2022 Science and Cooking series celebrates sugar, traditional foodways and more

Next week, the popular Science and Cooking Public Lecture Series kicks off its 13th year at Harvard University. The series pairs Harvard professors with celebrated food experts and renowned chefs to showcase the science behind different culinary techniques.

This year’s Science and Cooking series will explore topics ranging from new culinary science research to nomadic food traditions, indigenous foodways, the thermodynamics of BBQ, Indian food and more.

New presenters this year include Pia Leon, who was recently named World's Best Female Chef of 2021 by the World's 50 Best Restaurants; Arielle Johnson, co-founder of the Noma Fermentation Lab; Malena Martinez, co-director of Mater Iniciativa; Chintan Pandya, chef and partner of Unapologetic Foods; Fatmata Binta, founder of Fulani Kitchen Projects; Sean Sherman, founder of The Sioux Chef; and Eduard Xatruch, Chef and Co-Owner of Disfrutar.

Returning presenters include Harold McGee, author of On Food and Cooking and Nose Dive, Dave Arnold, host of the podcast Cooking Issues, chef Joanne Chang of Flour and Myers & Chang, chef Tracy Chang of Pagu, and pitmaster Bryan Furman.

This year includes a new session for teachers and educators with Kate Strangfeld, founder of Bite Scized Education, a non-profit that creates curriculum to teach STEM through cooking. Strangfeld received her masters from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and started Bite Scized Education after taking the Science and Cooking class at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS).

Science and Cooking is organized by SEAS and is based on the Harvard course “Science and Cooking: From Haute Cuisine to Soft Matter Science”.

The full schedule can be found on the Science and Cooking Public Lecture Series website.