the other food molecules Fats, oils, and their chemical relatives are water’s antagonists Like water, they’re a component of living things and of foods, and they’re also a cooking medium But their chemical nature is very different — so different that they can’t mix with water Living things put this incompatibility to work by using fatty materials to contain the watery contents of cells Cooks put this quality to work when they fry foods to crisp and brown them, and when they thicken sauces with microscopic but intact fat droplets Fats also carry aromas, and produce them Carbohydrates, the specialty of plants, include sugars, starch, cellulose, and pectic substances They generally mix freely with water Sugars give many of our foods flavor, while starch and the cell-wall carbohydrates provide bulk and texture Proteins are the sensitive food molecules, and are especially characteristic of foods from animals: milk and eggs, meat and fish Their shapes and behavior are drastically changed by heat, acid, salt, and even air Cheeses, custards, cured and cooked meats, and raised breads all owe their textures to altered proteins Water Water is our most familiar chemical companion It’s the smallest and simplest of the basic food molecules, just three atoms: H2O, two hydrogens and an oxygen And its significance is hard to overstate Leaving aside the fact that it shapes the earth’s continents and climate, all life, including our own, exists in a water solution: a legacy of life’s origin billions of years ago in the ... Proteins are the sensitive food molecules, and are especially characteristic of foods from animals: milk and eggs, meat and fish Their shapes and behavior are drastically changed by heat, acid, salt, and even air... Cheeses, custards, cured and cooked meats, and raised breads all owe their textures to altered proteins Water Water is our most familiar chemical companion It’s the smallest and simplest of the basic food molecules, just three atoms:... H2O, two hydrogens and an oxygen And its significance is hard to overstate Leaving aside the fact that it shapes the earth’s continents and climate, all life, including our own, exists in a water solution: a legacy of