LETTERS
Chocolate viscosity
application not new
I was somewhat surprised by the article, “New Chocolate Viscosity Application” (July, p. 69). You cited Alejandro Tomato, whom I do not know, but I can personally assure you that this is not a “new” application. I published a paper on this topic in 1979, and Brookfield has actively marketed the equipment to the confectionery industry ever since. The Chocolate Manufacturer’s Association and the National Confectioners Association officially adopted the procedure in 1988.
—Whit Robbins, Senior Scientist/Chemist, Nestlé R&D, Inc., Marysville, Ohio
Editor’s reply: Alejandro Tornato, Brookfield Engineering Laboratories, Middleboro, Mass., clarifies that the application note he wrote was not intended to describe a new application method but rather to present information on measuring chocolate viscosity using the Brookfield rotational viscometer. His name was inadvertently misspelled in the article, and we apologize for the error.
Pasta article very useful
I recently read Donald Pszczola’s article, “A Pasta for All Paisans” (April, p. 84). I found it very useful and enjoyed his writing style. It certainly stirs one’s interest in pasta products. In my current research work for my PhD, I am developing a ready-to-eat traditional Nigerian cereal-based food product. It is a special form of roasted maize, which is milled into a meal, reconstituted in water with sugar and/or honey, and eaten. Your article is certainly very useful to me as it provides clues that can lead to aesthetic and nutritional improvement of the product.
—Emmanuel K. Ingbian via e-mail ( [email protected] )
Article didn’t mention Research Chefs Association
In his article, “IFT Food Expo Reflects Myriad Market Trends” (August, p. 75), Pierce Hollingsworth identified [on p. 76] as a future trend something called a “cuisinologist,” defined as “part food scientist, part new product marketer, part chef . . . a new generation food development specialist with a combination of these skills.”
He apparently overlooked the 1,200 member-strong Research Chefs Association, a not-for-profit association created in 1994 to promote “Culinology™,” which we have defined as the marriage of culinary art and food science & technology. Proponents of this new profession (certainly all 1,200 of our members) obviously consider themselves to be “culinologists” (as opposed to “cuisinologists”).
RCA offers its members an Annual Conference and Tradeshow, a Research Chef Certification Program, a professionally designed Web site at www.researchchef.org with password-protected job listings, a quarterly newsletter Culinology®, and other benefits. Our food science educational program, “Culinology 101: The Art and Science of New Food Development” is being offered this November at Rutgers University. Next year, RCA, in conjunction with the University of Nebraska and Metropolitan Community College, will offer the first Associates and Bachelors degree-granting programs in Culinology! We are extremely excited about these programs, and that educational institutions such as these have recognized the importance of this new discipline, which we have dubbed “Culinology: The Marriage of Culinary Arts, Science and Technology.”
We have also established a strategic alliance with the IFT Foodservice Division. RCA cosponsored the Foodservice Division’s symposium, “Innovative Chefs in Foodservice,” as well as their cocktail reception at this year’s IFT Annual Meeting in New Orleans. One of our Board Members, Chef Michael Joy, is an IFT Distinguished Lecturer. We have also participated in multiple cosponsored events with IFT.
—Jeffrey Cousminer, President Emeritus, Research Chefs Association, Firmenich Inc., Plainsboro, N.J.
Contributing Editor Hollingsworth replies: The “cuisinology” concept is a new twist that seems to push the concept more onto the side of the foodservice chef, and that’s why I included it. The fact that the original RCA concept may be mutating and receiving competition from other resourceful chefs is very much newsworthy, in my opinion, and of some importance to our readers. But this fact in no way diminishes the outstanding reputation of RCA and the critical role of its members in advancing food product development.