The Science of Food

     While researching Ice Cream Month in July I was introduced to a 37 year old Spanish physics professor named Manuel Linares.  Being a physicist was his career but cooking was his passion.  So he hung up his lab coat and donned an apron and enrolled in Barcelona's Hotel Business School to pursue what he dubbed a "Masters Diploma in Creating Artisan Ice Cream."

     His inspiration came from Charlie Francis, a Brit who invented glow-in-the-dark ice cream.  But Prof Linares had a different goal in mind: to invent an ice cream that changes color when you lick it.  Putting his knowledge of science to use he developed a formula in which ice cream changes hue from periwinkle to pink to purple based on fluctuations in temperature and acidity levels.  One lick and a person's own saliva triggers the reaction.  And foodies can rejoice.  It's all natural!  Xamaleon (that's Spanish for chameleon) is made from strawberries, cocoa, almonds, banana, pistachio, vanilla and caramel.

     What next for the physicist turned cook?  Prof Linares is planning Xaman, an ice cream that acts as an aphrodisiac made from plants grown in Peru and Africa.