Author: Ben Reade

My Name is Ben Reade, I’m a chef from Scotland, and for the past 3.5 years I have been studying at The University of Gastronomic Sciences in Italy. For my final thesis, I came to Nordic Food Lab to research many subjects where my varied interests inerlaced with those of the Lab. Over the next month or so I will be breaking down this thesis into managable blog-style chunks which I hope you find interesting. The research arose out of time spent at the Nordic Food Lab between 29 September and 22 December 2011. The aim is to describe NFL’s current research to both chefs and non-specialized readers, explaining and coding the creative and scientific methodologies employed during the research at NFL, exploring their application in food experimentation and innovation. If you want to ask me any questions directly, I’m contactable on Twitter @benreade. Enjoy!

Lactic Fermentation

Lactic Fermentation

“Desert without cheese is like a pretty girl with only one eye” Jean Anthleme Brillat Savarin (1825) Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) fermentation (F) plays a major part …

 

Experimental Balsamic

Experimental Balsamic

The generally recognized method for making balsamic vinegar (BV) is based on a letter written in 1860 (Saccani, 1998). The most important production of balsamic …

 

Vinegar: From the Orleans Method to Food Lab Experiments

Vinegar: From the Orleans Method to Food Lab Experiments

The Orleans Method The most famous slow method of vinegar production is the old French technique, known as the Orleans method. In the Orleans method barrels …

 

Acetic Fermentation – Vinegar

Acetic Fermentation – Vinegar

The principle result of acetous fermentation is vinegar. Vinegar, frequently considered a poor cousin in the realm of fermented foods can, when made with the …

 

An Ode to Alcohol

An Ode to Alcohol

Around 800 species of yeast have been described by science (Boekout and Samson), this is thought to be a tiny fraction of the total number …

 

Fermentation : Traditional Biotechnology

Fermentation : Traditional Biotechnology

The world of microorganisms is vast and, relative to other areas of biology, poorly understood at a scientific level. Through millennia of experimenting humans have …

 

Practical Guide to Yeast Extraction

Practical Guide to Yeast Extraction

Love for the umami tasting compounds that yeast extract can give led NFL to investigate the process of making yeast extracts; the secrets of which …

 

Yellow Pea Chiang Yu

Yellow Pea Chiang Yu

Chiang is the Chinese prototype of the Japanese miso, and chiang yu is, directly translated, the ‘oil of miso’ otherwise known as soy sauce. Variations …

 

Umami Arising from Salt Rich Fermentations

Umami Arising from Salt Rich Fermentations

Salt rich fermentations can be used to create high level of umami taste. Often the salt shuts off most possibility for microbial activity, so enzymes …

 

Umami and Dashi

Umami and Dashi

In 1825, Brillat-Savarin wrote in the ‘Physiology of taste’ about ‘osmazome’ which he described as “the purely sapid portion of flesh soluble in cold water… …