Science in the kitchen
Read Science in the kitchen and check the IELTS Reading answers. There is a recent movement in the world of food, in which chefs are collaborating with scientists to teach themselves the chemistry and physics of cuisine. Even academics are getting excited about the results. Colin Osborne of the Roy…
Passage preview
There is a recent movement in the world of food, in which chefs are collaborating with scientists to teach themselves the chemistry and physics of cuisine. Even academics are getting excited about the results. Colin Osborne of the Royal Society of Chemistry in London is enthused: ‘Chefs are using unusual methods to produce exciting dishes that would be impossible without modern science,’ he says.
Vocabulary from this passage
11 words worth learning before you sit the test, each with the sentence it appears in.
- bestow verb
To give an honour, right or award to someone, typically in a formal way that recognises their achievements
The university will bestow an honorary doctorate on the physicist for her lifelong contribution to science.
- collaborate verb
To work jointly on an activity, especially to produce or create something
Engineers and architects often collaborate to ensure buildings are both functional and aesthetic.
- compartmentalise verb
To divide into sections or categories; to separate into distinct parts
It is often necessary to compartmentalise emotions to maintain professional objectivity.
- empirically adverb
By means of observation or experience rather than theory or pure logic
The hypothesis must be tested empirically before it can be accepted as scientific fact.
- ingrained adjective
Deeply established and difficult to change (of habits, beliefs, or attitudes)
The prejudice was so ingrained in the culture that it took generations to overcome.
- minuscule adjective
Extremely small in size or amount, so slight that it is almost insignificant or hard to measure
Even a minuscule error in the calculation can lead to a catastrophic structural failure.
- old wives' tale noun
A traditional belief or piece of folk wisdom, often accepted without question although science may have shown it to be false
The idea that cold weather causes colds is an old wives' tale that medical research has long rejected.
- peer review noun
Evaluation of scientific, academic, or professional work by others working in the same field
The study was rejected because it failed the rigorous peer review process required by the journal.
- permeate verb
To spread throughout something and be present in every part of it, often gradually and in a pervasive way
The smell of spices began to permeate the entire building during the cooking festival.
- phenomena noun
Facts or situations that are observed to exist or happen, especially those whose cause is in question
Astronomers study cosmic phenomena to understand the origins of the universe.
- proprietor noun
The owner of a business such as a restaurant, shop or hotel, often one who also runs it day to day
The proprietor of the gallery was known for discovering avant-garde artists.
Answers with explanations
- 27. NO
The statement claims scientists and chefs have a **long-established history** of working together. The opening sentence calls their collaboration a **recent movement**, and McGee adds that only **twenty years ago** the two worlds were **neatly compartmentalised**. This is a direct contradiction: the partnership is new, not long-standing. Because the passage states the opposite rather than staying silent, the answer is NO and not NOT GIVEN. Answer: NO.
- 28. NO
The statement says **traditional ways of cooking** tend to be supported by modern scientific research. The passage says the opposite: many **culturally ingrained cooking methods** are **less than perfect**, and it gives examples where research **disproves** them, such as the belief that frying meat seals in moisture. Because the writer clearly contradicts the claim rather than leaving it out, the answer is NO. Answer: NO.
- 29. YES
The statement says the food at **The Fat Duck** is **unconventional**. The passage describes the restaurant as serving **delightfully unexpected dishes**, giving **nitro-scrambled egg** and bacon ice cream as examples. Dishes like these are clearly not conventional, and the writer's own approving word 'delightfully' shows this is the writer's view of the food, so the claim is supported. Answer: YES.
- 30. NOT GIVEN
The statement claims El Bulli is the **most popular** restaurant of its kind in Spain. The passage calls it **another leading restaurant** engaging with scientific techniques and says it is **rumoured to be booked out** a year in advance. That suggests popularity, but 'another leading restaurant' places it alongside others, and nothing ranks it first in Spain. The text neither confirms nor contradicts the claim. Answer: NOT GIVEN.
