Ciao Molecular Gastronomy

It was announced last week that the boot-shaped country, Italy, will be facing some new regulations in one of their most precious places, the kitchen. Italy’s ministry of Health recently announced a new legislature that prohibits the use of several ingredients in the kitchen that are highly associated with the art of molecular gastronomy.

Molecular gastronomy is not something that easily comes up in everyday conversation, so a simple explanation of the art of this food would be best simplified as the application of scientific principles to the cooking techniques and preparations, according to Physics professor Peter Barham of the University of Bristol in the U.K.

There are many little parts to this new ban on ingredients, but one of them, is the prohibition of the storage, or usage, of any gaseous substances, including liquid nitrogen – something essential to many chefs in the culinary arts.

On top of that, chefs are no longer permitted to use chemical combinations, which are more commonly known as “powders.” The most famous of them being “Texturas.”

Italian chefs are not taking the news lightly and lots of them are complaining about the ridiculous restrictions via blogging. A particular blog called Caput Mundi Cibus which talks about Italian cuisine, notes that though the molecular gastronomy wasn’t specifically talked about in the new law, it is suspected by many curious onlookers that it does in fact pertain to it because of the fact that a lot of Italians have been skeptical about the science of food.

But there’s a curious twist to this whole ordeal. This new law, is only effective for less than  a year. Yes, this means that while it is in effect now, it will only be in effect until December 31^st, 2010.