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Syllabus for SP.287

• Week 1
• Week 2
• Week 3
• Week 4
• Week 5
• Week 6
• Week 7
• Week 8
• Week 9
• Week 10
• Week 11
• Week 12
• Week 13
• Week 14
• Week 15

SP.287 Kitchen Chemistry Seminar at MIT -Syllabus for Spring 2009

Tuesday Feb. 10th- Cookie -Death by Chocolate

Weekly assignment

• Take a look at the recipe
• Reading assignment from the text (On Food and Cooking by Harold McGee, copywrite 2004), pages 694-712, 430-433, 647-52, 674-675, 533-34
• Research articles to read for the week:
  • Eating cocoa can reduce your high-fat diet-induced obesity by regulating the expression of genes for fatty acid metabolism (or at least in rats!)
  • it is your genome's fault you like (or don't like) chocolate .
• To answer some of the questions you might have to do additional reading
• we are also going to do a taste test of different types of chocolate, so bring your taste buds! If you would like some guidelines for tasting the chocolate, go here.

Additional reading

• Shopping for Chocolate
  • Chocolate is being made in Hawaii, learn some fun facts about vintage chocolate
• Processing the cocoa bean
  • Where does chocolate come from?
  • Botanical classification of the cocoa plant.
  • How are the cocoa beans processed to make chocolate?
  • The way Lindt processes its chocolate.
• Chocolate Classifications
  Do you know the differences between the types of chocolate?
  What the difference between natural and dutch processed cocoa?
• Chocolate and the Brain:
  • Why do we crave chocolate?
  • Receptor in the brain that interacts with chocolate
• Chocolate and Health
  • Health benefits of chocolate
• Chocolate as a drug for Diabetes
• Chocolate Science
• Here's an actual chemical article about chocolate
• there is a traveling exhibit from the Field Museum that is all about chocolate. Click here for more info. This has been recommended by a former student, Aayesha recommends this exhibit if you can get to it.
• The World of Vanilla
• Fun Sites
• Homepage for the Laboratory for Chocolate Science here at MIT
• You can take a class at the University of Georgia called Chocolate Science

Homework Questions:

Chocolate specific:

1. Do you enjoy chocolate? Is there a biochemical reason for it?
2. What are some of the chemicals that contribute to the chocolate taste?
3. Can we become addicted to chocolate?
4. What is common to both marijuana and chocolate?
5. Even though it is unhealthy, can we justify from a health perspective eating chocolate in moderation?
6. What is the ingredient in chocolate that makes our hearts pound?
7. Should you feed your cat or dog chocolate? Why or why not?

Ingredient specific questions:

1. What is the chemistry behind baking powder? At what temperature does this process become spontaneous (remember Gibb's free energy equations from thermodynamics?)
2. What does double acting baking powder really mean?
3. Why add eggs to the recipe?
4. What is the difference between brown sugar and white sugar?
5. Where does vanilla come from and how is the extract made?
6. What modifications did you make to the recipe?

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Last updated: December 28, 2008