PopTech Chef Cantu On Food Network

Last night one of the PopTech presenters Homaro Cantu was the featured challenger on Iron Chef America. Chef Cantu's new science cuisine can be found at his Chicago restaurant Moto where your food may be freeze-dried, flash boiled, Frozen in liquid Nitrogen, or burned by a laser beam. He looks to bring molecular gastronomy to more kitchen tables.

What is unique is the application of scientific principals to the culinary arts. Although a number of the cooking methods were way out of the realm of ordinary folks there were a few unique pieces of technology that may make improvement in home cooking. One in particular was the polymer oven. My friend Ethan Zuckerman describes it as:

Cantu’s really excited about a superinsulated polymer oven. You heat it in a conventional oven for ten minutes and it can cook on a table top for hours. It’s cool on the outside, hot on the inside, and a clear plastic version might be able to cook via solar power. He uses it to cook a piece of fish, keeping the vapor and nutrients in it, serving it with shaved mushrooms.

Also do not miss another futurist point of view over at Fringehog!