Weird Science

Molecular cuisine. Art or arse?
Dan: There's a thing in Spain called Madrid Fusion where all the chefs from around the world show off the latest things they're working on. Some guy recently got up and wrote off molecular gastronomy. People gave him a standing ovation. My belief is that the people who diss it are afraid of it.
Darrell: If people are doing something different, it needs to be embraced. Otherwise our industry won't go anywhere fun.
Mark: I think we're probably in the middle of one of the most important cooking movents in the past century. But like nouvelle cuisine, it's impact and influence will only truly be known a decade down the track. I find it very exciting but I try not to get too carried away with it.
Brent: It's definitely not bullshit. There's a lot to the molecular movement. Treated with respect and in the right hands it's very new and exciting and has a big future depending on how far it goes and how far we chefs take it. The people who call bullshit on it are afraid of new techniques. I reckon it's going to revolutionise the way restaurants cook.

So it's not just a novelty of the new wave of chefs?
Brent: If they've got the opportunity, come out, (foam) guns blazing.
Mark: You can't start on a unicycle if you can't ride a normal bike. The reason I enjoy my cooking so much is because I have a thorough understanding of classical French cuisine and that keeps me grounded. When I see these techniques and ingredients I turn into a bit of magpie - taking these bright and shiny things and integrating them into my cuisine without letting it dominate.

What's the trickle down to the home cook?
Dan: For me, cooking at home is completely different from cooking in the kitchen. Cooking at home with friends and family is about sharing and having fun and not getting too worked up. Cooking in the kitchen is more about using your head. You have to think a bit more and keep alert and focused.
Brent: If you've got the time, there are definitely elements of molecular accessible to the home cook. But not everybody's got a Paco Jet at home...
Darrell: What molecular dining has done is elevate restaurants in diners' eyes. It's exciting that people look at the food now and go: 'Oh, that's clever'. Maybe in five or ten years time everyone will be doing this type of stuff at home but at the moment they're not, so restaurants are appreciated more.
Mark: I think we've seen it in people's homes for a long time. Instant soups, all of those proprietary products you've been buying from confectioners and from supermarket shelves for a decade - this is the same food technology techniques they're using in molecular cuisine. That's what the science is tapping into.

So what's the future of the molecular food revolution?
Mark: There are a lot of retrograde actions at the moment where you have people pushing it and others reverting back to the distant past. I think somewhere in the middle would be nice. But do I want to go back to the early 90s when everything was "exciting"? No, because a lot of it was utter shit.
Darrell: I just hope they don't start changing and modifying food. I know it's something

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