Tag Archives: Cooking

2025 Controversial Scientific Cooking Tips from a Renowned Physicist

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Cacio e pepe pasta sauce

Mastering the Cacio e Pepe Sauce

Brent Hofacker/Alamy

A groundbreaking recipe for the classic Cacio e Pepe pasta dish and perfectly cooked hard-boiled eggs has stirred discussions in the culinary world throughout 2025, evoking both excitement and dissent.

In January, Ivan di Terlizzi and researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Complex Systems Physics in Germany unveiled their findings on achieving the ideal silky texture of Cacio e Pepe pasta sauce. This traditional dish, composed of black pepper, pecorino cheese, and water, is notoriously challenging to perfect without unwanted lumps. According to the researchers, the key lies in the addition of a small amount of cornstarch.

The research involved meticulous testing of hundreds of sauce variations to determine the ideal ratios of cheese, starch, and water, resulting in insightful graphs and diagrams that indicate the threshold for achieving a lump-free sauce. Despite the scientific backing, their findings sparked controversy, particularly in Italy.

“Being an Italian recipe, we encountered some skepticism on social media, with remarks suggesting we’ve mastered this dish over generations. Cooking should be driven by passion, not just science,” Di Terlizzi noted.

Conversely, responses from the scientific community were predominantly positive, with fellow researchers approaching him at physics conferences to discuss his work. In September, Di Terlizzi and his colleagues were awarded the Ig Nobel Prize, a whimsical recognition of research that stimulates both laughter and contemplation. “It’s about finding patterns in what appears chaotic, provided you examine it through the lens of rigor and mathematics,” he explained.

In February, Ernesto Di Maio and his team at the University of Naples introduced a revolutionary method for boiling eggs perfectly. This intricate technique involves transferring the eggs between pots of 30°C water and boiling water every two minutes for at least 30 minutes to ensure even cooking of the whites and yolks, which solidify at different temperatures.

This egg-cooking method gained significant traction online, though some users criticized the lengthy process for a traditionally quick dish. The media attention also led to unexpected platforms, such as a live cooking show on Japan’s public broadcaster and a segment on the Italian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Di Maio remarked, “I recently returned from Washington, D.C., where I prepared countless eggs for a gathering at an ambassador’s residence.”

Di Maio further mentioned that the scientific principles applied in perfecting the egg-boiling technique are being adapted for more practical applications, such as curing materials at varying temperatures to create layered plastics, akin to the egg white and yolk layers.

The Science of Wine and Cheese in France

Join us for a captivating journey into France’s culinary heritage, exploring the intricate relationship between wine and cheese through the lens of science, tradition, and terroir.

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  • 2025 News Highlights

Source: www.newscientist.com

Four Kitchen Gadgets Set to Transform Your Cooking Experience

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Kitchen gadgets have evolved from air fryers to Spyra Lizards. The latest multipurpose countertop cookers are vying for attention, offering more than just the current essential consumer items.

With their versatility, they aim to become a practical substitute for traditional stove and oven setups.

Compact Yet Potent Steam Rice Cooker

SMEG Countertop Steam Oven features 33 automatic programs – Credit: SMEG

If you’ve ever wondered why restaurant dishes are so succulent, the answer is steam cooking. Steam ovens are prevalent in professional kitchens due to their ability to cook food quickly without drying it out.

Steam transfers more thermal energy than dry air and condenses on the food, delivering that energy directly for faster, more even cooking.

Smeg has ingeniously incorporated the steam rice cooker into the Combi oven, designed compactly to fit on your countertop. Within, the water tank connects to a boiler system.

Selecting the steam function heats the water in the boiler, releasing steam into a spacious 30-liter chamber.

You can also combine steam with roasting for crispy meats, potatoes, or bread, or choose from 10 other functionalities, such as air frying, baking, grilling, and defrosting.

Although its 33 automatic programs may seem daunting, intuitive controls and a steam cleaning feature enhance user-friendliness. Compared to standard ovens, SMEG’s small cavities heat up more quickly and consume less energy.

Smeg 10-in-1 Countertop Combi Steam Oven

The Undisputed Champion of the Air Fryer Market

Daewoo Halogen Air Fryer Oven boasts a maximum capacity of 17 liters, capable of roasting a whole chicken at once – Credit: Daewoo

Several features set Daewoo apart in the competitive Air Fryer landscape.

First, its transparent glass galley provides a 360° view of your food as it cooks, eliminating the need to open the drawer and lose heat while checking.

