Marine algae

Difference between seaweed and kelp

Image credit: Martin Dawson on Unsplash. Deep green seaweed.

Image credit: Frank Zhang on Unsplash. White rice balls wrapped in seaweed, and sesame seeds.

Image credit: James Lee on Unsplash. kelp with brown leaves.

The first time I tried seaweed, I had a flavor explosion in my mouth. The use of this algae is so versatile. You can find it in many recipes, and mostly utilized in Asian cuisine. It adds umami flavor—meaty or brothy— with different ingredients, such as, miso and tofu, or as simple as a seaweed salad with sesame seeds sprinkled on top. Personally, I like it as a snack. For example, gimMe product has several flavors, and I usually go with the extra virgin olive oil, or wasabi.

You might think what is kelp and seaweed? is there a difference? Let’s talk about this today. My main focus for this blog is how to differentiate each marine algae.

Texture comparison between meat, plant-based products, and cultivated meat

Texture and its importance

Image credit: Shutterstock by Antonina Vlasova

Plant-based, and cultivated meat versus meat texture

I recommend reading about flavor in my previous article, as it adds to what I will discuss today.

My main focus for this blog is comparing textures. Each product has a unique characteristic that can be measured with sensory instruments. The measurements provide hardness, elasticity, and cohesiveness results. In turn, the tests help find the maximum texture needed to provide customer satisfaction with plant-based products, and cultivated meat. Also, this helps differentiate meat from other alternatives.

Some examples of plant-based products include soy ingredients, such as tempeh, tofu, and vegetable meat analogs—like soy proteins, mycoprotein and soy leghemoglobin. As we all know, these are protein substitutes to replace traditional meats in vegan and vegetarian diets. Other ingredients are added to provide similar texture as meat. They include soy protein texturizers—soy protein isolate—and agar gels, derived from algae.

Cultivated meat, on the other hand, is a new area in the food manufacturing industry that needs further research. Let’s start by looking at traditional meat to see how it compares to other alternative proteins.

Salt, fat, Acid, and Heat By Samin Nosrat

I’m sure everyone is stuck at home, and what a better way than to spend it watching a documentary about food, especially if you’re food person etc. 🙂

Vegfest

This week, I’m shifting gears and talking about vegfest. I ended up going for two days because of my friends’ different schedule. It was very interesting, a lot of suppliers, and a medical presentation on health by doctors. I enjoyed the cooking demonstration—one was about cooking for one, and another one on Asian cuisine.

Elasticity of food

The elasticity diagram provided by Material Property IOANA, gives an excellent explanation of what happens to food that provides its texture. This is called elasticity. This term is a continuation of my previous article, which was about mouthfeel. Elasticity affects the texture and mouthfeel of a certain food item. In the diagram above, the strands of gluten increase the elasticity of any food item. The more strands there are, the higher the elasticity, or, as a food scientist would call it, the elastic modulus. For example, when you cook a steak, the protein bond length in the steak shortens because water is expelled during cooking. This, in turn, leads to an increase in bond density and elastic modulus. This is usually true for foods that have different textures, as well as, for foods before and after cooking. When the food is deformed in cooking, it changes the position of the molecules in that food. Making bonds between molecules larger or smaller changes in the distance between the bonds. When you compare steak to gluten above. There are a greater number of bonds (bond density) in the steak than in gluten. Hence, gluten has a smaller elasticity (elastic modulus) than steak for a given volume. You have to compress fewer bonds when you press on bread, so less energy is required to deform it. In steak, the protein gets denatured and then coagulates, causing an increase in bonds between unfolded proteins. This, in turn, leads to greater bond density and elastic modulus. Water loss and protein contraction also play a role in increasing the density of bonds.

Gelatinization of starches

Image credit: Cartoonstock by Baloo

The diagram above is a fun way to start the topic today. Gelatinization is such an interesting and important topic in baking and cooking. Starch is used in most food items which have different uses.

Let us start by defining it. What is starch? it is a complex carbohydrate, a polysaccharide. It forms a single glucose molecule linked together in a branched and a linear fashion. Feel free to read up on the structure if you are interested to learn more. Also, under references, you can read up on starches.

Now that you know what a starch molecule is. Let us talk more about what happens to the starch when it is cooked. The diagram below gives a simple overview of what happens, which I like, especially if you are a visual learner.

Created by Canva

The diagram above gives a summary of what happens during gelatinization. First, the starch is subjected to heat in proximity of water. As a result, the water slowly gets absorbed by the starch molecule, due to lose of structure. In turn, gradual swelling occurs, with thickening of liquid as water gets trapped. Lastly, the granule bursts due to an increase in pressure. This is due to a lower in pressure in the solution compared to the starch molecule. Other factors that cause degradation of the starch molecule include, increase in heat which leads to loss of thickening. The whole process is called starch gelatinization. This happens with every product that has starch but in different ways. For example, when you boil pasta in water, the starch makes the product soft. Another example, starch in instant pudding has a similar effect of making the pudding thicker. Therefore, you can find starch in each product, but the uses differ for each one.

Mouthfeel, smell and taste

Image credit: Cooking with Sin

Creative looking picture, don’t you think? is your mouth watering yet? well, if it is you’re ready for food! You scoop the cream, ice cream, or whatever it is. How does the sample feel in your mouth? the word that food scientist refers to as mouthfeel. As the picture below continues, there are so many synonyms for mouthfeel.