How to construct a meal

We are at the lET's Savoy Place premises, where Dr Herve This is very pleased to discover a statue of Michael Faraday outside the building. This physical chemist calls natural philosopher Faraday 'the most important physical chemist'. DrThis is on a mini-tour to promote his new book 'Science of the Oven' (reviewed in issue three of E&T). He has so far lectured at Imperial College and Le Cordon Bleu culinary school in Marylebone Lane, London. But back to scones. What DrThis means is that tradition is a fallacy; each batch of scones differs from every other. 'It is the old debate between Plato and Aristotle what is the taste of a cherry? All cherries are different, so there is no taste of the cherry.' Tradition is one of the things This is trying to update. Especially since certain things in our kitchens have been around since Medieval times. 'Down with the Middle Ages!' he said in his London University lecture. This has collected over 25,000 old French cooking customs, which he calls 'culinary precisions', and which he is testing out. It was to bring some precision to the kitchen that he and Nicolas Kurti invented 'molecular gastronomy' in 1988. Their aims were exploration, testing the status quo, introducing new tools and ingredients and spreading science through food. Out of this came 'molecular cuisine', practised by high-profile chefs worldwide, but This is keen to assert the distinction that molecular cooking is cooking and molecular gastronomy is scientific activity. 'Molecular gastronomy is not cooking for rich people,' he said in his Imperial College lecture.