Second, its standard 12-liter galley can be expanded to 17 liters with extender rings.

While larger countertop ovens like Smeg and Gastroback offer increased capacity, it’s uncommon to find this volume in a dedicated air fryer. Most traditional models max out around 10 liters. This ample space, combined with an adjustable rack, enables you to roast an entire chicken or prepare a full meal at once.

Lastly, unlike conventional air fryers that utilize fans with metal heating coils, Daewoo employs a halogen bulb in conjunction with the fan for faster heating.

The intense heat produced allows for a crispy exterior while maintaining moisture inside. However, caution is advised as overcooking can occur easily. Additionally, halogen air fryers may not be as energy-efficient as regular basket models.

Daewoo Halogen Air Fryer Oven

Versatility in One Device

Ninja Multi-Cooker features nine modes, including air frying, pressure cooking, steaming, grilling, sautéing, dehydrating, yogurt making, and more – Credit: Ninja

The air fryer has long been known for its efficiency and versatility. Nevertheless, manufacturers have extensively enhanced their functionality, integrating features that rival traditional stoves and ovens.

Take, for instance, the Ninja Foodi 9-in-1, which offers not just air frying but also eight additional cooking modes, including pressure cooking, steaming, grilling, sautéing, dehydrating, and yogurt making.

Two distinct lids manage the various functions: a pressure lid for high-pressure cooking and a crisp lid for air frying—which can also be used with the steam feature when the vents are open.

The heating elements and fan within the lid circulate hot air to brown the food effectively.

The bottom heating element provides gentle heat suitable for yogurt or direct heat for baking and sautéing.

It’s a robust appliance that occupies considerable counter space, and the central lid can be quite imposing. However, its energy savings become significant, particularly when preparing family-sized meals.

Ninja Foodi 9-in-1 Multi Cooker

A Pizza Experience Without Flames

Gastroback oven functions as a pizza oven, rotisserie oven, air fryer, and more – Credit: Gastroback

Wood-fired pizza ovens have undergone style and structural upgrades in recent years, leading to their increased presence even in smaller outdoor spaces.

For those without gardens—or who prefer convenience—an all-in-one countertop oven brings the quick cooking and delicately crisp results you desire.

The Gastroback Design Oven Air Fry & Pizza is equipped with six heating elements—four on top and two bottom—that allow for individual control, providing precise heat management for various functions.

Air frying, baking, roasting, dehydrating, and thawing utilize all elements in combination with a built-in convection fan.

The upper elements are ideal for browning and grilling, while the lower elements are suited for reheating pastries and toast.

By removing the rack and adding skewers, the Gastroback can transform into a rotisserie oven. Alternatively, you can employ a ceramic pizza stone with the upper heating elements for pizza.

In its 22-liter chamber, the Gastroback warms up more rapidly than a larger traditional oven.

Energy savings are most apparent with small dishes or quick meals; however, using it solely for toasting or reheating may compromise efficiency as smaller appliances might perform just as well.

One trade-off with the Gastroback’s size is the reduced capacity for larger dishes compared to a conventional 60-liter oven. With numerous features and accessories, the learning curve may seem daunting at first.

Gastroback Design Oven Air Fry & Pizza

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Source: www.sciencefocus.com

Research: Early Drivers of Fire Use for Meat Preservation and Predator Protection, Not Cooking

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The advent of fire marks a significant point in human evolution, though scholars continue to debate its primary function. While cooking is frequently regarded as a key factor, researchers from Tel Aviv University propose that the protection of meat and fat from predators is more plausible. Homo Erectus lived during the Lower Paleolithic era, approximately 1.9 to 0.78 million years ago.

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Miki Ben-Dor & Ran Barkai’s research highlights the nutritional value of meat and fat from large prey in the Lower Paleolithic, questioning the significance of culinary practices in shaping human dietary evolution and offering new insights into adaptations in Homo Erectus.

“The origins of fire usage is a ‘burning’ question among prehistoric researchers globally,” stated Professor Barkay, a co-author of the study.

“By around 400,000 years ago, it was widely accepted that fire was commonly used in domestic settings. I concur with the idea of meat roasting, as well as its use for lighting and heating.”

“However, there remains a debate concerning the past million years, with various theories put forth to explain early human interactions with fire.”

“This study aimed to approach this issue from a new angle.”

“For early humans, the use of fire wasn’t a given; most archaeological sites dated around 400,000 years ago show no signs of fire usage,” explained Dr. Miki Ben-Dor, lead author of the study from Tel Aviv University.

