Showing Emulsion Properties with Common Dairy Foods

Foods are mixtures of different chemical compounds, and the quality we sense (taste, texture, color, etc.) are all manifestations of its chemical properties. Some of them can be visualized with the aid of simple, safe and inexpensive experiments using dairy products that can be found in any kitchen and using almost exclusively kitchen utensils. In this paper we propose some of them related with food emulsions.

Food emulsions cover an extremely wide area of daily-life applications such as milk, sauces, dressings and beverages. Experimentation with some culinary recipes to prepare them and the analyisis of the observed results is close to ideal subject for the introduction of chemical principles, allowing to discuss about the nature and composition of foods, the effects of additives, etc. At the same time it allows to get insights into the scientific reasons that underlie on the recipes (something that it is not usually found in most cookbooks). For example, when making an emulsion like mayonnaise, why the egg yolks and water are the first materials in the bowl , and the oil is added to them rather than in the other way around? How you can "rescue" separate emulsions (mayonnaise)? Which parameters affect emulsion stability?

Since safety, in its broad sense, is the first requisite for any food, concerns about food exist throughout the world and the more we are aware of our everyday life, the more likely we will be to deal productively with the consequences. On the other hand, understanding what foods are and how cooking works destroys no delightful mystery of the art of cuisine, instead the mystery expands.