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LanguageCert Practice Reading: Part 3: Multi-Text Attribution ID: #60294 Hard Food Science and Kitchen Cooking
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Read the four texts below about molecular gastronomy. There are seven questions about the texts. Which text gives you the answer to each question? Choose the correct text (A–D) for each question.
A Molecular gastronomy is a scientific discipline that first appeared in the late 1980s, and aims to investigate the mechanisms of food. Over time, people have erroneously started to use the term as a synonym for molecular cooking. The word ‘gastronomy’ is now equated with fine cuisine rather than the study of human nutrition, although that remains its true origin. Molecular gastronomy is carried out in laboratories rather than kitchens and is based on experiments and calculations. It’s performed by scientists rather than chefs, and makes use of specialised analytical equipment rather than pots and pans. Molecular gastronomy is concerned with how the components of food are extracted from plants and how these might become ingredients in themselves. It isn’t interested in how the food itself is cooked. Molecular cooking, meanwhile, is a culinary technique that represents an application of molecular gastronomy.
B One thing that molecular gastronomy has done is to dispel myths that once existed about cooking techniques. Until quite recently, it was a fairly common belief that if a trace of egg white was mixed in with egg yolk in the making of mayonnaise, the sauce would ‘split’, whereas in fact, a similar substance can be created by whipping oil into an egg white. Superstition is now given no place in the kitchen: professional chefs understand that a cake won’t spoil in the oven if the eggshells of the eggs used in its mixing are disposed of before it has finished cooking. The results of simple experiments have helped to dispel many inaccurate beliefs, and culinary education is changing in accordance with this. Molecular gastronomy courses are being introduced for instructors in culinary schools in France, where a long and formal culinary history supports a widespread belief that the country represents the bastion of fine food.
C Molecular cuisine first appeared in 1999. It made use of knowledge that had already been acquired in the discipline of molecular gastronomy, which focuses on mechanisms that give rise to improvements in related cooking techniques. The use of sophisticated lab equipment and appliances proved particularly useful in the preparation of dishes. Molecular cuisine is based on an earlier technique known as molecular cooking, which was an approach to making food with the aid of tools and ingredients that hadn’t previously been seen in professional kitchens. Examples of molecular cooking include the use of liquid nitrogen for flash-freezing food; thermocirculators to ensure stable heat in water-bath cooking; and agar-agar, a gelling agent extracted from red algae that’s used to thicken ice cream and desserts. Professional chefs began to experiment widely with the complex equipment and foodstuffs that were increasingly common in professional kitchens.
D Since molecular gastronomy became popular in the food industry during the 1980s and 1990s, cooking has changed significantly. One recent application of molecular gastronomy is known as ‘note-by-note cooking’, and is the preparation of dishes using the chemicals from which food is composed. The technique has caused controversy in the culinary world: some cooks and food critics claim that synthetic cooking can’t ever be real food, whereas proponents of the method put forward a different argument. They claim that note-by-note cooking is valid because the chemicals used are obtained from pure compounds in foods. From these, dishes can be created with as much texture, flavour, colour and smell as those made from whole ingredients. For example, chemicals can be extracted from an apple and new food items created from those rather than using the physical apple in a dish itself. This style of creating dishes involves complex processes, but the aim isn’t to recreate food that already exists, but rather to create new foods and flavours.
Which text offers examples of developments in the preparation of food by skilled cooks?
Which text details why some professionals feel justified in using a new approach to cooking?
Which text seeks to clarify certain key distinctions related to the topic?
Which text mentions how molecular gastronomy is starting to influence highly regarded institutions?
Which text highlights the differences between related fields of professional activity?
Which text describes a way of preparing food that has caused disagreement amongst food professionals?
Which text explains how molecular gastronomy has been disproving some common misconceptions?
AI explanationShows the answer. Tap to open.

Question Focus: Asks which text gives examples of new cooking methods used by expert chefs.

Why this is correct: Text C lists real examples of new methods skilled chefs use, like liquid nitrogen freezing and agar-agar gelling. That is developments in food preparation by cooks.

Question Focus: Asks which text gives the reason supporters defend a new cooking style.

Why this is correct: Text D gives the supporters' reason: note-by-note cooking is fair because its chemicals come from real food compounds. That is why some professionals feel justified.

Question Focus: Asks which text makes clear the difference between two easily confused terms.

Why this is correct: Text A clears up the mix-up between molecular gastronomy and molecular cooking, showing one is a science and the other a technique. That clarifies key distinctions.

Question Focus: Asks which text says the science is reaching respected schools or places.

Why this is correct: Text B says these courses are now entering top French cooking schools, which are famous for fine food. That is the science influencing highly regarded institutions.

Question Focus: Asks which text contrasts two close areas of professional work.

Why this is correct: Text A contrasts the science field and the cooking field: scientists with lab tools versus chefs with pots and pans. That highlights differences between related fields.

Question Focus: Asks which text describes a cooking method that food experts argue about.

Why this is correct: Text D describes note-by-note cooking, which splits food experts - some say it is not real food, others defend it. That is a method causing disagreement.

Question Focus: Asks which text shows the science proving old cooking beliefs wrong.

Why this is correct: Text B shows the science disproving old cooking myths, like the mayonnaise and eggshell beliefs. That is clearing up common misconceptions.

General Tips:

  • Read all four texts first; the terms are similar, so know what each text covers.
  • Watch for near-identical terms like 'gastronomy', 'cooking' and 'cuisine' - they differ.
  • Match the idea in the question, since answers are usually paraphrased.
  • When two texts seem close, pick the one with the exact detail the question needs.

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