University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague

Molecular gastronomy, alias 'Amarouns' on every corner. Does food preparation in the manner of the Amarouns eaten by extraterrestrials in the 'Visitors' TV series seem like science fiction to you? We may not yet be able to prepare sirloin steak with cream sauce and dumplings by just throwing a piece of gel on a plate, but what we can do is to prepare gels to taste like grandma's sirloin steak!

Spherification. That's the magic we can do! And how to do it? Quite simply. Just prepare two solutions (mixtures). Add a pinch of seaweed extract – specifically sodium alginate – to your favourite gravy or sauce. Drip the prepared mixture into a container of water enriched with calcium ions. And that's it!

In simple terms, the way it works is that the long polysaccharide chains of the alginate acid collide (mingle) with the calcium ions, forming a jelly-like blob or a ball that resembles caviar, for example.

Photo: Tomáš Belloň

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