Independent Study: Food
Tomorrow morning I’m going to get to do one of the things that makes teaching redeemable from its 37th-circle-of-hell-infinite-time-sink nature, I get to design an independent study course with an individual precocious and motivated student.
Designing such courses are more indulgent for me than the students realize. It’s a way of getting someone else to delve into source materials that I think are face melting while they feed me new analyses I never could have come up with myself. It’s like reverse-parasitism with some symbiosis, and a lot of me responding to questions with questions (but not in a douchey way).
The student I’ll be working with is nominally on the derp-de-derp medical school track (which is a topic we can discuss at length later), so Biology is the name of the game. However, this student is a well established cook and baker, so I think things will head that direction. I’m thinking kind of a Pollan meets Gastronomy meets Supersize Me experience here.
I’m just kind of having an idea monsoon here, so be prepared for a classic ThThTh bulleted list of fury:
- Source: Omnivore’s Dilemma (Pollan).
- Cake flour protein content investigations (baking break, kneading experiments, gluten content, etc…)
- Source: Four Fish (Greenberg). Inquiries: Nutritional Content of wild vs farmed fish/meat.
- Protein source studies into proliferation of vegetarian/vegan lifestyles.
- Source: Botany of Desire (Pollan). Probably use parts of the PBS documentary.
- Population genetics simulations in monocultures (i.e. Monsanto’s questionable business practices) – Heavy programming.
- Roasting, Suate, Sweating, and Searing: quantitative studies of the Maillard reactions.
In general, I want my student to produce a blog (they blog heavily already) that is readable and full of investigatory information that probably hasn’t been published in the context before. In short, I want my student to be able to produce something from this study that lingers instead of just rots on a hard drive, because, like church, school shouldn’t be about the building.
I’m interested in getting a hold of a mass spectrometer we could use for identifying molecules created during cooking and baking. Anyone have any good ideas? I’ve been searching hackaday for a while now…
If you have anything to add that’s even secantily related (i’ll take tangentially, too) please drop it in the comments!
(I’m back from the semester of hell, btw, let the competitions begin)
So, One of my Students is a Pilot Lone Wolfs [sic]
Postare anunturi…
Think Thank Thunk » Independent Study: Food:…
If you’re still looking for questions here’s some stuff I want to know about:
1) Lard. Should we be eating more lard and less crisco and butter and margarine? What would be different if we ate more lard?
2) Are Americans healthier now than we were in the 1920s, food-wise? Are our hearts healthier? Do we have less risk of late-onset diabetes? How about stomach cancer? Food-borne illness? If we aren’t healthier, why not? We have more access to fresh food, better food science and technology, etc.? Or is it just that we’re surviving middle age enough to get the diseases of old age?
3) What is the real cost of cheap food we eat? For example, if corn wasn’t subsidized, what would beef cost? What would orange juice cost, and how would it be packaged and distributed, if it wasn’t held in vats for months or years? What could we afford to eat?
4) American food gets a bad rap (for example, many people think of the Iowa state fair when they think about American food and how it’s not healthy). Are classic American dishes (mac and cheese, fried chicken, pork tenderloins, hamburgers, cole slaw, potato salad, apple pie), truly bad for you? In what contexts (e.g. at home vs. from McDonalds vs. from a restaurant?; or with a soda and fries vs. with milk and fresh tomatoes and corn on the cob)
Good post. I was checking continuously this weblog and I am impressed! Really helpful details particularly the last part I care for such information considerably. I was seeking this particular data for a very long time. Thank you and best of luck.
You need to configure asound.conf
Cook’s Illustrated always had interesting structured breakdowns of recipes with interesting sidebars on things like protein content in flour and the impact on the finished product. They tend to take a fairly scientific approach to cooking in general that might prove interesting. It might provide an interesting template for investigating specific recipes.
I’d be curious about grass fed/free range/etc and the impact on the chemical composition of meat and eggs. The Paleo eating stuff going on right now would be interesting as well- glycemic loads, gluten free, and high fat.
Check out geek-a-licious from cooking channel. He does lots of food science: not just comparisons, but actual attempts at “new foods” based on science.
I just remembered something else. Do you have a copy of Food Chemistry by Owen Fennema?
http://www.amazon.com/Fennemas-Chemistry-Fourth-Science-Technology/dp/0849392721
It is a great resource.
I am a former food scientist turned math/science teacher. I worked next to a flavor lab at the University of Minnesota, I wonder if you can hook up with someone from a University Lab. I also worked at a Food Company (Sandoz Nutrition, now Novartis), both of these places used mass spectrometers extensively for food analysis. Maybe your student could take a trip to St. Paul, MN?
[...] Shawn Cornally has so many good ideas about how keep high school useful: “I want my student to be able to produce something from this study that lingers instead of just rots on a hard drive, because, like church, school shouldn’t be about the building.” [...]
You should consider additionally assigning the entirety of the TV series Good Eats with Alton Brown. Me gusta.
<>
P.S. sssh. Most of the episodes are available for free in three parts on Youtube.
Harold McGee!:http://curiouscook.typepad.com/site/on-food-and-cooking.html On Food and Cooking is the bomb.
I second this recommendation-that book is AMAZING.
Also try Ratio by Michael Ruhmann – basically breaks down all sorts of food into ratios which are sort of meta-recipes, pretty interesting.
Have you ever come across Heston Blumenthal? Chef in the UK. Does interesting science things with food. Has published books and written articles in the Guardian. Might be a worth a look for ideas (though possibly crazy ideas)
Also, I’m surprised you haven’t got any bacon in there ;-) or maybe other charcuterie, cheese, etc — microbiology and preservation seems like it has some possibilities.
Sounds like a great plan and I wholeheartedly support the idea of an independent study as a way to get someone else to research stuff you want to know more about. The best PhD programs work that way too.
Wow, I need your cake flour investigations lessons to go with my acid/base digestion simulation!!! I am housing it in Moodle…send me anything you are willing.
Don
aka DrSgtBrown