What is the difference between natural and artificial flavors? And how do certain products get their taste? Gastropod explores these questions, and more, in an episode entitled Savor Flavor
If you’re new to Gastropod (@Gastropodcast), be ready for an exquisite and tasteful experience learning about the world of food through the lens of science and history. The site features excellent visual curation, superb writing, and a fine podcast (about 52 minutes in length).
Come hungry…you’ll want to savor every bite! Cynthia Graber (@cagraber) and Nicola Twilley co-host.
Throughout human history, if you wanted to make a dish taste like strawberry, you had no choice but to add a strawberry. But in the 19th century, scientists began to understand how to synthesize flavor chemicals, whether from plants or from byproducts of coal processing, to evoke familiar flavors. While the technology to evaluate the flavor molecules of a particular food have become increasingly sophisticated in the past century, the basic concept of synthetic flavor has remained unchanged. Until now. In this episode of Gastropod, molecular biologists explain how they’re designing yeasts to ferment the tastes of the future.
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The ultimate cheese plate: Gastropod on the origins, history and science of cheese.