Science and Cooking at Harvard SEAS, 2015!

It’s been a long while, so I decided it was high time to hang out in lecture hall C of Harvard’s Science Center for the opening lecture featuring Harold McGee and Dave Arnold last night.  Overall reaction?  I still have a nerd crush on Dave Arnold.  He’s like a puppy when it comes to food science and related interests.  How can anyone not like him?

Before the lecture started, the audience was handed plastic packets filled with sugar-related items.

What the?

I don’t eat a lot of sugar anymore!

Confusion ensued.

Harold McGee and Dave Arnold, Nov. 10th lecture

I did not make it to the “Science of Cocktails.” Joe, a gracious reader, gave a really quick summary in his comment under a previous post called “lecture note.”

However, my sister (aka Stealth Eater) went! She is going to type up her notes and send them to me. I will post them as soon as they are in my inbox. (^_^)

lecture note

Yes, I went to the lecture tonight, featuring Dan Barber.

Although his subject matter is very nerdy, I still find it very interesting and inspiring. I got home late so I’ll have to write up the summary tomorrow.

Other points of interest, youtube videos of this semester’s lectures are being posted – http://seas.harvard.edu/cooking

Harold McGee and Dave Arnold will be doing an additional lecture this Thursday at Jefferson 250, talking about the Science of Cocktails. You must register to get a seat (it is free though). Unfortunately, I was unable to write down the exact URL to register. I only remember that it was via surveymonkey.  I will not be attending because I have class that night.

 

EDIT:  Thanks to a reader, here’s the URL to register for a seat for Thursday.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/KY52SQK

Getting back into the swing of things

1. I haven’t been cooking nearly as much as I wish I were.

2. I’ve been lazy about posting garden pictures even though I took the trouble to take photos. I guess there’s just not much to talk about at this time. I have a few more eggplants that are maturing, and my mom and I have a winter melon growing. Our tomatoes didn’t do so well, but that’s mostly our fault. My thyme and rosemary plants are happy, and my tarragon plant is a slow grower in the grand scheme of things. It’s been raining a lot the past three days, which is great for my newly installed rainbarrel (with huge thanks to my sister and her landscaper). My shiso plants are pretty awesome… too bad I don’t use enough of it.

3. The SEAS lectures started this week. I went to see Harold McGee and Dave Arnold. There’s not a lot to write about but I will summarize nevertheless! I meant to write last night and just clean forgot about it. I haven’t had to think about the lectures since last fall.

4. I have a lot of things going on this fall. Likely this will mean that I am going to be very selfish with my free time. I expect a lot of cooking and very little socialing. Good news for this blog, not so good news for my friends. lol!

 

EDIT!  – The lecture has already been posted, so I guess I won’t write a full entry on it.
http://video.isites.harvard.edu/liveVideo/liveView.do?name=ScienceCooking
I missed Harold McGee last year, but I think he covers most of the same things – the history of cooking discoveries like pressure cooking, low temperature cooking, and haute cuisine.  I highly suggest watching the parts with Dave Arnold.  Harold McGee is like a favorite uncle while Dave Arnold is like the cousin you want to party and hang out with.  Dave demonstrated several things: dragon’s beard candy, vodka infused with coffee, clarifying lime juice with agar agar, and a video on making a fish dish with meat glue to get wood grain looking designs.
Dave Arnold’s blog is fun to read as well…  Lots of geeky food things going on.
http://www.cookingissues.com/