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Molecular gastronomy is the application of science to culinary practice and more generally gastronomical phenomena.

The term was coined by the French scientist Hervé This and by the Hungarian physicist Nicholas Kurti. Both had investigated food preparation scientifically: Nicholas Kurti had given a presentation in 1969 at the Royal Institution called "The physicist in the kitchen", and This had been testing culinary old wives' tales since March 1980.

The idea of using techniques developed in chemistry to study food was not a new one; it goes back to the 18th century [1]. This and Kurti decided that a new, specific discipline should be created within food science, and looked for a name. The initial proposal by This was "molecular gastronomy", but Kurti, being a physicist, insisted on adding "and physical", which is why the discipline was at first called "molecular and physical gastronomy" (this was also the title of This's Ph.D.).

When Kurti died, This simplified the name to "molecular gastronomy", but Kurti's name was given to the continuing series of workshops that Kurti and This had directed every two years in Erice, at the Majorana Centre for Scientific Culture. The name "was dreamt up in 1992 by a physicist called Nicholas Kurti who needed a fancy name for the science of cooking so he could get a research institute to pay attention to his work", according to Heston Blumenthal[2].

The fundamental objectives of molecular gastronomy were defined by H. This in his Ph.D. thesis as:

• Investigating culinary and gastronomical proverbs, sayings, and old wives' tales
• Exploring existing recipes
• Introducing new tools, ingredients and methods into the kitchen
• Inventing new dishes
• Using molecular gastronomy to help the general public understand the contribution of science to society

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the term started to be used for a new style of cooking that was unafraid to explore the possibilities of food scientifically. It was used to describe the cooking methods of a number of famous chefs, although several have subsequently repudiated the idea of molecular gastronomy, and say that their cooking is instead a search for excellence. [3]

The term has been used to describe the cooking of Pierre Gagnaire, Ferran Adrià, Heston Blumenthal, Homaro Cantu, Wylie Dufresne, Sean Brock, Will Goldfarb, Grant Achatz, Richard Blais,Kevin Sousa, Top Chef contestant Marcel Vigneron, as well as the approach of Harold McGee's writing and research.

• Essay by Hervé This
• eGullet Q&A with Harold McGee
• khymos.org - a website dedicated to molecular gastronomy
• Article examining the history of the molecular gastronomy movement
• (http://www.hkc22.com/nanofood.html) From molecular science to nanotechnology in food science and food processing and developments, 2004 to 2015

• Hervé This, Molecular Gastronomy. Columbia University Press, New York, 2006.
• Harold McGee, On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen. Scribner, New York, 2004. ISBN 0-684-80001-2.
• Harold McGee, McGee on Food & Cooking. An Encyclopedia of Kitchen Science, History and Culture. ISBN 0-340-83149-9.
• Statement on the 'new cookery' Ferran Adria, Heston Blumenthal, Thomas Keller and Harold McGee; The Observer, London, Sunday December 10, 2006
• Molecular Gastronomy Ingredients An ever-growing list of molecular gastronomy ingredients and techniques