4.4. Experimental tests of culinary precisions

Supplementary Material to the article The impact of onion bulb (Allium cepa L.) addition on the softening characteristics of seeds of cowpeas (Vigna unguiculata L. Warp)

Cowpeas (Vigna unguiculata L. Warp) are a nutrient-rich legume widely consumed in many regions and often require prolonged cooking times. This study examines a traditional Ghanaian belief that adding onion (Allium cepa L.) during the cooking of cowpeas enhances their softening characteristics and impacts sensory properties. Three methods were tested: cowpeas cooked with; iodised salt, iodised salt plus baking soda, and iodised salt plus onion. Sensory evaluation using a 5-point hedonic scale was conducted by a panellists (n = 21) to assess odour, colour, consistency, and flavour. Results showed that incorporating baking soda samples exhibited significantly softer texture compared to the other samples. There was no significant differences between the control and samples with onions added, challenging the anecdotal belief. No significant differences were observed at p < 0.05 in odour, flavour, and colour among the samples, except for samples with iodised salt plus onion for which there was a darker appearance attributed to baking soda.

Culinary proverbs, tips and tricks, or old wives’ tales lead to many variations in a recipe. In Molecular and Physical Gastronomy, the term “culinary precisions” is used to describe any piece of information that has something to do with the technical description of the dish, but does not belong to the definition (that is the minimum required to make the dish). The aim of this study was to test the culinary precision that “using aged-cultured buttermilk” (which should be more acidic than fresh buttermilk) improves the sensory properties of soda bread by promoting the chemical reactions between the acidic buttermilk and the alkaline sodium hydrogencarbonate. Three samples of cultured buttermilk (fresh, medium-aged, most-aged) were used to make three soda breads using the same recipe. The pH of each buttermilk sample was tested in triplicate and the values attained were within the acceptable range of 4.41 to 4.83 . Each of the three soda breads were assessed by a semi-trained panel (n = 15) for the sensory attributes of pore size, likeability, acidity and density and there were no significant differences found (p  ≥ 0.05) between the samples. It was concluded that while the culinary precision seemed true it was false.

This vo Kientza H. 2023. Recovering failed hollandaise, International Journal of Molecular and Physical Gastronomy, 9(1) 10, 1-9. DOI: 10.17180/ijmpg-2023-art10.

The articles of this section report experimental tests of culinary precisions.