Discover the Science Behind Cooking

By: Charles Bowen Tired of writing, editing, and publishing the same basic food stories every week?

A tradition at many newspapers turns each Wednesday into cooking day on the lifestyles pages. It's a practice dating back to the times when the big grocery store advertisements were published midweek.

And talk about habits! Features editors sometimes just put those Wednesday "Life" section fronts on automatic pilot, rotating in the same series of dishes, cooks, and menus, month after month, year after year. Cookies at Christmas. Hotdogs in July. Recipes can be so redundant.

But how can you jazz up your juiceless food copy? Maybe with a pinch of science! A Web site called The Accidental Scientist invites you to explore the science of cooking with lively material that can add some real spice to those bland food columns. The site, operated by San Francisco's Exploratorium museum and science center, is devoted to recipes and activities that enhance our understanding of the science behind food preparation.

To check it out, visit the site at http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking, where a pleasantly simple introductory screen links you to its broad categories, such as seasoning, eggs, bread, meat, candy, and even pickles. Each section features bright graphics and lively text.

For instance, the introduction to the data on seasoning says, "We eat because we need food, but we cook because we love food. That love is fueled by the tangy heat of spices and nurtured by the flowery aroma of herbs. Seasonings play a minimal nutritional role in our diet. They play to our senses. They make us want another bite." The same section provides links to the "Kitchen Lab," with spicy recipes, like a mock apple pie, and activities, like an experiment about what color has to do with our sense of taste.

How can you use this material in your journalism? Suppose you're planning the usual holiday breads feature next month, but before you send your reporter out to interview a local baker again, you do a little Web research. In the site's Bread Science 101 section, you explore the continuum of breads, from the thinnest flatbreads to the fluffiest brioche, the two types of leaveners (baking powder or soda and yeast) and the power of gluten. Then you slip on over to the online Kitchen Bread Lab for recipes on everything from Berkeley Sourdough to Ethiopian Injera.

Other considerations for using the Science of Cooking site in your work:

1. In your search for ideas for new stories and approaches, be sure to check the "Monthly Feature" and "Share and Discuss" sections on the site's introductory page. At this writing, the topics were "Safety first when canning at home" and "Why salt that eggplant?"

2. If you write about the service in your news columns, you might want to give your readers a heads-up about a series of live Webcasts starting next month with a report on "Turkey Science."

3. The Exploratorium's site was inspired by a book called Accidental Scientist: The Inquisitive Cook by Anne Gardiner and Sue Wilson. A link to background on the publication can be found at the bottom of the site's main screen.

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