In case you thought David Chang's Momofuku restaurant empire couldn't get more something something we present to you a Reuters video in which we learn that the company's test kitchen likes to send samples of its new foodstuffs to Harvard:
Yup, after "whipping up new items in their test kitchen, [Momofuku chefs] don't go it alone. They turn to Rachel Dutton, a Harvard University microbiologist." Because if you haven't had your flavors approved by an Ivy League institution, how do you know if you are on track to make the next chicken nugget, right?
Okay, so there is good reason for the testing, but still. Dutton explains that "The conversations we're having with chefs like David Chang and Dan Felder at Momofuku is more thinking about the processes of fermented foods. If you have a basic understanding of the process, what the microbes are doing, what they care about then you can start to manipulate it in interesting ways."
Basically, the Momofuku folk have been doing lots of testing with fermentation, and this way they have a better sense of what they are working with "on a microbial level" while they are whipping up "pistachio miso, cashew tamari and this smoked soy bean creation that tastes like cheese."
