New Scientist CultureLab podcast

February 27, 2024

CultureLab: What would life on Mars be like? The science behind TV series For All Mankind

Bioscience podcast April 2023 with Rob Dunn

May 1, 2023

A recent article in BioScience discusses “Nature’s Chefs”—animal, plant, and fungal species create or mimic food for others for a variety of reasons. In this episode of BioScience Talks, we’re joined by authors Robert Dunn and Pia Sörensen to discuss the article and some of these food-creating species (including humans).

The Essential (and at Times, Elusive) Power of Mustard Oil

April 24, 2023

South Asian cooks swear by the bite of mustard oil. But in the West, it is not as widely available.

Can You Stop Beans From Making You Fart? We Put 17 Methods to the Test

December 4, 2022

We partnered with Harvard’s Science of Cooking program to find which common flatulence-reducing tips work and which don’t.

Steps you can take to make your meal’s second round as fresh as the first

February 17, 2021

Dine in with some takeout and if you have leftovers, a food scientist shares tips on how to refresh what’s in your fridge.

The science of takeout ft. Dr. Pia Sorensen

February 17, 2021

Here at Chronicle, we take our food very seriously. So seriously in fact, we turned to a scientist to discuss how to order the perfect takeout and how to refresh the leftovers in your fridge. Dr. Pia Sorensen, a Senior Preceptor at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied sciences, sits down to talk about food on a molecular level.

Cooking with Science: Why Eggs Turn White, Pickles Crunch, and Popcorn Sets Off Your Smoke Detectors

February 11, 2021

Pia Sorensen has a kitchen laboratory where she demonstrates how pans of denatured proteins and hot fats can create a delicious meal — or a big ol’ mess.

Off the Shelf

November 9, 2020

Science and Cooking: Physics Meets Food, from Homemade to Haute Cuisine, by Michael Brenner, Pia Sörensen, and David Weitz (W.W. Norton, $35). Drawn from the wildly popular eponymous course and its HarvardX version, this book is the first known collaboration among an applied mathematician/physicist (Brenner), an applied materials/chemical engineer (Sorensen), and a physicist/applied physicist (Weitz)—the course proprietors—to include the recipe for cornflake chocolate chip marshmallow cookies: experiential learning of an unusual sort, with very hands-on making—and eating. (Read the Harvard Magazine article)

NYC is a Tightly Packed Jar of Sauerkraut (feat. Pia Sörensen & David Weitz)

October 29, 2020

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On today’s episode of Prediction Issues, Dave, Nastassia and The Rest are joined by Pia Sörensen and David Weitz, the dynamic duo who keep inviting Dave and Harold back to Harvard University year after year. Together, the crew dive into their new book Science and Cooking: Physics Meets Food, From Homemade to Haute Cuisine. Topics include further questions on Scandinavian cheese and reindeer burgers, every weird way you can treat an egg,  how to assess papers before reading them,  how make your own fake vanilla extract, and much more

Taking the politicians out of tough policy decisions; the late, great works of Charles Turner; and the science of cooking

October 29, 2020

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in our monthly books segment, host Kiki Sanford chats with author Pia Sörensen about her new book: Science and Cooking: Physics Meets Food, From Homemade to Haute Cuisine.

Read review by Mary Ellen Hannibal

By Sarah Crespi, Cathleen O’Grady, Kiki Sanford, 29 October 2020

The Worlds Oldest-Known Recipes Decoded

November 4, 2019

A team of international scholars versed in culinary history, food chemistry and cuneiform studies has been recreating dishes from the world’s oldest-known recipes. (Read more about “The Worlds Oldest-Known Recipes Decoded”)

By Ashley Winchester, 4 November 2019

Sake Kasu: Flower of the Garbage

August 1, 2018

Sake kasu is a beautifully aromatic, flavor-rich, living thing with so much potential as a cooking ingredient, yet few people know about it. (Read more about “Sake Kasu: Flower of the Garbage”)

By Evan Liu, summer 2018