Food Science and Technology for Culinary Arts Students

If you’re researching what it’s like to be a culinary arts student, you’ve no doubt come across the terms “food science” and “food technology”. While we generally think about our food being delicious rather than scientific or technical, these two terms will have a great impact on you during your culinary studies. Let’s take a look at what each term means and why it’s such a big deal in the world of culinary arts.

What's the Basic Definition of Food Science and Technology?

Technically, food science and technology are two different disciplines. Food science is the study of how food and all its components interact with each other and how food reacts to different situations (if you've ever spent time over a pan trying to get that perfect brown sear on a piece of meat, you've been using food science -- it's called the Maillard reaction, a chemical transformation that sugars and proteins in food undergo when they're heated under certain circumstances).

Food technology looks at growing and producing food, packaging, storing and all the practical efforts that go into feeding people. The ability to supply fresh, relatively ripe South American bananas to New York by shipping in unripe fruit and placing it in special ripening facilities is an example of food technology.

Providing Understanding and Flexibility

Knowing food science and technological processes helps chefs, bakers and other food professionals gain a better understanding of why what they're doing works. That gives them greater flexibility to substitute ingredients, invent new recipes, create fusion cuisine and adjust recipes for allergy and religious dietary needs, among other benefits.

Without a knowledge of why the food is reacting the way it is, chefs can't fix or compensate for errors. They can quickly end up making more errors because they don't have that understanding of why they have to do what the recipe says to do. Knowledge of the technological side also helps when it comes to determining which packaging might be best for foods in a deli, for example.

Moving Forward: Molecular Gastronomy

One area where food science and food services have melded is in molecular gastronomy. This type of food preparation and design started out as a fad but quickly became a regular part of the mainstream food scene. Recipes such as liquid nitrogen ice cream have made mixing food preparation with unusual methods and ingredients much more acceptable to many diners. Learning the concepts behind food science and technology helps chefs understand the reactions behind certain combinations and allows the chefs to create these interesting concoctions.

Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Bunsen Burner

Food science and technology is fun to read up on but even more interesting if you can study it formally. Working through class material ensures you learn not just the cool stuff but also the details that form the foundation for solid knowledge of food science and technology. It also opens up an entirely new world in terms of career paths as you may find that looking at food composition in a lab or developing a new way to preserve foods is more interesting than cooking in a restaurant.

In-the-lab food scientists, for example, determine nutrient counts in foods and develop new recipes for food companies. If an institution needs to modify recipes to eliminate specific allergens, for example, they may turn to a food scientist who also has an educational background in nutrition.

If your goal is to be a chef, you’re in luck as well. You can apply the science you’ve learned in your culinary arts degree program directly to providing your customers with delectable foods. You will better be able to plan a menu because you understand not just which flavors go together, but why they do. Not only that, but your understanding of the science of cooking and food will allow you to prepare your dishes perfectly.

Are you interested in the expansive world of culinary arts? If you want to earn an Associate of Applied Science Degree in Culinary Arts, ECPI University’s Culinary Institute of Virginia offers this program at on an accelerated schedule. For more information about this program, connect with a friendly admissions counselor today.

It could be the Best Decision You Ever Make!

DISCLAIMER – ECPI University makes no claim, warranty, or guarantee as to actual employability or earning potential to current, past or future students or graduates of any educational program we offer. The ECPI University website is published for informational purposes only. Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of information contained on the ECPI.edu domain; however, no warranty of accuracy is made. No contractual rights, either expressed or implied, are created by its content.

Gainful Employment Information – Culinary Arts - Associate’s

For more information about ECPI University or any of our programs click here: http://www.ecpi.edu/ or http://ow.ly/Ca1ya.