Liquid nitrogen in the kitchen

The first time I saw liquid nitrogen was in Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Arnold Schwarzenegger's T-800 was ready to shoot Robert Patrick's T-1000 after the latter had been frozen. The moment will go down as one of action cinema's most memorable moment.

Fast-forward to college. A friend went to Harvard as part of an internship, where he ended up getting burnt while working with liquid nitrogen. With a boiling point of -196 degrees Celsius and freezing point of -210 degrees Celsius, liquid nitrogen is most stable at around -200 degrees Celsius.

Today, liquid nitrogen is used in food preparations. Renowned chef Heston Blumenthal uses liquid nitrogen to make gourmet ice cream as the nitrogen cools the mixture down for smoother texture. Recently, at the launch of food channel Living Foodz, two women demonstrated the use of liquid nitrogen. They asked me to dip a rose in a steel container containing liquid nitrogen. After this, they asked me to crush the rose. Then they took some readymade popcorn and dunked it in liquid nitrogen and then asked me to taste it. Frozen popcorn is crisp and crunchy, although I felt it would have icicles formed on it.

The duo then went on to give everyone a live demo of how liquid nitrogen ice-cream is made. Unlike ice-cream, liquid nitrogen ice-cream is smooth and creamy. More recently, at the opening of Pa Pa Ya, a Japanese bistro in the city's mill area, I sampled a few dishes that had squid ink added to them. Another first that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Is it safe?
Hervé This, the father of molecular gastronomy, wrote in a 2006 paper that there is much confusion about the true meaning of this term, in part "because of mistakes Nicholas Kurti (the co-founder of the subject) and I made when we created the discipline in 1988. But I will start by distinguishing between cooking and gastronomy: the first is the preparation of food, whereas the latter is the knowledge of whatever concerns man's nourishment. In essence, this does not concern food fashions or how to prepare luxury food."

Television shows, such as Master Chef has participants using liquid nitrogen and blowtorching foods, but nutritionist Naini Setalvad says these techniques alter the nutritional value of food. "It may look beautiful, but ideally one must eat foods without adding chemicals," she says.

Zorawar Kalra of Masala Library says that when chefs prepare their dishes using ingredients such as liquid nitrogen, they are FDA approved. "We know the risks that can be associated by consuming chemicals, so we do ensure that all our ingredients are state-of-the-art and are internationally approved. Furthermore, not every dish needs to have the 'molecular gastronomy' tag associated with it. If it works, only then do we use such techniques," he explains.

Food writer Jharna Thakkar, who is also a trained chef, believes that food disintegrates as soon as it is cut off from the plant or if an animal is hunted. "In case of a salad, there is 'cold cooking' where acids and oils break down the food," she says. While molecular gastronomy is fun and looks fantastic, she says she won't try experimenting with it at home. "I am already going the organic way, so trying adding more chemicals to my food is a big no-no."

Celebrity chef Blumenthal, who experiments with food pairing – a technique in which recipes are created by identifying molecular similarities between different ingredients and bringing these together in a dish – said in an interview that molecular gastronomy is an elitist term, and therefore should not be used at all while cooking.

Experts may have their opinions, but I will always go back to that popcorn and ice-cream.