“However, in many early locations, there are clear indications of fire usage, even if there’s no evidence of burnt bones or roasted meat.”

“We see early humans—nearly Homo Erectus—utilizing fire sporadically for specific purposes rather than regularly.”

“Collecting fuel, igniting a fire, and maintaining it involved substantial effort, requiring a compelling energy-efficient reason.”

“We propose a new hypothesis for that motivation.”

In their research, the authors reviewed existing literature on all identified prehistoric sites between 1.8 million and 800,000 years ago where fire evidence has been found.

They identified nine sites globally, including Gesher Benot Ya’aqov and Evron Quarry in Israel, six sites in Africa, and one site in Spain.

The study also drew from ethnographic research on contemporary hunter-gatherer societies, relating their behaviors to ancient conditions.

“We examined the common features of these nine ancient sites and found they all contained a significant number of bones from large animals, mainly elephants, hippos, and rhinoceroses,” Dr. Ben-Dor noted.

“Previous research has shown these large animals were critical to early human diets, providing a substantial portion of their caloric needs.”

“For instance, the meat and fat from a single elephant can supply millions of calories, enough to sustain a group of 20 to 30 people for over a month.”

“Thus, hunting elephants and hippos was highly valuable—essentially a ‘bank’ of meat and fat that required protection and preservation, as it was sought after by predators and susceptible to decay.”

Through their analysis of findings and assessments of energetic benefits of preserving meat and fat, the researchers arrived at new conclusions that challenge previous theories. Early fires served dual purposes: first, to safeguard valuable resources from predators, and second, to facilitate smoking and prevent spoilage.

“This study introduces a novel perspective on the motivations behind early human fire use: the necessity to protect large game from other predators and the long-term preservation of substantial meat supplies,” Professor Barkay explained.

“Cooking may have occurred occasionally after fire was established for these protective purposes.”

“Such usage could elucidate evidence of fish roasting around 800,000 years ago found at Gesher Benot Ya’aqov.”

“Our approach aligns with evolving global theories that characterize major prehistoric trends as adaptations to hunting and consuming large animals, followed by a gradual shift to smaller prey exploitation.”

Survey results were published in the journal Nutrition Frontier.

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Miki Ben-Dor & Ran Barkai. 2025. The bioenergy approach supports the conservation and protection of prey, rather than cooking, as a primary driver for early use of fire. Front. Nutr. 12; doi:10.3389/fnut.2025.1585182

Source: www.sci.news

The strange TikTok cooking oil trend demonstrates the pitfalls of misinformation spread through social media

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On TikTok, people claim that pouring castor oil on their belly buttons can cure endometriosis, aid in weight loss, improve complexion, and promote healthy hair. However, it’s important to question the scientific basis behind this viral trend. Castor oil is known for its stimulant and laxative effects, which can be beneficial for treating constipation and inducing labor, although there are more commonly used medications for these purposes.

In addition to its medicinal uses, castor oil is also utilized in cosmetics like lip balms and moisturizers due to its moisturizing and antibacterial properties. Nevertheless, there is a lack of research supporting or refuting the health benefits of applying castor oil to the belly button.

This practice may not make sense from a physiological standpoint, as the belly button served as a connection to the placenta during fetal development, providing oxygen and removing waste products. However, this connection is severed at birth, and oil does not enter the body through the belly button.

While massaging castor oil into the skin may offer temporary relief for certain conditions, such as menstrual cramps, it is not proven to be effective for weight loss or pain relief when taken orally or applied topically. Essential oils have shown to be more effective for aromatherapy purposes compared to unscented oils like castor oil.

Overall, while abdominal massage with castor oil may provide some relief for symptoms like constipation, it is not a substitute for proper medical treatment. It’s important to approach health trends with caution and rely on scientifically proven methods for healthcare.

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Source: www.sciencefocus.com

Experimenting with Neanderthal cooking methods using birds and stone tools

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A researcher plucks the feathers of a bird as part of an experiment to investigate Neanderthal cooking techniques.

Mariana Navaiz

To learn more about Neanderthal culinary talents, archaeologists cooked five wild birds using only fire, their hands, and stone tools. The experiment shows that our ancient relatives needed significant manual skill to use a flint blade to butcher an animal without injuring themselves.

Neanderthals lived in Europe and Asia until about 40,000 years ago. Hearths have been found at many of their sites, and there is evidence that they hunted large animals such as elephants and cave lions.

