I have always been curious about how cooking can fundamentally change the flavor of a produce or protein. My mind has always been geared towards the sciences, and thinking of cooking as a scientific endeavor has always fascinated me.
My early memories of food and cooking involve my childhood in Ethiopia and my wonder at the ability of my grandmother and mother to use and turn seemingly innocuous vegetables that did not have very strong smells or tastes in their raw form to aromatic and delectable dishes. Why do vegetables become softer with heat, why do onions develop a sweeter and more intense flavor after being on a pan? What is happening to the actin filaments in our proteins while they are sitting on the shelf in grocery stores ready to be bought?
The science of cooking has captivated me so much that most of my entertainment is solely devoted to watching people cook, talk about cooking, and traveling to different places to, yes, experience more cooking. There are endless ingredients and methods of cooking to learn about and I cannot wait to keep merging my two passions and learning and implementing new recipes just as I learn and optimize laboratory SOPs.
Kedamawit Tilahun, North Carolina
Researcher
My early memories of food and cooking involve my childhood in Ethiopia and my wonder at the ability of my grandmother and mother to use and turn seemingly innocuous vegetables that did not have very strong smells or tastes in their raw form to aromatic and delectable dishes. Why do vegetables become softer with heat, why do onions develop a sweeter and more intense flavor after being on a pan? What is happening to the actin filaments in our proteins while they are sitting on the shelf in grocery stores ready to be bought?
The science of cooking has captivated me so much that most of my entertainment is solely devoted to watching people cook, talk about cooking, and traveling to different places to, yes, experience more cooking. There are endless ingredients and methods of cooking to learn about and I cannot wait to keep merging my two passions and learning and implementing new recipes just as I learn and optimize laboratory SOPs.
Kedamawit Tilahun, North Carolina
Researcher