Why not Dr Chef?
The chemistry of cooking is one form of science that is dear to us all – if you get it wrong dinner is ruined, but if the formula is right dinner is a triumph. Helen Gardiner says cooking is really just inspired scientific experimentation.
Doron Weber has every science communicator's dream job. As Program Director for the Alfred P Sloan Foundation in the US he has a sizeable share of the Foundation's $70 million annual grant monies to spend. He provides funds for creating and supporting books, films, radio programs, television, theatre and other projects which are designed to generate public interest in, and encourage debate about, new developments in Science and Technology.
Weber’s visit to Hollywood directors led to the creation of the hugely successful CSI franchise. Suddenly science became cool, even sexy and demand for places in forensic science studies at universities soared. Audiences became more familiar with new forensic techniques as they followed the drama. Possibly, some criminals were deterred.
One of the current activities supported by a Sloan grant is Radiolab at WNYC, New York Public Broadcasting. Not only is it good science radio, it is simply good, creative radio and will no doubt inspire future programs.
In the television series MasterChef, of course the human drama is all-important, but no real science storylines make it into the show or even the complementary on-line content. In this lead up to National Science Week, this seems a real lost opportunity for creative programming.
Such shows have inspired experimentation by home cooks in kitchens all around Australia (and beyond): exploring, concocting, discovering, repeating, following expert instructions, testing the repeatability of a recipe, adding some individual inspiration, and subjecting the results to critical peer review (the family table rather than the science journal).
They talk about the chemical reactions of caramelisation or the tempering of chocolate, but why not delve further into molecules such as 2-acetylpyrroline, which is made when a protein and carbohydrate-rich food is cooked? It's one of the molecules that give toast, coffee and freshly baked biscuits their smell and colour and our noses can detect a billionth of a gram of it. What more is there to discover?
This is all terrific for getting a direct experience of science fundamentals, but these richer stories also offer other insights into how science affects our lives.
In 2012 a new scientific journal called Flavour was launched. Already open to such new knowledge through our interest in food, the material is not so hard to absorb and at the same time it shows how science is done. This journal is all Open Access. Anyone can dip in and discover, "…the effect of sugar and alcohol impregnation on the crunchiness of fruit" or be fascinated by a study looking at how we associate tastes and flavours to shapes of food. I am curious to see how that second study influences future food packaging and presentation. And being curious and seeking novelty are as human to us as our passion for family drama and entertainment.
This year for Science Week in Victoria we are once again tapping into the community's interest in food and cooking. We have invited M.I.T. graduate and passionate New York food blogger, Kevin Liu, to share his foodie findings at a range of public events.
Kevin's own interest in food and science is taking him to new places. He is currently assisting with the programming of Harvard University's exciting Science and Cooking course. He is writing a book on the science of cocktails. And he gets invitations from the other side of the world to come and do what he loves over here!
This year we are also continuing another creative program called Invite a Scientist to Dinner. In 2011, a group of immunology researchers in Melbourne were supported by our Committee to host a dinner for over 50 coeliac sufferers at a local gluten-free restaurant in Carlton North. It started with a talk about the latest thinking in coeliac research. Then guests were invited to discuss their concerns with researchers who were seated at each of the tables. The researchers got to hear about the experiences and observations of sufferers, and the sufferers got to speak directly with the people at the lab bench who knew about current studies and what might offer hope. This year the dinner is for allergy sufferers and we expect another great success. The dinner table is the right place to discuss science – creating a two-way exchange rather than the traditional top-down. We like to think that as science communicators we are helping scientists get better at doing this.
I wonder how long it will take for our television programmers to see the real value in adding science content to their menus? Those of us who work in this field know people are very interested in finding out more about the kind of science being done today. So let's not be content with MasterChef and let’s go for Dr Chef. Who knows what new programming, business and social opportunities we could create?
As Alfred P. Sloan Jr said in 1941: Too often we fail to recognise and pay tribute to the creative spirit. It is that spirit that creates our jobs.
(For Kevin Liu’s tour details go to www.scienceweek.net.au/kevinliu and then search the listings. The feature event is Living Science at the Market, Sunday 19th August, 9am-3pm at the Queen Victoria Market in Melbourne where you can learn lots more about food chemistry.)
Related blog:
How do we encourage children to value science? – by Lynne Selwood
Helen Gardiner works as a science communicator in Melbourne. Her full-time role is as Communications Manager for the Victorian Life Sciences Computation Initiative, a supercomputer facility dedicated to supporting Victorian life sciences researchers. She is also Chair, National Science Week Committee (Vic.) and a Councillor of the Royal Society of Victoria.
