Nerdnite Boston (November Edition): Urban Foraging

After I had so much fun at October's Nerdnite, I couldn't resist attending the next one, especially since the first topic on the schedule was food-related: urban foraging. While I don't foresee myself becoming an avid forager, or a forager at all, really, it was definitely a fascinating talk. David Craft, a cancer researcher at Mass General, shared some thoughts on foraging around Boston (and even shared some food!). According to David, foraging is "equal parts plant knowledge and mindset." Be sure to check out his book if you want to learn more.

I did something that is probably considered nerdy even by Nerdnite standards. I took notes. So, without further ado, here's a whole bunch of stuff I learned and wrote down at the event. (But I did have a strong cocktail in the other hand...so that kind of negates the nerdiness, right? Right?)

Stuff I learned 
(...but please don't run outside and pick stuff and eat it just because you read it here...make sure you know what you're doing before putting unknown stuff in your mouth. Actually, that's a pretty good rule to live by in general!)

Even as the days are getting colder and shorter and drearier, there's still a variety of edible plants around this area: burdock root, dandelion root, acorns (yep, they're edible for us as well as squirrels, but most of the ones you'll find around here are from red oak and very bitter), stinging nettles (ouch?), curly dock, evening primroses, chickweed, beauty berries ("forage-able nerds" because they're crunchy and purple), and more.

Almost every seaweed around here is edible. Cattails are edible, but the ones in this area tend to grow in oily, dirty places, so you probably should avoid them. Dandelions grow everywhere and are totally edible.

Don't ruin a crop by taking it all; limit yourself to about 10%.

Some familiar plants you'll find around here that you can eat: apples, blackberries, grapes, pumpkins (plenty of old jack-o'-lanterns sitting on porches...), violets, daisy greens, rose blossoms and rose hips, day lilies (some people are allergic), sunflowers.

The Arnold Arboretum, which has a searchable plant inventory, is a great place to learn more about plants, but be aware that the Arboretum's official policy prohibits picking and destroying plants. Should you choose to disobey this policy, use common sense and stay away from the rare specimens. David noted that there are many "munchable" trees: linden, black locust, paw paw, quince, black walnut, mulberry, yew, and more.

Other good foraging spots include all along the Charles River, Franklin Park, Mt. Auburn Cemetery, and the Fells in Medford.

One safety note: don't trust mammals. Just because you see a mammal eating something and surviving, it doesn't mean that you can eat it. Example: deer love poison ivy. Always be aware of poisonous plants that look similar to the plants you think you're picking.

Another fun Nerdnite! For more nerdnite information, check out the website, Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr. Maybe I'll see you at the next one!

Nerdnite Boston (October Edition): A Geeky Night of Cooking, Science, Art, and Math

Yesterday, a friend forwarded me an email about an event called nerdnite (motto: "be there and be square") - a monthly opportunity to totally nerd out while drinking awesome cocktails at Middlesex Lounge - and it was conveniently taking place last night.

Aside from the fact that I'm a total nerd, I was drawn to the event because the first speaker of the evening was going to be Jeff Potter of Cooking For Geeks fame. I've been following him on Twitter for a long time, and back in March, I tested out a chocolate cake recipe for him.

My attempt at following one of Jeff's recipes back in March 2010. Probably due to poor oven calibration, my cake imploded, but it was still delicious!

As science and food are both major parts of my life, Cooking For Geeks is a perfectly fun and informative resource for me, so I was excited to hear Jeff speak. He focused on a couple main topics: the Maillard reaction and sous vide ("under vacuum") cooking, and he also made us taste a piece of paper that told me that I am a "supertaster." (Oddly enough, I love most of the things listed on that site: raw broccoli, grapefruit juice, dark chocolate. I guess the flavors are intense but also enjoyable for me.)

Before delving further into the nerdalicious portion of this post, I should pause and tell you that Middlesex has an awesome cocktail list. I nursed a Chartreusian Mule throughout the night: green chartreuse (a LOT of it) with ginger beer and lime. Tasty and strong.

Ok, back to the science.

The Maillard Reaction
You like your cookies a nice golden brown around the edges, do you? Thank the Maillard reaction for that. In very basic terms, it's an amino acid reacting with a sugar, typically under the influence of heat. In less basic terms, it's the amino group of an animo acid reacting with the carbonyl group of a sugar, which results in an unstable glycosylamine which rearranges to form a ketosamine, which can then react in several different ways, ultimately resulting in a wide variety of molecules that produce a wide range of odors and colors associated with the browning of food.

Jeff showed a neat series of photos of a cookie baking, so we got a clear picture of what happens as the cookie reaches certain temperatures. One of the first noticeable changes, for example, is that the cookie flattens out when the butter in the dough begins to melt. Eventually, you start getting the browned edges. I didn't make note of the temperatures because I was in a bar, drinking, and I think it would cross the line even at nerdnite to whip out a notebook and pretend this was a lecture.

To learn more about the Maillard reaction, check out the website of the International Maillard Reaction Society. Yep, there's a such thing as the Internation Maillard Reaction Society, and it appears they have an International Symposium every 2-3 years. Awesome.

Sous Vide
Think of the best steak you've ever had. Was it perfectly rare or medium-rare on the inside but wonderfully seared on the outside? If so, it was probably cooked using the sous vide method, a technique that allows you to cook at a lower temperature than usual for a very long period of time to get a food to the proper interior temperature without messing with the texture or integrity of the ingredients. To achieve this, the food is placed - often in a vacuum-sealed bag, although this is not really necessary - into a water bath with a controlled temperature. Since the temperature is controlled, you could leave food in there for hours if you'd like, and it'll come out perfectly. This is useful for steak because it allows you to almost separate the cooking of the interior and the exterior. Using sous-vide, you get the interior to the appropriate done-ness, and then you can very quickly sear the outside in a hot skillet (for example) to get that beautifully crunchy crust while maintaining the rare inside. Sous-vide is also a particularly good method for cooking eggs.

The second speaker at this month's nerdnite was Ben Jordan, a biologist who talked to us about his visual representations of mathematical questions. Cool stuff.

I'd definitely go back to nerdnite. It made me realize that I'd love to find some bizarre way to combine my love of science, food, music, and photography. Hmmm...

For more nerdnite information, check out the website, Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr. Maybe I'll see you at the next one!