Molecular Gastronomy

This event is limited to the first 18 entries

Objective

In the 1980’s French chemists Herve This and his partner Nicolas Kurti began questioning some of the timeless rationales used in cooking. The brought their knowledge of chemistry into the kitchen to the hows and whys of many study cooking methods. Their investigations into and incorporation of chemical principles and techniques eventually evolved into the field of molecular gastronomy. Today, there are many who practice more rigorous chemistry when cooking, and some cookbooks are beginning to reach the at-home chef.

 

The introduction of some new chemicals and of many new techniques has been used to change the appearance, texture and even the flavor of many foods. Many of these techniques involve gels, colloids, foams or emulsions; others have used liquid nitrogen to flash freeze foods. Chemistry has allowed chefs to present foods in new and different ways that takes advantage of all of the senses.

 

Design a Web page that presents research on the history and practice of molecular gastronomy. Identify the most innovative practitioners and discuss their techniques. Explain the different techniques and define carefully the chemical state produced (gel emulsion, foam etc) and the chemicals used to achieve that state. Discuss the positive and negative response to this emerging field. Finally, present some detailed, step-by-step recipes with pictures.  The web site should be able to inform and educate the at home cook who many have little or no background in the chemistry of cooking. 

The web site should include:

·       Include some timeline showing the development of this field

·       include information on the major practitioners

·       Explain the chemistry of this subject (with relevant hyperlinks)

·       Include detailed representative recipes with pictures

·       include citations for all sources of information (written, digital, people)

·       include any other information you deem relevant

·       be attractive and easy-to-use

Web Development Restrictions / Guidelines

• The web site should be developed using current standard HTML coding. 

• No plug-ins should be assumed or required for viewing of the web site.
  

• Focus primary efforts on the content of their website -- NOT on distracting "bells & whistles"
  

• Please be aware that external links (to other web sites) may be included, however they will not be accessible on the day of the competition since you will be presenting your website off of your CD (ie: you will not be connected to the Internet). External links that are included (as they should be) will be evaluated by judges during the first phase of judging, prior to the day of your presentation.

All teams must submit:

• TWO identical labeled CD’s containing their website, (submitted in separate labeled sleeves, NOT jewel cases)

• the URL at which their website is publicly accessible  

• each CD must be labeled with the school name, authors & URL

by the deadline as outlined in the Competition Guidelines. The website on the CD’s and the publicly-accessible website must be identical. No changes of any type are allowed to either between the time of submission and the day of the competition. The judges will examine both the CD website and the URL website in the judging. Approximately two weeks before the day of the competition, all of the URL’s for all competing teams will be made available on the NJCO website. Thus competitors will be able to view each other’s websites.

Also --  Email the link to your webpage to: nmacke12@yahoo.com by 4 pm. Wednesday April 25, 2012.

Judging:

There will be two phases to the judging. The first phase occurs after receipt of the submitted CD’s and URL’s. The judges will examine the websites and evaluate them as to:

• Web Site Design (30% of total score)

  • site functionality (all pages load, links work, easy-to-navigate) 10%

  • site appearance (pages are visually appealing) 10%

  • site originality (uniqueness of style and content) 10%

• Chemistry Content (50% of total score)

  • relevance to chemistry (site content related to chemistry) 10%

  • accuracy (of chemical information presented) 10%

  • usefulness (of chemical information presented) 10%

  • amount of chemical information 10%

  • all information is properly cited and from credible sources 10%

  
  

 The second phase of judging occurs on the day of the competition. Each team will make a short 4-minute summary presentation of their website. This presentation will be made using the CD submitted earlier. There will be no live internet access for the presentation - teams should plan their presentations accordingly. The audience will include both the judges and their fellow competitors. After this, there will be a brief question-and-answer period during which time the judges will pose questions about the website. Questions will deal with both the web page design and the chemistry content of the site. All team members will be expected to have at least some knowledge of both aspects. This phase will be evaluated as follows:

•  Presentation (20% of total score)

  • effective summary of site (brief, highlights important aspects) 10%

  • questions and answers (demonstrate knowledge of topics) 10%

  
  

 The publicly-accessible URL and the three CD’s must be received by the deadline - there will be no extensions. The content of the sites must be identical. No changes to either are permitted after submission. The URL must remain active and publicly accessible throughout the time period from the date of submission until the day of the competition. All material on the website must be original or properly cited. Violation of any of these provisions are grounds for disqualification.

Team Identification

It is crucial to identify all submissions with the information below, to prevent mix-up.  In particular, schools with multiple teams must clearly differentiate between team A and B

Each submission (research reports, CDs, DVD, reports, etc) must include the following 4 items:

1. Name of school
2. Team A or B designation, if applicable
3. Names of students (clearly printed legibly)
4. Name of coach