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Individual Course

Science & Cooking: From Haute Cuisine to Soft Matter Science (chemistry)

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Course Length

16 weeks

2-3 hours per week

Featuring faculty from:

Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences LogoHarvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

Enroll as Individual

Certificate Price:

$ 249

Enroll as Individual

Certificate Price:

$ 249

Top chefs and Harvard researchers explore how everyday cooking and haute cuisine can illuminate basic principles in chemistry, physics, and engineering. Learn about food molecules and how chemical reactions can affect food texture and flavor.

During each week of this course, chefs reveal the secrets behind some of their most famous culinary creations — often right in their own restaurants. Inspired by such cooking mastery, the Harvard team will then explain the science behind the recipe.

Topics will include: how molecules influence flavor; the role of heat in cooking; diffusion, revealed by the phenomenon of spherification, the culinary technique pioneered by Ferran Adrià.

You will also have the opportunity to become an experimental scientist in your very own laboratory — your kitchen. By following along with the engaging recipe of the week, taking precise measurements, and making skillful observations, you will learn to think like both a cook and a scientist. The lab is certainly one of the most unique components of this course — After all, in what other science course can you eat your experiments?

The course will be delivered via edX and connect learners around the world.

Self-Guided

edX

  • Learn from Harvard faculty
  • Do it on your own time
  • Get a certificate, add it to your resume
  • Be part of the Harvard Community
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Syllabus

View the module outline for this course:

Faculty

Your Instructor

Pia Sörensen

Preceptor of Science and Cooking and HarvardX Fellow, John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the Department of Physics
Read full bio.

Your Instructor

David Weitz

Professor of Physics and Applied Physics, John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the Department of Physics
Read full bio.

Your Instructor

Michael Brenner

Glover Professor of Applied Mathematics and Applied Physics and Harvard College Professor
Read full bio.

Complete your journey with this Professional Certificate Series

These courses can be bundled together to receive a professional certificate at a discounted price.

Learn More
  • 3 Courses
  • 1 Year
  • Earn Your Certificate
An example HarvardX certificate

Ways to take this course

Audit or Pursue a Verified Certificate

A Verified Certificate costs $249 and provides unlimited access to full course materials, activities, tests, and forums. At the end of the course, learners who earn a passing grade can receive a certificate.

⁠Alternatively, learners can Audit the course for free and have access to select course material, activities, tests, and forums. Please note that this track does not offer a certificate for learners who earn a passing grade.

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Related Blogs

Science & Cooking: From Haute Cuisine to Soft Matter Science (chemistry) | Harvard Online