by organizing an International Workshop on Molecular and Physical Gastronomy at Erice, Sicily, where for the first time professional cooks, basic scientists from universities, and food scientists from industry worked together to advance gastronomy, the making and appreciation of foods of the highest quality The Erice meeting continues, renamed the “International Workshop on Molecular Gastronomy ‘N Kurti’ ” in memory of its founder And over the last decade its focus, the understanding of culinary excellence, has taken on new economic significance The modern industrial drive to maximize efficiency and minimize costs generally lowered the quality and distinctiveness of food products: they taste much the same, and not very good Improvements in quality can now mean a competitive advantage; and cooks have always been the world’s experts in the applied science of deliciousness Today, the French National Institute of Agricultural Research sponsors a group in Molecular Gastronomy at the Collège de France (its leader, Hervé This, directs the Erice workshop); chemist Thorvald Pedersen is the inaugural Professor of Molecular Gastronomy at Denmark’s Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University; and in the United States, the rapidly growing membership of the Research Chefs Association specializes in bringing the chef’s skills and standards to the food industry So in 2004 there’s no longer any need to explain the premise of this book Instead, there’s more for the book itself to explain! Twenty years ago, there wasn’t much demand for information about extra-virgin olive oil or balsamic vinegar, farmed salmon or grass-fed beef, cappuccino or white tea, Sichuan pepper or Mexican mole, sake or well-tempered chocolate Today there’s interest in all these and much more And so this second edition of ... at Denmark’s Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University; and in the United States, the rapidly growing membership of the Research Chefs Association specializes in bringing the chef’s skills and standards to the food industry...Research sponsors a group in Molecular Gastronomy at the Collège de France (its leader, Hervé This, directs the Erice workshop); chemist Thorvald Pedersen is the inaugural Professor of Molecular Gastronomy... So in 2004 there’s no longer any need to explain the premise of this book Instead, there’s more for the book itself to explain! Twenty years ago, there wasn’t much demand for information about extra-virgin olive oil or