Kitchen Chemistry

SIS_7_45-72 15.11.2007 18:03 Uhr Seite 65
Reviews
Kitchen Chemistry
By Ted Lister and Heston Blumenthal
Reviewed by Tim Harrison, University of Bristol, UK
Why do some people find that their
experiments, and for the handling of
the 3D structures of molecules.)
urine smells horribly after eating
liquid nitrogen in the chapter on mak-
Ted Lister has written several publi-
asparagus? Should green beans be
ing ice-cream, are also included.
cations for the Royal Society of
cooked with the lid on or off? How
There are three activities aimed
Chemistry. Heston Blumenthal is one
hot are chilli peppers? What affects
specifically at younger students.
of the UK’s top chefs whose restau-
the colour and texture of cooked veg-
These include investigating several of
rant, The Fat Duck, has the distinction
etables? These are a few of the ques-
the variables that affect how jelly sets
of three Michelin stars. It was also
tions that the Kitchen Chemistry book
in contact with fresh fruit, as well as
voted the best restaurant in the world
and CD-ROM aim to answer with a
ice-cream making. For 11- to 16-year-
in April 2005. Heston is noted for his
range of experiments and other
olds, there are several experiments
scientific approach to cooking.
activities.
investigating salt and the use of salt
As the front cover states, “This
in cooking. The post-16 activities
Resources
resource for schools and colleges
make use of skeleton formulae of
Teachers who wish to see the work-
demonstrates the role of chemistry in
compounds and high-pressure liquid
sheets before purchasing this
the kitchen and highlights the wide
chromatography (HPLC) chro-
resource may download them from
applicability of chemical principles.”
matograms. Experiments include the
www.chemsoc.org/
The back page continues: “Although
titration of sodium chloride solutions
kitchenchemistry.
not directly part of most [UK] school’s
to see if vegetables absorb salt when
For more information on activities of
curricula, this topic provides an excit-
cooked, and the chemistry of baking
The Royal Society of Chemistry,
ing context for some familiar chem-
powder. Other exercises examine the
including those designed for
istry and a way to engage students
structure of ice and water, the chem-
students, see: www.rsc.org
with the topic.” The book consists of
istry of flavour and why pans stick.
class practicals, demonstrations, com-
A CD-ROM, to be used alongside
Details
prehension exercises and paper-based
the book, lists resources by book
Publisher: The Royal Society of
activities. The activities are presented
chapter. These resources include the
Chemistry
as teachers’ notes and student work-
worksheets (as Microsoft Word® docu-
Publication year: 2005
sheets.
ments or PDF files in colour or black
ISBN: 9780854043897
If selected carefully, food chemistry
and white), a presentation on salt,
experiments can be conducted by stu-
some rotatable Chime structures of
Ordering
dents from primary to pre-university
ice, and links to 16 video clips that
The resource can be ordered from the
level. Indeed, a helpful index cate-
can be downloaded from the Internet.
Royal Society of Chemistry:
gorises the Kitchen Chemistry activities
To view the video clips, a PC must be
www.rsc.org
by age: 5-11, 11-16 and post-16 (pre-
connected to the Internet. The clips,
university). Most topics are for post-
featuring Heston Blumenthal from the
16 students but even these could be
Discovery Channel TV series ‘Kitchen
used for younger, more able students,
Chemistry’, are available in three for-
particularly if they were adapted
mats:
accordingly. Each topic describes the
· 2MB Windows Media Video (wmv)
learning objectives, targeted age
· 15MB Windows Media Video
group, approximate timings, a
· 35MB MPEG.
description, teaching notes and
Adobe Acrobat Reader and Chime
details of the student activities. Notes
plug-ins are available on the CD-
on the risk assessments for food
ROM. (Chime is needed to visualise
www.scienceinschool.org
Science in School Issue 7 : Winter 2007
65