The Science Of Spherification

Abstract

Gastronomical delights await dinner guests at the home of Christophe Chipot. Depending on their host’s inclination, guests might be served cheese and cognac-soaked figs with honey “caviar” or strawberry napoleons garnished with tiny beads of strawberry juice. On rare occasions, Chipot will make what he calls a “fake Japanese breakfast” featuring an “egg” of coconut milk and mango alongside sweet maki topped with grapefruit juice “roe.” The key to many of the avant-garde items in Chipot’s repertoire is a culinary technique known as spherification. In spherification, liquid food is encased in a thin polysaccharide membrane that, when consumed, pops open to release a burst of flavor—whether it’s juice, olive oil, pureed peas, or some other edible delight. Chipot’s interest in spherification doesn’t stop at the dinner plate though. The biophysics professor, with joint appointments at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and France’s University of Lorraine, and Wensheng Cai, a computational ...