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In 1988 two men coined the term molecular gastronomy and a new exploration between science and the culinary arts began. Although it is a study filled with fascinating discoveries and unusual experimentation, the story behind the two men who began it is almost equally interesting.
Nicolas Kurti was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1908. When he was young he desired to pursue music and went to Paris to study under Franz Simon. World War 2 forced him to flee to England, where he used his knowledge of science working forTube Alloys (Britain’s top-secret program to build an atomic bomb). He worked on separating isotopes of uranium. Later he went on to become a professor of physics at Oxford. But it was his love of food that led him to begin correspondence with Hervé This and they became fast friends.
Hervé This was born in 1955 in the suburbs of Paris, France and was trained as a chemist in Paris. He was very interested in French proverbs about culinary processes (this is basically looking into very old, eccentric writings and old wives tales about cooking and the kitchen). He did experiments in his private laboratory while working publicly for a scientific journal Pour la Science (the French version of Scientific American). Later in life This has been employed as a physical chemist at the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique. He has also become a bit of a culinary superstar because of his work in molecular gastronomy, and there are many videos of him teaching science and cooking available online.
When they met in 1986, Kurti was in his late 80s and living in Oxford, while This was much younger and living in Paris. A colleague at Pour la Science told Kurti about This and he reached out to the young chemist to discuss ideas. Once in contact they knew they had to meet. The conversation blossomed into a deep friendship, including sharing experiments and ideas and meeting several times in France.
After much deliberation, they decided to take their combined studies to the public, but didn’t have a name for it. They decided to call it Molecular and Physical Gastronomy, which seemed appropriate because of their chemistry and physics backgrounds. They used the term gastronomy rather than cooking because they wanted to include the entire experience into their studies, including preparation, cooking, eating, ambiance, and much more. The name was reduced to molecular gastronomy after the death of Kurti in 1998, possibly because with Kurti gone the experiments would have a focus primarily on chemistry in This’ laboratory.
Interestingly, many renowned scientists seemed to have a fanatic passion for eating and enjoyed discussing it in lectures and with fellow academics. A good mind must be fed, of course.
If you’d like to know more about molecular gastronomy, please search our articles. If you would like to try recipes using the techniques, please visit our recipe page.
