Austin360 blogs > Digital Savant > Archives > 2010 > March > 12 > Entry
SXSW Panel: Cooking for Geeks: Science, Hacks and Good Food
Date/Time: 5 p.m. on Friday, March 12
Panelist: Jeff Potter, author of “Cooking for Geeks,” which comes out in June
Takeaways: In a presentation that felt more like an academic introduction to food safety for culinary students rather than an energetic, engaging SXSW Interactive panel, Potter gave a preview of his upcoming book.
Attendees got a small packet that contained strips of paper coated in a chemical that supertasters can detect, but so-called non-tasters cannot, as well as a peppermint. In the most exciting moment in the panel, we all tasted our strips to find out whether we are supertasters, medium-tasters or non-tasters. Potter explained that white females are three times as likely as white males to be supertasters, who generally have higher rates of cancer and eat fewer green vegetables than non-supertasters.
Potter also talked about the five most important temperatures for food, such as 122 degrees, when myosin, a protein in muscle meat, denatures, which is when it starts to taste better, and 310 degrees, when the Maillard Reaction begins.
— Addie Broyles
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: SXSW 2010
Comments
Austinites love to be heard, and we're giving you a bullhorn. We just ask that you keep things civil. Leave out the personal attacks. Do not use profanity, ethnic or racial slurs, or take shots at anyone's sexual orientation or religion. If you can't be nice, we reserve the right to remove your material and ban users who violate our Visitor's agreement. Click here to report comment abuse.