The Science of Cooking

Let’s play with food!

Through the professional certificate in the Science of Cooking, you will not only examine scientific concepts that are essential for everyday cooking, but you will also learn how biology, chemistry, and physics change food flavor, texture, and preservation — making our food more nutritious, delicious, and safe to eat.

In Science & Cooking: From Haute Cuisine to Soft Matter Science (chemistry), you will learn to think like a chef and a scientist by understanding how chemical reactions affect food properties.

Course two focuses on physics for you to enhance your scientific understanding of food characteristics, exploring elasticity, viscosity, and the benefits and challenges of enzymes in cooking.

Finally, in the third course, Food Fermentation: The Science of Cooking with Microbes, you will explore the role that microbes play in producing, preserving, and enhancing diverse foods.

By the end of this program, you will have gained a comprehensive understanding of how a foundation in food science can be vital to cooking, preparing you for culinary exploration in the kitchen and beyond!

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.

Top chefs and Harvard researchers explore how traditional and modernist cooking techniques can illuminate basic principles in chemistry, physics, and engineering. Learn about elasticity, viscosity, mayonnaise, baking, and more!

In Food Fermentation: The Science of Cooking with Microbes, explore the roles that microbes play in the production, preservation, and enhancement of diverse foods in a variety of culinary traditions, and learn about the history of food fermentations.