A major criticism of molecular gastronomy is that it is “science” not “cooking”, and that you need to understand chemistry and have lots of fancy equipment.
I think this viewpoint is mainly due to how recently many of these ingredients have started to be used in American kitchens. Because of this, there has been a lot of experimentation and explanation about how they work. All of this discussion took place for our traditional ingredients centuries ago, but these exact same discussions did occur.
For instance, you need to add water to the powdered mix and whisk until the thickening agent is evenly dispersed, becomes hydrated and a thick foam is formed, leavened by the carbon dioxide produced by the NaHCO3 interacting with the hydrogen. The foam is then heated over medium-high heat until the cellular foam structure solidifies and sets, and non-enzymatic browning covers the surface.
Or, you could say “add water to the instant pancake mix, stir together, and cook until it isn’t wet and the outside browns.”
This same idea applies to molecular gastronomy too. To utilize the thickening power of xanthan gum you don’t need to understand how it works on a molecular level, just that adding some to a liquid will cause it to thicken.
I’m willing to bet that the majority of the people who say molecular gastronomy is too complicated can make instant pancake mix just fine but couldn’t begin to tell you how it works.
Do I Need Lab Equipment?
Similar to the last point, many people picture fancy, expensive equipment in a sterile lab. The truth is that the majority of modernist cooking can be done with standard kitchen tools you already have on hand. In the Equipment section we give our recommendation for “required” modernist equipment and the total cost is under $100. Sure, things like rotary evaporators and centrifuges cost thousands of dollars but they are equipment used for very specific purposes and most cooks would never need them.
Why Do People Feel This Way?
There are many reasons that people have these misconceptions but I think the biggest one is very simple: Clear, concise information for the average cook isn’t easily available.
Change the Size
Modernist dishes tend to be on the smaller side. Taking an existing dish and making the components smaller is a great way to make something new. Some modernist techniques can help you with this but they aren’t needed for many transformations. For instance, you can reduce sauces or just cut proteins into bite-size pieces, or just focus on keeping the serving size small. Of course, you can also create small films or gels to shrink the size of liquids.
Conversely, taking something small and making it bigger can also reinvent a dish. For liquid components using a foam is a great way to increase the size without increasing the actual amount of the ingredient.
Change the Texture
Changing textures is a staple of modernist dishes. Changing the texture not only affects the flavor of the food, but also how it feels in your mouth and its appearance. Using the techniques and ingredients laid out in this book makes it very easy to change the texture of your dishes. Liquids can be thickened or turned into foams. Turning oils into powders is a great way to change up the texture of a dish. Gels and films are a unique way to present ingredients that would traditionally be liquids. Is there a component you can puree, foam, and then dehydrate?
Change the Use of an Ingredient
Is there an accent ingredient that can be made into the star of the dish? People have been doing this for centuries, from the soup in a bread bowl to Korean BBQ wrapped in lettuce leaves.