Odds are good if you’ve had any one of Alton Brown’s cookbooks signed in recent years he has inscribe it with “cook smart.”  This simple, two-word phrase perfectly sums up AB’s cooking philosophy, one he has propagated since 1999.  Applying science and knowledge to how and why it effects food brings a better understanding to all who attempt the process of cooking.  Needless to say, employing science in the kitchen and Alton are synonymous and no one on the Food Network is more identified with it.

With his science geek outlook on food and cooking, it apparently shocked those in the food writing world that Alton is not a fan of current and all the rage food science trend–molecular gastronomy.  At the American Culinary Federation’s national convention in Dallas last weekend, AB talked about salt for the crowd of professional cooks.  During said demonstration the topic of  molecular gastronomy arose only to be quickly put in its proper place by Alton.

The quote which stirred the cliched pot for many food writers and champions of molecular gastronomy, “My worry about molecular gastronomy, especially with young cooks, is that they will try to use it to replace knowing how to cook food,” had the likes of Eater and The Village Voice pointing fingers for AB’s lack of embracing this type of science in cooking and his disdain of using falsely created foam sauces.

Eater editorialized Alton’s own claim of using xantham gum implied, somehow, that he cannot use this chemical for cooking and be concerned with the wave of molecular gastronomy overtaking sound culinary knowledge at the same time.  Interestingly, the Eater “article” did not say what purpose xantham gum has in his cooking and why Alton uses it.

The Village Voice went so far as saying,  “Strong words for someone who has built a career on the ‘science of food.’”

Strong words for people allegedly knowledgeable enough to write about food for a living.

Both critiques of Alton’s statements are missing a key point in his stance.  Those who wish to criticize are doing so on the sole basis that molecular gastronomy is science therefore AB must embrace it because his own use of science in cooking.  That, folks, is a faulty (false) analogy.

Yes, Alton’s food career relies heavily on the use of science in the kitchen.  However, that science is to explain how and why ingredients and cooking work.  Why do we not use a plastic bowl to beat eggs for a souffle or angel food cake? Because chemically plastic and fat are so close that grease from previous foods can remain adhered to the plastic bowl and any trace of that grease has potential to deflate the egg foam.  That’s an application based on scientific knowledge and, ultimately, makes the cook produce a better food.

Forcing a liquid that on its own could not become a foam because it has none of the natural properties to do so, through the use of a chemical agent, is not an application of any scientific knowledge other than knowing to say agar agar is what I should add to my carrot juice to a make a foam sauce.

Or instead of a solid understanding how an emulsion works in bring together oil and water and what natural ingredients can help bind them, let’s throw xantham gum in the mix and call it a day.

Where’s the old school skill of gently drizzling in oil with your whisk humming along on arm power to create an emulsion?  And that proud moment when you see your newly formed vinegrette properly emulsified and not a broken oil slick?

That is what, I surmise, Alton means when he bemoans the increased facination with molecular gastronomy among up and coming chefs.  They are not learning skills, understanding what is happening scientifically, and applying that knowledge to food.  Instead they rely on chemical agents and equipment to do the work.

In the end Alton’s use of science is a vehicle to teach us how to become better cooks, which is the main point missed by those would-be critics.  He does not use science for the sake of using science, it has a purpose.  He is not using science to make something do what it shouldn’t do naturally… yeah, isn’t that the premise of Frankenstein?

Bottom line, cooking involves science.  AB has said on many occasions he found that once he grasped the understanding of science in cooking he became a better cook.  That’s the lesson he teaches his viewers.  And that’s how one goes about creating…

Good eats.