Feed Your Mind: Food at Edinburgh International Science Festival
We cast an eye over the food events at this month's Edinburgh International Science Festival, and find tasty cocktails, molecular funny business, and piles and piles of offal.
History is full of bizarre dishes that look like the authors ran into a dark pantry and grabbed the first things that came to hand, and maths is useful when it comes to working out who owes what at the end of a meal, but when it comes to classic school subjects, adding science to food is almost always a winning combination.
That’s the premise of the GastroFest strand at the Edinburgh International Science Festival, helping you further your scientific understanding by eating all the experiments and drinking nice cocktails. We’ll get to those in a minute, but first – offal. Think of it as meat’s ‘deleted scenes’; there’s plenty of attraction for completists, but it’s often hard to know what to do with the mass of second-string material sitting in front of you. Nose to Tail (6 Apr, 8pm, £12) is here to change your mind about eating hearts, feet, and various other ‘bits’, roping in a trio of experts to explain the benefits of eating all the component parts of your favourite animals. One of those experts is down in the programme as a “roadkill enthusiast” so this might not be the softest introduction to Offal Town, but hey; in for a penny, in for a pound.
Next up, fermentation! It helps simple grains become lovely alcohol, and turns the humble herring into the stairwell-annihilating, roof-destroying Swedish delicacy Surströmming. The Give in to Fermentation event lets you see the science behind the madness, all while eating tasty fermented nibbles paired with specially-selected beers, with no exploding tins of fish. We presume. 15 Apr, 8pm, £20
At this stage, it feels like time for a drink, which is exactly what you’ll get at Gin-omics for Generation Gin (12 Apr, 8pm, £25). Ignoring the confusion around what exactly ‘gin-omics’ is supposed to be punning on, one thing is clear – this evening will feature plenty of the clear stuff. Gin tastings, gin chemistry, gin tastings, gin experiments, and even some gin tastings; this is definitely one for any fans of botanical-based beverages.
Finally, a pair of events focussing on the always-popular subject of molecular gastronomy. First there’s the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party (8 Apr, 1:30pm, £15), featuring Hervé This, the grandfather of the molecular gastronomy movement and one of the few people who could use his own name as his catchphrase in an action movie adaptation of his life. The man dubbed ‘the world’s weirdest chef’ will share his take on science and food, and renew his calls for chefs to look past the concept of ‘ingredients’ and work with the individual components of food to redefine dining – if that sounds a bit hard-going, there will also be tea and cake.
The Molecular Mastery event in the GastroLab series applies those techniques to the world of drinks, with cocktail experts showing you the building blocks of the more esoteric drinks propping up your favourite gentrified old man’s pub. Practising the wild scientific techniques behind ridiculous cocktails – that’s the kind of science homework we’re glad to take on. 11 Apr, 3pm, £25