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It’s been a while since the last news on the book, but it’s still very much on its way – and here’s the cover to prove it! It’s out in the UK on October 8, 2015, and it’s already available to preorder on Amazon here. A little more information follows if this is the first you’ve heard about it!
There’s one chemical reaction that, whether you have an interest in chemistry or not, we all carry out on a regular, maybe even daily, basis. That reaction? The Maillard Reaction. This is a process that takes place whenever you cook a range of foods – it’s responsible for the flavours in cooked meat, fried onions, roasted coffee, and toasted bread. The reaction’s name is a little deceptive, because it’s really an umbrella term for a number of reactions that can produce a complex range of products. The main stages, and some of the different classes of products, are summarised in this graphic.
Raspberries, like all fruits, contain a complex mix of organic compounds. Unlike many fruits, however, raspberries have the less common distinction of lending their name to the compound that is a major contributor to their aroma – and one of the compounds that contributes to their flavour has also been detected in the centre of our galaxy. So, does the centre of the galaxy taste faintly of raspberries?
Monosodium glutamate, or MSG for short, has long been the villain of the food supplement world. In the UK, Chinese takeaways proudly display ‘No MSG’ signs beside their counters, and many websites will purport to tell you ‘the truth about MSG’. Numerous studies have been carried out examining the effects of MSG, but with all the conflicting information, it can be hard for consumers to know who to believe.
If you’ve been keeping an eye on the site’s Twitter feed, you’ll have heard that I’ve been lucky enough to secure a book deal with Orion Publishing. The book will be based on the food chemistry graphics on the site, which I’ll be reworking, along with a lot more new entries. Whilst it’s a project that’s going to consume the majority of my summer holidays, it’s one I’m really excited about; for anyone who’s interested, here’s a little more information on it.