Hydrocolloids between soft matter and taste: Culinary polymer physics

Hydrocolloids are well known for their wide use in for many products provided by many branches of the food industry. More and more they play an important role in many applications of the avant-garde cuisine, where according to many chefs their real strength is determined by their isolated use, rather than in combinations with other food thickeners and gelling agents. Indeed their thoughtful use in dishes and food systems allows developing sensible physical and more systematic “models for taste” in (molecular) gastronomy. The physical origin of taste development and taste release by structural changes in the mouth one of the subjects discussed in this paper. The general goal is the developments of models for structure–property–taste relationships on the basis of molecular material laws, which have their origin buried in the soft matter sciences. In this publication we are going to demonstrate, how simple ideas from polymer physics, including theory allow a deeper understanding of rheological properties and taste parameters. As an example we study mainly role of xanthan and develop a new type of model for its physical and gastronomic properties. These models can, however, provide a deeper understanding of molecular processes in food science beyond food technology.