Kitchen - The Ultimate Chemistry Lab

As people who devote themselves to different walks of life, we are often so engrossed in our day-to-day activities that we fail to pay attention to the world around us. This has especially intensified ever since we were subjected to this dreary reality of the pandemic. Quite ironically, if we take the time to look around, we would find that we are surrounded by objects and articles manufactured from various substances and materials formed by the working of chemical processes. Thus, it would be shocking for most of us to learn that we might be just a few meters away from a perfect chemistry lab- our very own kitchen! Believe it or not, the kitchen is probably the best place to learn various important chemical processes, which could be of great use. It could even be argued that the kitchen is a better and more fun place to learn chemistry than a chemistry lab. Just replace the nasty, toxic fumes of chemicals with the heavenly, mouth-watering aroma of numerous spices kept on the shelves. Instead of flasks and test tubes, we use pots and pans, and sometimes, even the autoclaves in the form of pressure cookers.

The major activity occurring in a kitchen is cooking, which is a sophisticated, artistic side of chemistry. Heating, freezing, mixing, and blending are all processes used both in the laboratory and the kitchen. When we cook food, many different physical and chemical processes simultaneously take place to transform the ingredients involved. This is the very reason most chemists are often excellent cooks. Every cook in this world has an incredible grasp of the practical aspect of chemistry, regardless of whether they have had any formal background in the field. As a child, have you ever wondered how on earth your elders manage to make such delicious food? How even the slightest change in the amount of a particular ingredient added can completely change a dish's taste? Why dal is spicy, but payasam is sweet? The answers to all these lie in the wonders of chemistry. These days, several websites, advertisements, and well-meaning popular articles warn us about nasty “chemicals” lurking in our kitchens. Many of them even suggest the benefits of switching to a “chemical-free” lifestyle. The problem is that the word “chemical” is entirely misused in most of these contexts. Every single item in the kitchen is a chemical, from common table salt (sodium chloride) and vinegar (acetic acid) to baking powder (sodium hydroxide). Even if you look at our diet, the major chemicals in our diet are broadly categorized as either carbohydrates, proteins, or fats.

Carbohydrates contain carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms, all connected in different ways. This category includes sugars, starch, and cellulose, all of which are digested differently by our bodies. Long protein chains are created by the linking together of several tiny amino acids. The richest sources include meat and eggs, but significant amounts are also found in beans, legumes, and wheat flour. Fats are quite similar to carbohydrates, except that they provide very high dietary energy even in small quantities. Reactions involved in cooking are numerous. Maillard reaction is a unique example involving proteins and sugars and is responsible for the browning of food when cooked. Overheating would lead to caramelization of the sugar, while too much heating would give it a burnt flavor. The list goes on and on. We are surrounded by chemicals and chemical reactions, all of which govern our daily lives. The examples given above are just some of the many which firmly cement the kitchen as an invaluable source of practical learning.

-Tanish Mukherji