Of course, all of them are common vegetables that are a part of our diet the world over. What else is common? Would you believe if i told you that all of them are the same species! Priya Raju told me this bit of amazing information. Wikipedia’s page on Cabbage confirms this. All of them are different cultivars of the same species. But then why do they all taste so different from each other? I am currently reading Jared Diamond’s brilliant book Guns, Germs and Steel and came across the answer on page 122:

Ancestral cabbage plants, possibly grown originally for their oil seeds, underwent even greater diversification as they became variously selected for leaves (modern cabbage and kale), stems (kohlrabi), buds (brussel sprouts), or flower shoots (cauliflower and broccoli) .

In other words, all of these are different parts of the same plant known to us as different vegetables through millenia of cultivation and artificial selection.

Have you ever wondered how a dosa become crisp or how a bread toast is made brown and crisp? Of course, to do any of the above no knowledge of chemistry is required. But a man named Louis-Camille Maillard in the early 20th century decided to investigate. What he discovered is so fascinating that the complex chemical reaction is now called the Maillard Reaction. In normal english, it is called browning. Heat is the key to producing the Maillard Reaction and the resultant torrent of appetizing flavors and aromas. Through this reaction hundreds of new flovor compounds are produced which give the distinctive brown color and taste of the toasts, dosas, roasted meat etc. You can read the Wikipedia page on Maillard Reaction to see how complex it is. The reason I got interested is because I read somewhere that Microwave ovens can’t produce the Maillard Reaction. These days Corning does sell a browner/crisper aid for the microwave. I have tried using this aid and it does do a reasonably good job but not as good as a gas stove. But why is it that something as modern as the microwave oven can’t produce something a common fire or a gas stove or a electric stove can produce? If someone knows the answer please comment.

1. One of the greatest insights i have gained recently from the application of the ABC theory and others is the aspect of feedback loops, measurement etc. Came across this  post on O’reilly titled “If Google were a restaurant” that captures this idea of feedback beautifully. 2. Programming is a key skill that everyone must possess. So it may be better to start kids off with this. Came across this excellent post on O’reilly. But it seemed like one needed to buy expensive stuff. In the comments on this post, i came across the free MIT Scratch which seems to have some great possibilities. [Caution: i don't have kids and haven't tested these ideas on one] 3. You may have seen my post on coffee’s effect on sleep patterns. Here is some tips for a good night’s sleep – from this list, warm milk with honey works well for me. 4. A printer that uses no ink is now in the market. At last, freedom from the ravenous inkjet is just around the corner. can’t wait. 5. Priya Raju picked out the movie “The day the earth stood still” directed by Robert Wise. It is a b/w sci-fi classic from 1951 (a full 8 years before the other Scifi genius Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone hit the idiot box).  This movie is f***ing brilliant. In 1951 to conceptualize something like this and make it is fantastic. Don’t miss this one. Gort, Klaatu Barada Nikto – wonder what that means? see the movie. BTW, Robert Wise is also well-known for his other classic movie -  West Side Story.

1. Did you know? Saffron was first documented in Ashurbanipal’s 7th Century BC Assyria. Now Saffron is a key spice across the world’s major cuisines including Indian. 2. BBC’s 15 web principles – captures the essential insights of the modern web. In the neuroscience department –
4. the neurology of phobias – brilliant article <Via Archana Raghuram> 5. How easily our brain can be fooled – an insightful post on how we end up eating a lot
more than we should. <Via Businesspundit> 6. We watched Eddie Murphy’s Dr. Dolittle – as always Eddie Murphy does a great job. In my view,
the director could not leverage the key idea properly – Dr. Dolittle’s ability to speak to animals. The storyline could have been much better. Priya Raju liked it though.

How does popcorn pop? Why is it that other grains don’t pop?

Wikipedia entry on popcorn says:

As with all cereal grains, each kernel of popcorn contains a certain amount of moisture in its starchy endosperm. Unlike most other grains, the outer hull, or pericarp, of the popcorn kernel is thick and impervious to moisture.

As the kernel is heated past the boiling point, water in the kernel begins to turn to steam, generating an internal pressure of about 9 atm. In kernels of other grains (and in damaged kernels of popcorn), this steam escapes as fast as it forms, but in the tightly sealed popcorn kernel, the steam is held tight by the pericarp and the pressure starts to build until the pericarp suddenly ruptures, causing a small explosion. The force of the explosion turns the kernel inside out. More importantly, because the moisture is evenly distributed throughout the starchy endosperm, the sudden expansion turns the endosperm into an airy foam which gives popcorn its unique texture.

Two explanations exist for kernels which do not pop, known in the popcorn industry as “old maids,” after being exposed to high temperatures. The first is that unpopped kernels do not have enough moisture to create enough steam for an explosion. The second explanation, according to research led by Dr. Bruce Hamaker of Purdue University, is that the unpopped kernel may have a leaky hull.

 

I was wondering about this leaky hull theory and while browsing the Chemistry World magazine from the Royal Society of Chemistry, I found this really interesting explanation:

The secret to maximising pop-ability lies in the chemistry of the corn kernel, says Hamaker. He has identified a
crystalline structure in popcorn that appears to determine popping success. His team tested a variety of popcorn
brands, and found the most poppable ones share a characteristic chemical structure of the outer hull (pericarp).

The data suggest that cellulose in the pericarp is responsible for the development of exothermal events and increased crystallinity. ‘The propensity of cellulose to form crystalline structures in the popcorn pericarp during microwave heating improves moisture retention and hence popping performance,’ they write. Improving pop-ability – by breeding varieties with optimal crystalline structure; by chemical modification of corn kernels; or by genetic modification – could result in a better product in three to five years, predicts Hamaker.

So, the perfectly popping popcorn is not too far off in the future. Can’t wait.