Food Architecture: Building Better Foods

Abstract

Foods are extremely complicated built objects. There properties depend on the materials they are constructed from and how they are put together. This chapter presents the idea that foods can be designed and assembled using similar principles as architects employ to create buildings. The food architect uses building blocks, such as proteins, fats, and carbohydrates, to create structures inside foods at the nano- and micro-scales that lead to the desirable look, feel, and taste of foods. The unique characteristics of the different building materials used to create foods and the forces holding them together are presented. Changing trends in architectural styles are related to those in food design, including the brutalist, modernist, and organic movements. One of the most exciting recent trends in food design has been the molecular gastronomy movement, which uses structural design principals similar to those used in modern architecture. The history and design of chocolate is used as an example of food architecture in practice. The future of 3D printing for creating unique foods in our homes is reviewed.