Sneak peek into the science of cooking with Harvard’s free online course

Harvard researchers have come along with top chefs in the world to launch an online course- Harvard cooking course. Prof. Michael Brenner, the Glover Professor of Applied Mathematics and Applied Physics at Harvard, along with others, is offering a free online cooking course that explores how conventional and unconventional cooking methods come together to brighten the basic principles of engineering, physics, and chemistry.

What will you get to learn?

In the Harvard free online course, one will get to learn the following points:

Understanding the physical and chemical principles present in day-to-day cooking and the methods of the haute cuisine
Learning how chefs make impossible foods using enzymes
Knowing to use a scientific method to understand the working of a recipe, and then finding ways to enhance it
Learning to think like a chef as well as a scientist at the same time

What does this cooking course offer?

The Harvard free online course looks to investigate physical transformations in food. One would get to see world-famous chefs use various methodologies in preparing their delicacies. Each chef illustrates the preparation of his/her interesting creations, and then how using the fundamental principles of science in food helps them.

The topics include:

How cooking affects textures in food
Foams and emulsions
Phase changes involved in cooking

A learner gets the chance to be an experimental scientist himself/herself in their own laboratory which would be the kitchen. By keeping track of and following along with the weekly recipes, taking precise measurements, and making skillful observations, he/she learns to think like a chef and a scientist both. This practice prepares one for the final project, where a recipe of one’s own choice will be given to design it and perform an experiment with it to analyze it from a scientific perspective.

Science & Cooking: From Haute Cuisine to Soft Matter Science Outline

The course is divided into 6 modules as follows:

Module Number	Module Name	Details	Instructors
1	Elasticity	In this module, the scientific concept of elasticity is explored. This influences the texture of the food, and how it may change while cooking.	Bill Yosses and Mark Ladner
2	Viscosity	Just as solid foods, liquids also have different textures, and in the case of liquids, it is largely determined by their viscosity or thickness. This module has scientific discussions on what determines viscosity, and then demonstrations of various ways of changing the viscosities of foods.	Harvard’s Martin Breslin, and Carles Tejedor
3	Emulsions & Foams	Emulsions and foams are among the most interesting foods to explore from a scientific perspective. This module investigates the physical principles that control their formation.	Nandu Jubany
4	Advanced Phase Behavior	In this module, concepts such as nucleation of crystals and freezing point depression are studied. It will be seen how they can be used in chocolate tempering and making ice cream.	Assignment
5	Enzymes	Here, diverse roles of enzymes will be looked at. The instructors would investigate strategies to both, restrict and exploit enzyme activity in cooking.	Ted Russin and Wylie Dufresne
6	Baking	In conclusion, the course sees how the discussed topics combine in baking.	Joanne Chang and Christina Tosi

Other important details

Duration	16 weeks
Time Commitment	2-3 hours per week
Pace	Self-paced
Subject	Science
Course Language	English
Video Transcript	English
Difficulty	Introductory
Credit	Audit for Free Add a Verified Certificate for $169
Platform	edX

The course is open till October 29, 2021. For more details on the course and to register for this free Harvard course online, click here