the lead instructors of the Science & Cooking course last year. The SEAS grad and recent postdoctoral fellow heads off to UCLA in 2011.

LeWhif

Invented with help from Harvard students, LeWhif allows you to breathe what you eat.

A Durable Bubble

Emilie Dressaire uses a KitchenAid mixer to whip up more durable bubbles.

The Cheerio Effect

Ever wonder why your Cheerios clump together? Applied mathematicians have figured it out.

60 Minutes at SEAS

José Andrés teaches and inspires during a visit last year.

Sticky Bun Sensation

Joanne Chang '91, an applied mathematics concentrator, went from crunching numbers to designing desserts.

Document Actions
Videos
Videos of the past public talks are available on iTunes U and  YouTube
2011 Speakers

Harold McGee
Harold McGee: September 6

Dave Arnold
Dave Arnold: September 6

Joan_Roca
Joan Roca: September 12

Ramon Mortato
Ramon Morato: September 19

Fina & Pere
Fina Puigdevall &
Pere Planaguma: September 26

tejedor
Carles Tejedor: September 26

Grant Achatz
Grant Achatz: October 3

jose_andres
Jose Andres: October 10

Nando Jubany
Nandu Jubany: October 17

Carles Gaig
Carles Gaig: October 17

Wylie Dufresne
Wylie Dufresne: October 24

Carme Ruscalleda
Carme Ruscalleda: October 31

Dan Barber
Dan Barber: November 7

David Chang
David Chang: November 14

Nathan Myhrvold
Nathan Myhrvold: November 21

Bill_Yosses
Bill Yosses: November 28

Ferran Adria
Ferran Adria: December 4 (ticketed)