Class is in session

If you're a foodie like me, you're as interested in the science of cooking as much as you are in the art of cooking - you've read "Cooking for Geeks" numerous times, and Marcel Vigneron hasn't turned you off of molecular gastronomy completely. This is why I enrolled in the online course Harvard is offering on edX, Science and Cooking: From Haute Cuisine to Soft Matter Science. The idea of expanding my cooking knowledge from world-renowned chefs all from the comfort of my own home, and for free was too tempting an offer to pass up.

Developed as a way to teach science to non-science majors at Harvard, this course has been four years in the making. The course textbook is "On Food and Cooking", by Harold McGee, one of the lecturers, and some of the instructors include cooking superstars such as Ferran Adrià, David Chang, and Wylie Dufresne. Through interactive lectures, each week will focus on a single scientific topic related to cooking. In order to complete the course, I will have to complete homework assignments, problem sets and labs as I would in a brick-and-mortar classroom. The labs range from calibrating your oven to making molten chocolate cake. There is a final project where I get to conduct my own scientific study of a recipe or aspect of cooking. While earning a certificate at the end of the course is not my goal,  I will attempt to complete as many of the course activities as possible, and chronicle my efforts here on the blog. I believe there is still time left to enroll in the course, so for those who are interested, maybe I'll see you in the Discussion Forums. Until then, I got to finish the requirements for week 1.