Cassidy Pont
A healthier America awaits...
Food Science
Course Description: "An examination of food composition and the chemical and physical changes that result from food processing, preparation and cooking. Discussion of foods as complex systems containing a wide variety of chemicals including nutrients, phytochemicals, functional ingredients, natural or transferred toxins and additives. Discussion of changes in chemicals with different types of food preservation. Consideration of health risks associated with dietary exposure to selected nutrients and other chemicals. Exploration of the role of sensory analysis related to food acceptance. Overview of important regulations related to the content of food products."
This course encompassed learning the science behind foods we consume and applying our food science knowledge to various cooking demonstrations where we went off site to cook with seasoned professionals. Our demonstrations included: Zingerman's Bakehouse, Coffee Roasters, and Creamery where we learned to make brownies a variety of different ways by manipulating ingredients and measurements, cheese, and ice-cream, The Brinery which showed us how to make tempeh and kimchi, Ann Arbor Brewery taught us how to brew different kinds of beer, a knife skills lesson, a Molecular Gastronomy cooking class where we made melon caviar, sou vide steak, basil foam, and carbonated grapes, and a demonstration of all things one can do with eggs. Below you will find some photos from the different demonstrations.
We made vegan and regular pavlova topped with a lemon curd, poached egg on a bed of greens with a mustard vinaigrette, egg-cheese-spnach soufflés, and hollandaise sauce over steamed asparagus.
For extra credit we were tasked with making a yeast bread. I took on a challenge by deciding to make gluten-free and dairy-free challah bread! I am both gluten and lactose intolerant and had not had challah in over 8 years and wanted to try a challah bread that was safe for me to eat. The product actually turned out very tasty; the sweet bread was accomplished with a bit of a denser dough. Below are pictures of the yeast proofing, the before and after product! I also wrote a research paper on the science behind gluten free products, which can be found as a button in the upper right part of the page.
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For our final project we were tasked with making a food demonstration video demonstrating a technique we learned throughout the semester. My group and I chose to demonstrate ice cream four different ways. Watch the video below to see what we did (you will not be disappointed)!