THE CULINARY ART OF SOUS-VIDE

For nearly four years, an obscure culinary discussion forum called eGullet has had an anonymous guru of sous-vide. The technique — which involves using vacuum-sealed plastic bags to cook foods in water at precisely controlled temperatures — is both relatively new to the home chef and poorly documented. But thanks to user "nathanm," eGullet offers a wealth of insider knowledge, everything from comprehensive tables of cooking times to tips on food safety.

So who is this mysterious Jedi Master? Turns out, nathanm is über-technologist Nathan Myhrvold, former CTO of Microsoft and noted billionaire. Myhrvold first encountered sous-vide at a culinary school in France, but he found the lack of practical information frustrating. "I wanted to figure out how long to cook things," says Myhrvold, now CEO of the "invention" firm Intellectual Ventures. "I did some experiments and then wrote a program using Mathematica to model how heat is transferred through food."

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via wired lifestyle

S-XL CAKE :: DING 3000

It's for kitchen junkies, for half-portions, for insatiables, for dieters, for the undecided.It's a necessity for everybody. Whereas formerly you had to estimate and manually portion the cake The clever housewife now bakes with this new silicon form. built-in portioning sections and differently high levels magically produce piece by piece 15 different portions.

[+ website]
via moreinspiration

COOKING AT THE END OF THE WORLD :: MICHÈLE GENTILLE

In a freely available article, The Wall Street Journal reveals how chefs cook at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. Cooking at the South Pole needs lots of innovation and creativity. Let's look at some of the challenges. First, the South Pole Station stands at an elevation of 2,835 meters and temperatures varied between -13.6° C and -82.8° C. Then, all the food for the 250 scientists based there comes by plane and is obviously frozen. And it can take up to two weeks to defrost meat or poultry. Finally, because of the moisture-free air, cooking must be exclusively done with electric equipment, which can take a very long time. But read more...

[+ article]
via primidi

POWERS OF TEN :: EAMES OFFICE FOR IBM

Powers of Ten is a 1977 short documentary film written and directed by Charles Eames and his wife, Ray. The film depicts the relative scale of the Universe in factors of ten (see also logarithmic scale and order of magnitude), starting from a picnic.

[ + website]

AQUADUCT :: IDEO

he Aquaduct is pedal powered vehicle that transports, filters, and stores water for the developing world. A peristaltic pump attached to the pedal crank draws water from a large tank, through a filter, to a smaller clean tank. The clean tank is removable and closed for contamination-free home storage and use. A clutch engages and disengages the drive belt from the pedal crank, enabling the rider to filter the water while traveling or while stationary.

The Aquaduct is the winning entry in the Innovate or Die contest put on by Google and Specialized. The contest challenge was to build a pedal powered machine that has environmental impact.

[+ contest]

PERCEPTION OF FOOD - PIXAR RATATOUILLE PAPER

The passion for cooking and food are the central theme of Pixar's recent film - Ratatouille. This complex and multi-faceted problem posed many challenges that were solved using diverse computer graphics and production techniques. In this course we will comprehensively cover all aspects including modeling, dressing, shading, lighting and effects.

The story called for working cooking stations and sloppy mess of a busy, functional kitchen. We will review some of the set concepts, visual framework and even dynamics simulation techniques that were used to create this illusion. We will illustrate with several examples including final plated dishes, mis-en-place setups and the Food Locker.

The challenge of shading food on Ratatouille was to work within the stylized look of the film and yet keep it recognizable and appealing to eat. We developed subtle illumination techniques that added up to a general approach we could use on a variety of objects. We will breakdown examples ranging from vegetables to plated dishes.

Lighting played a key role in making the food look appetizing, a task further complicated by different types of food such as bread, cheese, soup and wine that pushed the boundaries of standard surface based lighting. We will discuss our general approach to lighting food as well as specific challenges and solutions posed by the various dishes.

[+ paper]
via pixar

SINGLE PERSON COOKER :: ALEX BRADLEY

As its name suggests, the Single Person’s Cooker (SPC) responds to some of today's eating habits that are evolving because of the rapid pace, increasing solo existence and less structured routines of many people's daily lifestyles. The compact and stylish cooking device features a WiFi connection, and its associated website provides recipes and information for producing nutritious healthy meals, and supports quick and efficient preparation. The recipes are automatically linked and stored on the SPC to programme cooking times, and heating controls. Ideally suited to the batchelor pad or studio space, the SPC provides a desirable cooker and interactive web-based connections that also steers less confident cooks away from ready meals and encourages them to prepare their food themselves. Not only is the user more likely to think about their diet and improve their well being as a result, but the SPC becomes an object of focus and discussion in the kitchen.

[ + website ]
via dezeen

JAR TOPS :: JORRE VAN AST

By screwing on plastic tops, these readily available jars are turned into vessels with a specific function. A generic jar is transformed into kitchenware, creating more practical and emotional value.
The family includes a sugar pot, milk jug, chocolate sprinkler, oil&vinegar set and a water jug.

[ + Jorre Van Ast ]
[ + Royal VKB ]

EGG FRACTAL :: MICHAEL CHICHI

After having eggs one morning, the residue left in the mixing cup hardened, leaving a fractal like history of energy dispersion. The simple everyday artifacts of a morning breakfast, transform into a muse.

[+ website]