Bubbles add sparkle to wine. How they form, move, and affect our perception of the wine is the subject of the science of champagne. I stumbled on this topic in a review on the chemistry and physics of champagne published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. The review comes from the keyboard of Gérard Liger-Belair, a physicist who is a professor at the Université de Reims, in Champagne-Ardenne, France (where else?…

This spring break, with no detailed planing (we bought the tickets a week from departure), the Mrs and I took a road trip through Andalusia. We started in Madrid, went to Granada, circled to Cordoba and then back to Madrid, stopping when curiosity struck. Being Semana Santa only added to the fun. Molecular gastronomy After the Prado in Madrid, we felt like a snack and walked into a café. The Mrs asked for a torta española, a traditional omelet made with sliced potatoes and onions.…

Roses and apples seem perfect in a dessert. So the contrarian in me wants to match them in a savory dish. When trying out new flavor combinations I have tried to stick to small variations of well established dishes. I have noticed that people enjoy a bit of a surprise in a dish, but will shy away from too much innovation. I was getting nowhere with the rose and apples in a savory dish.…

Chicken with rose water is the pair for TGRWT 16 being hosted by Markus from Supernova Condensate. TGRWT is a recipe blogging event created by Martin from Khymos where ingredients that are not typically seen together must be paired in a recipe. My idea was to to adapt the Moroccan Djaj bel Loz, a chicken with almonds and honey. Almonds, honey, and rose water are typically combined in Persian cooking, so I thought the whole thing should work together.…

Still two days to the deadline of TGRWT #16, chicken and rose water, hosted by Supernova Condensate, but a simple experiment I tried gave me a taste of what the flavor combination could be. I wanted to play with roasted chicken and rose water, so I took some warm chicken broth, added a bit of natural smoke to simulate the flavors of browning, and then slowly added rose water to the mixture.…