DR STU’S QUICK KITCHEN EXPERIMENTS
SWEET DECEPTION
Pour five cups of tea. Add one teaspoon of sugar to VJG ƂTUV EWR VYQ teaspoons to the second cup and three teaspoons to the third. Add just one teaspoon of sugar along with a pinch of salt to the fourth cup. Leave the fifth cup unsweetened.
Mix up the order and ask someone to take a sip of each and arrange them in order of sweetness, asking them to guess how many teaspoons of sugar are in each. Most of the time, people say that the cup with sugar and a pinch of salt tastes as sweet as if it had three or four sugars! This is because salt increases the sensitivity of the sweet taste receptors in our taste buds – and also explains why food manufacturers add a little salt to sweets, cakes and biscuits.
MONSTER MALLOWS
Place a marshmallow on a microwavable plate and heat on full power for one minute. Watch as the marshmallow mutates into monstrous proportions! Leave it to cool down, then investigate your creation. Feel free to enjoy your – now gooey and fragile – sweet treat! Modern marshmallows are made from sugar syrup, mixed with gelatine and whipped into a set aerated sweet. When heated, the gelatine network softens. At the same time, the air pressure inside each of the marshmallow’s tiny bubbles increases. Gas molecules move faster at higher temperatures, so exert more force on the walls of the chamber they are within. The softened marshmallow bubbles therefore quickly expand.
MAKE SOME SEITAN
Tip a cup of high protein 'strong' flour (bread flour is ideal) ideal) into a mixing bowl. Add half to three- quarters of a cup of water and knead until a doughy ball forms. Hold under a running cold tap. Milky white liquid will seep out of the dough as the starch is washed away. Keep squashing the ball to force the starchy liquid out. When the water runs clear, you have washed away most of the starch and will be holding a ball of gluten. Squeeze out any excess water and put it in a bowl or on a clean surface. You will discover just how sticky and elastic gluten really is! If you’re feeling hungry, then why not add some flavourings and bake or fry it? Gluten prepared in such a way is known as ‘seitan’ and makes an excellent alternative to tofu.