- 31. NOT GIVEN
The statement claims McGee has plans to **open his own restaurant**. McGee appears as a food science writer who published an **influential book** and later revised it, and he is quoted on how science has entered the kitchen. Nothing in the passage mentions **plans** for a restaurant or any future project of his, so the text is silent. Silence, not contradiction, makes this NOT GIVEN. Answer: NOT GIVEN.
- 32. C
The question asks about the **purpose** of Hervé This's research. The passage says he spends much of his time trying to **disprove culinary old wives' tales** and is **empirically testing traditional beliefs**, disproving the more absurd. This matches the option about showing that **long-held beliefs** about cooking are wrong. The option about a scientific basis for traditional methods says the reverse, and the options about chemistry's influence and advice for home cooks are not his stated aim. Answer: C.
- 33. A
The question asks for a difference between cookery books and scientific papers according to **Barham**. He says recipes are typically **poorly written** and that, **in stark contrast**, scientific papers undergo **peer review**, where experts pore over experiments. So papers are checked by more people. Nothing says cookery writers need no qualifications, that scientific language is more complicated, or that recipe writers earn more. Answer: A.
- 34. B
The question asks why Kurti mentioned a **soufflé**. He **quipped** that it is a **sad reflection** that we know the temperature inside the stars better than inside a soufflé. The comparison shows how little science has examined everyday cooking, which is the inadequacy of scientific research into cooking. The passage does not discuss dishes being ruined by heat, similarities between cooking and other sciences, or Kurti's own skill as a cook. Answer: B.
- 35. C
The question asks about one aspect of **Rachel Edwards-Stuart's research**. She studies **food additives, including modified cellulose gels** that **solidify on heating** and **melt again** as they are cooled, so dishes develop different flavours as they are eaten. This is how food **changes form** in certain conditions. Her drinks project changes flavour, not matching solids with liquids, and the passage mentions no research on young people's tastes or preservatives. Answer: C.
- 36. E
The sentence starting **Colin Osborne explains that** points to his quotation in the first paragraph. He says chefs are using unusual methods to produce exciting dishes that **would be impossible without modern science**. This matches the ending about science helping cooks make meals that would **otherwise be unachievable**. The ending about a clear division between cooking and science is McGee's point, and the one about new terminology belongs to Kurti and Hervé This. Answer: E.
- 37. C
Hervé This is quoted explaining that chemistry has undergone **massive changes** since the first modern chemists, **but** cooking methods have **remained largely as they were in the Middle Ages**. The contrast signalled by 'but' shows that cooking has not moved forward with science, which matches the ending about cooking having **failed to keep pace** with scientific developments. The passage does not say traditions are back in fashion, and it does not discuss home cooks' abilities. Answer: C.
- 38. G
The ending needs the result of Kurti and Hervé This **working together**. The passage says they **devised the expression 'molecular gastronomy'** in the 1980s to **denote** the science of culinary transformations and differentiate it from food science. Creating a new expression is **new terminology** to describe the study of culinary reactions. The ending about an award refers to Blumenthal's honorary fellowship, which involved other people. Answer: G.
- 39. A
McGee looks back **twenty years** and says that science and cooking were **neatly compartmentalised**: food science dealt with industrial manufacturing, while cooking was a traditional craft that had never attracted much scientific attention. This matches the ending that there used to be a **clear division** between cooking and science. The other endings describe points made by other people in the passage, such as Kurti's terminology or Hervé This's tests. Answer: A.
- 40. D
Edwards-Stuart's example is a case where a **children's book** inspired her research. She says the concept of dishes whose flavour changes came from Roald Dahl's **Charlie and the Chocolate Factory**, where Willy Wonka makes a **bubble gum** that is a whole meal in one sweet. A fictional sweet is an **imaginary invention**, and it inspired her scientific project. No other point in the passage describes this kind of case. Answer: D.