Why does pesto turn from bright green to almost black when you don’t use it right away? How can you prevent this color change from occurring? In this video, Dan Souza from America’s Test Kitchen will introduce the chemical reaction that is responsible for this color change, and explain why it happens.

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Sign-up for “Science & Cooking: From Haute Cuisine to Soft Matter Science (Part 2)” on edX: https://bit.ly/2qJzBfd

In Part 2 of Science and Cooking (Part 1 is available here: https://bit.ly/2oEgXSE), we will be visited by more world-famous chefs who use a number of different styles and techniques in their cooking. Each chef will demonstrate how he or she prepares delicious and interesting creations, and we will explore how fundamental scientific principles make them possible.

Topics will include:

– How cooking changes food texture
– Making emulsions and foams
– Phase changes in cooking

You will also have the opportunity to become an experimental scientist in your very own laboratory — your kitchen! By following along with the recipes of the week, taking precise measurements, and making skillful observations, you will learn to think like both a chef and a scientist. This practice will prepare you for the final project, when you will design and perform an experiment to analyze a recipe of your choice from a scientific perspective.

The lab is certainly one of the most unique components of this course — after all, in what other science course can you eat your experiments?

This course focuses on the physical changes that occur during cooking. If you are interested in signing up for “Part 1,” which focuses more on the chemistry of cooking, you can do so here: https://bit.ly/2oEgXSE

What you’ll learn:
– The chemical and physical principles that underlie everyday cooking and haute cuisine techniques
– How chefs can use enzymes to make foods that would otherwise be impossible
– How to use the scientific method to learn how a recipe works, and find ways you could improve it
– How to think like a chef AND a scientist.

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