Cooking with Chemistry
Chef Wylie Dufresne, the owner of New York City restaurant wd~50, experiments with food, literally. He has lab notebooks detailing what certain chemicals do to certain dishes. One of his signature dishes is a spin on eggs Benedict: he found that creating the plate’s centerpiece–a cube of fried hollandaise sauce–required a lot of scientific testing. Science Friday stopped in at Dufresne’s kitchen to see how he prepares the dish.
Mushroom Prints
In this lesson, students will be amateur mycologists–collecting and analyzing various mushrooms. Through observation and discussion, students will gain knowledge of the basic anatomy of mushrooms, their life cycle, and their method of reproduction through spores. Students will learn to create spore prints of mushrooms and label and preserve their spore prints, just like a mycologist. Students also will learn that by comparing spore prints, they can identify different mushroom species.
Yet Another Reason To Spike That Eggnog
A perennial holiday dilemma: will alcohol kill the bacteria in homemade eggnog?
The Cheese Chronicles
Author and cheese expert Liz Thorpe explains the science of cheesemaking.
Another Reason To Spike That Eggnog
It is a question on the minds of many people this season: will adding alcohol to the homemade eggnog safeguard against salmonella?
Chile Peppers
In this segment, live from Tucson, Arizona, we’ll take a scientific look at the chile pepper, from the chemistry and biology of a pepper’s burn, to the psychology of why some people like it hot. Grab some salsa and listen in!
What Put the Heat in Chili Peppers?
New research indicates that chili pepper plants may have developed their signature heat as a way to fight off fungal infections caused by insects.