Mariana Navaiz Researchers at the Catalan Institute of Human Palaeoecology and Social Evolution in Tarragona, Spain, say that by recreating ancient activities such as cooking and butchering using tools available at the time, scientists can gain insight into how prehistoric humans lived.

She and her colleagues wanted to better understand archaeological bird remains associated with Neanderthals that date back about 90,000 years ago and were found in deposits in Portugal.

The team selected five birds that had died at a wildlife rehabilitation center in Portugal and were similar in size and species to those found at the archaeological site.Crow), Turtledove(Columba Palumbus) and two European collared doves (Streptopelia decaoctoThe tools used in the experiment were pieces of flint prepared by students of stone tool technology.

All five birds were plucked by hand. The crow and pigeon were butchered raw, while the remaining three were roasted over charcoal. The cooked birds were easily butchered without stone tools, but the raw birds required considerable effort using a flint blade.

“Paleolithic knives were certainly very sharp and required careful handling,” Navais says. “The precision and effort required to use these tools without injuring oneself highlights the practical challenges Neanderthals would have faced in their everyday food processing activities.”

Once the dissection was complete, the researchers prepared the bones and analyzed them for distinctive marks caused by stone tools and fire, as well as identifying wear marks from flint tools.

The burn marks and tool marks were then compared to Neanderthal food remains found at the archaeological sites of Fighiera Brava and Oliveira in Portugal, where bird bones with burn marks and cut marks matched the team’s reconstruction, Navaís said.

“Our experimental studies demonstrate that flaked raw birds display characteristic cut marks, especially around tendons and joints, while roasted birds display burn marks and increased brittleness leading to fractures,” she says. “These findings help distinguish between human-induced modifications and those caused by natural processes or other animals, such as trampling or the activity of rodents, raptors and carnivores.”

Neanderthals were skilled enough to capture and prepare small, fast-moving animals like birds, Navais said. “This study highlights the cognitive capabilities of Neanderthals and demonstrates their ability to capture and prepare small, fast-moving prey like birds, challenging previous ideas that they were incapable of such complex tasks.”

Sam Lin Researchers at the University of Wollongong in Australia say experimental archaeology is like reverse engineering, comparing what happens in modern samples with archaeological material to try to interpret what happened in the past.

In this case, one of the main findings is that cooked birds don’t require tools to prepare them for eating, which means some bones may not necessarily bear tool marks. “They learned that you just need to tear apart a cooked wild bird, just like we do when we eat barbecued chicken,” Lin said.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Cooking releases artificial flavors that enhance the quality of lab-grown meat

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Flavored cultured meat

Yonsei University

Lab-grown meat could potentially taste better thanks to aroma chemicals that activate when cooked and give off a meaty scent – or, if you prefer, coffee or potato.

Meat grown from cell cultures has already been produced in a variety of forms, such as steaks and meatballs, that resemble slaughtered meat, but matching the taste has proven harder: The flavor of traditional meat is too complex and unstable to withstand the lengthy lab process.

One of the key components of cooked meat's flavor is the Maillard reaction, named after the French chemist who discovered that temperatures between 140 and 165°C (280 and 330°F) give cooked foods their distinctive flavor. Jinkee Hong Researchers at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea, say they have devised a way to simulate the Maillard reaction by adding “switchable flavour compounds” (SFCs) to a 3D gelatin-based hydrogel called a “scaffold” that remains stable during meat cultivation.

When heated to 150°C, the chemicals “switch on” and release flavors, making the cultured protein more palatable: “When we heated SFC, it actually tasted like meat,” Hong says, though he declined to confirm whether the team actually ate meat.

These SFCs can also be used to create different flavor profiles. For example, the researchers say they tested three compounds, which produced flavors that mimicked roasted meat, coffee, roasted nuts, onion and potatoes. “You can diversify and customize the flavor compounds released from the SFCs,” Hong says.

One big problem is that the chemicals involved are not currently considered safe for human consumption. “Because the materials and culture media have not been approved as edible materials, we cannot guarantee their safety,” Hong says. “However, our strategy can be applied to conventional edible materials and we believe it would be safer than the materials we used in this study.”

Johannes Le Couteur Researchers at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, said they were skeptical of the study for a number of reasons, including that the flavor tests primarily used electronic noses to evaluate chemicals released, rather than humans judging whether a scent was appetizing.

“This type of material cannot feed humans,” Le Coutur said. “While cell-based meat is a promising technology concept, this particular flavoring method will never be able to provide safe, sustainable protein to low- and moderate-income communities in need.”

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Source: www.newscientist.com