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The Science and History of Chocolate

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CPD This content can contribute towards your Continuing Professional Development (CPD) as part of the IET's CPD Monitoring scheme.
Lecture
  • Session
  • Wednesday, 27 November 2013
  • 00:27 - 00:27
  • Duration: 44 mins
  • Publication date: 27 Nov 2013
  • Location: IETTV_Room, IETTV_Venue, Bristol, United Kingdom
  • Part of event Christmas Family Lecture

About the session

In this talk, the speaker reviews the long and fascinating history of chocolate, from its origins as a spice in South America to the present-day confectionery. He explains how chocolate is made from cocoa beans and about how to work with chocolate, including a demonstration of the tempering process. He talks about the different molecules that give chocolate its characteristic flavour and asks why we like chocolate so much. There was also a short tasting session where members of the audience were able to discover what sort of chocolate they like best - people are often surprised to find they prefer types of chocolate they may have never tasted before!

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Speaker

  • PB

    Prof. Peter Barham

    University of Bristol, Department of Physics, Professorial Teaching Fellow in Physics

    Professor Peter Barham's original research interests were with the crystallization of very long molecules (polymers). Particularly fascinating is how these molecules can rearrange themselves when a molten polymer is solidified; in the liquid state the molecules are quite random (rather like many balls of wool after a lot of kittens have played with them), but on solidification the molecules become highly ordered and form beautiful crystals.Peter has been fortunate in his career since he has been able to combine his profession with his personal interests, namely Penguins and the science of food.Molecular gastronomy is a new emerging science where scientists from all disciplines can collaborate in the attempt to understand what makes food delicious. He has collaborated with the Fat Duck chef/owner Heston Blumenthal and has recently published a major review of molecular gastronomy and is increasing in demand from both the media and several UK top chefs.He enjoys promoting public engagement with science through public and schools lecture demonstrations. He has also published a book on 'The Science of Cooking', published by Springer in 2001.
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