I would never have ended up in the world of gastrophysics if it hadn’t been for the enduring support and mentorship of Prof. Francis McGlone then at Unilever Research, for which I will always remain grateful. As will become clear from the main text, though, it was really the introduction to Heston Blumenthal by Tony Blake of Firmenich that led to my growing interest in gastronomy, rather than food science! In recent years, I owe an especial debt of gratitude to Rupert Ponsonby (R&R), Christophe Cauvy (then of JWT), and Steve Keller (iV Audio Branding) for having believed in the multisensory approach to gastrophysics and all things fun. To Prof. Barry Smith, for helping make the Baz ’n’ Chaz wine roadshow so enjoyable. Long may it continue! It has, though, really been the enthusiastic support and collaboration of the next generation of young chefs, including Jozef Youssef, of Kitchen Theory, and Charles Michel, Crossmodalist extraordinaire, that has made the latest gastrophysics research such fun to do. You will read about a number of their dishes and designs in the pages that follow.
I would also like to thank the many chefs and culinary schools for their support, and opening up their kitchens and restaurants to the “Mad Professor”: I have been lucky enough to conduct gastrophysics research over the last fifteen years together with a number of world-leading chefs including Heston Blumenthal and all the team at The Fat Duck Research Kitchen and restaurant; Chef Sriram Aylur, Quilon, London; Chef Jesse Dunford Woods, Parlor, London; Ben Reade, Nordic Food Lab; Dominique Persoone, The Chocolate Line; Chef Albert Landgraf from Epice, São Paolo; Chef Xavier Gamez, of Xavier260, Porto Allegre, Brazil; Chef Andoni and Dani Lasa from Mugaritz, San Sebastián; Chef Joel Braham, of The Good Egg, London; Chef Debs Paquette, of Etch, Nashville; and not forgetting Chef Paul Fraemohs, of Somerville College, Oxford. I have also been lucky enough to conduct research together with Ferran Adrià’s Alicía Foundation in Spain, The Paul Bocuse Cookery School, Lyon, France, and Westminster Kingsway College, London. I would also like to thank Jelly & Gin, Blanch & Shock, Caroline Hobkinson, Sam Bompas, and all the students, past and present, who have done most of the research here at the Crossmodal Research Laboratory.
Finally, I would like to thank Tony Conigliaro from 69 Colbrooke Row, London, Ryan Chetiyawardana, aka Mr. Lyan, Neil Perry (of Rockpool, Sydney), and Maxwell Colonna-Dashwood, of Colonna & Small’s, Bath. All masters of their art. And, finally, Fergus Henderson, for the memorable evening onstage at the Cheltenham Science Festival back in 2007 (along with a bucket of tripe oh so gallantly displayed by my vegan then graduate student, Maya Shankar).