Should cooking and baking be considered Alchemy?
While real chemistry underlies them both, as it does everything, the actual application and practice is much more formless and esotheric, with rules and knowledge handed down from old masters through the ether of oral history. There is no chemical formula for a Beef Wellington or a Lobster Thermidor, just a series of steps and a list of ingredients, both of which can be altered at the whim of the practitioner, with only rough explanations of what people think happens under the hood.
In this way, cooking is very much like a witch in the woods brewing magic potions in a cauldron.
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Alchemy refers specifically to making gold so I don’t really think the term applies. There is much more leeway for creativity in cooking as opposed than baking since baking relies a lot on solid chemistry although there is room for improvisation in both once you’ve learned the techniques. I see both more as a craft that you can master with practice rather than magic.
@janbb
Making gold through transmutation is only a tiny sliver of Alchemy.
@ragingloli Yes. There, was also the creation of the universal panacea and the elixir of immortality…
To get back to answering the question though there is a very fine line between producing a perfect Beef Wellington and some think that tastes like a old boot marinated in mud. Because there is inherent variability in both the raw ingredients (and the “end users” perception,
my idea of perfectly cooked streak and my other halfs are very different) being able to produce high end food is a skill that requires not just knowledge but also experience. Often following instructions alone is not enough. It will get you part way but that final step takes experimentation and experience.
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Cooking in the kitchen is not intended to produce the philosopher’s stone. It’s intended to produce a meal.
I like to consider it cooking, myself, sometimes involving art and love.
Not alchemy.
If anything, baking is Applied Chemistry.
Cooking and baking is not chemistry. It’s closer to art with food as it’s all mostly subjective.
The difference is that cooking and baking are alchemic recipes that worked. You can make a Beef Wellington or a Lobster Thermidor but you can’t make gold or silver.
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