Kitchen Science

Heat, fat, acid and time — the chemistry a recipe assumes you already know.

20 articles · page 1 of 2

Kitchen Science

Why a tempering is added at the end and not the beginning

The tadka is not a garnish. It is a solvent extraction, and doing it last is the whole point.

By Nikhil Bose · August 26, 2026 · 4 min read

Kitchen Science

Browning is two separate reactions and they want opposite things

Caramelisation needs sugar and serious heat; the Maillard reaction needs protein and a dry surface, and…

Jun 30, 2026 · 4 min read

Kitchen Science

Salt is doing four separate jobs and only one of them is taste

Beyond making things taste salty, salt moves water, changes protein, suppresses bitterness and takes time…

Jun 28, 2026 · 4 min read

Kitchen Science

Why a curry genuinely does taste better the next day

It is not nostalgia or a duller palate — several slow processes carry on inside a cold pot, and they all…

Jun 27, 2026 · 3 min read

Kitchen Science

A glossy gravy is an emulsion and a split one is the same gravy that gave up

The sheen on a good curry is fat suspended in water as microscopic droplets, and everything that keeps it…

Jun 24, 2026 · 4 min read

Kitchen Science

A wet grind and a dry grind produce two different masalas

Adding water to the grinder changes particle size, what dissolves, how much heat the machine generates and…

Apr 28, 2026 · 4 min read

Kitchen Science

Temperature changes how a dish tastes before it changes anything else

The same gravy tastes different hot and lukewarm because heat governs how much aroma reaches the nose and…

Apr 27, 2026 · 4 min read

Kitchen Science

Chilli burn is felt by a nerve, not tasted by a tongue

Capsaicin triggers the receptor that detects physical heat, which explains why water fails, why dairy works…

Apr 24, 2026 · 4 min read

Kitchen Science

Indian kitchens build savouriness from ingredients nobody calls umami

The glutamates and related compounds that produce deep savoury flavour turn up throughout Indian cooking…

Apr 20, 2026 · 3 min read

Kitchen Science

The pan changes the dish, and not only through how fast it heats

Thermal mass, conductivity and chemical reactivity all differ between metals, and each one shows up in the…

Apr 19, 2026 · 4 min read

Kitchen Science

The water out of your tap is an ingredient with a composition

Dissolved calcium and magnesium change how pulses soften, how vegetables hold their shape and how a dough…

Feb 24, 2026 · 3 min read

Kitchen Science

A fermented rice batter is a small ecosystem you are managing by temperature

The rise in an idli or dosa batter is produced by microbes already present on the ingredients, and nearly…

Feb 22, 2026 · 3 min read

Kitchen Science

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