Friday, May 17, 2013

Students Showcase Final Mechanics Presentation -- at a Restaurant

Professor Phil LeDuc and the students of the new Culinary Mechanics course have partnered with Notions restaurant to display their final presentation - an array of foods developed on mechanics-based principles.  

The mechanics of cooking such as chopping and mixing can alter the toughness, texture, and consistency of foods.  (Just ask anyone who has experienced an over-mixed pie crust!)  Novel mechanics-based approaches can be integrated to create new food products, or make existing food products more palatable.  Professor LeDuc was the recipient of a Gates Grand Challenges Exploration grant to work on the problem of making abundant plants a more nutritious and appealing source of healthy food for children in third world countries.

Students worked with head chef and owner David Racicot to produce pancake bites, a cheesecake with nuts in place of cream cheese, and a three course meal with a substitute for eggs.  You can watch a 2-minute video on the KDKA website.

Check out the full story on the CIT News page!