David Jackson is a Chemist (BSc, MSc, HDipBrew, WSET Cert Wines & Spirits) and has worked for the Diageo (Guinness) Research Department for over ten years specialising in Flavour Chemistry and Flavour Analysis. Specific areas of expertise include the Flavour of Roasted & Fermented Products, Flavour Freshness & Ageing and Deconstructing Flavour using Sensory and Instrumental Analysis Techniques. He has successfully developed major new products for Diageo and currently leads a team of scientists where his responsibilities also include Food Safety and Nutrition. David has been teaching ‘The Science of Taste & Aroma’ as an evening course at UCD Adult Education Centre since 2007 and which will run again in autumn 2009. He also runs weekend workshops on this topic at various venues and gives talks at conferences and events where his expertise is of interest.
January 12, 2010
Deconstructing Flavour @ UCD Adult Education Centre
6 Week Program running on Saturday mornings at UCD Campus in Belfield. Starts Sat 30 Jan 2010
Course Description
Coffee Flavour Wheel
Flavour is made up of a complex association of many different attributes and characteristics that combine to give the overall impression that we perceive when we taste foods. During this course participants will focus on developing their tasting skills to deconstruct or analyse complex flavours such as coffee, tea, wine, chocolate and whiskey.Participants will learn about the production processes that give rise to the flavours and will use flavour training standards to train their palates to detect the important attributes or flavour notes in each food group. Sessions will be interactive and experiential and will include ‘taste tests’ and exercises to challenge and develop participants’ tasting skills.
Booking contact 01 – 7167123 or UCD Adult Education
More Details
The schedule for the classes will be as follows:
Week 1 (30 Jan): Wine
Week 2 (06 Feb): Coffee
Week 3 (13 Feb): Chocolate
Week 4 (20 Feb): Whiskey
Week 5 (27 Feb): Tea
Week 6 (06 Mar): Cheese plus wrap-up of course
Each session consists of a number of structured tastings involving a taste training element, some descriptive tastings (describing the perceptions you experience when you are tasting), some preference tastings (which sample you prefer and why) as well as some specific taste tests: ie spot the different sample in a triplet of samples. These tastings will be designed to improve a participant’s tasting skills, get more out of the tasting experience as well as more fully appreciating and experiencing the foods that we eat.
The samples used for the tastings will be chosen to demonstrate the diversity of flavours that can be experienced within the specific food category. While many of these samples will be from specialty/artisan type producers, some samples will be taken from the ordinary supermarket shelf to aid comparisons and stimulate debate.
Group discussions follow each tasting exercise so that there will be plenty of opportunities to share your experiences/thoughts/questions with the group and to engage in lively discussions.
Why Saturday mornings? Mornings are the best times to taste as our brains are more alert and our palates are clean. Also, a Saturday morning allows the sessions to be 3 hrs long which would not be possible on a week day evenings. And I work Mon – Fri so it has to be Saturdays!
So forget Saturday Kitchen on the BBC and come along for your Saturday Morning Tastings…what better way to start the weekend!!
David
August 24, 2009
Gastro Geeks at the Dublin Fringe Festival
Watch the Science Club Video shown at the Final Night of the Fringe in the Spiegeltent!
And here is a clip of us blowing gastro bubbles around the Spiegeltent!!
And here is another…
Want to get involved in the Dublin Fringe Festival Science Club?
I will be leading a number of interactive sessions around the following themes of: taste & smell – the chemical senses, deconstructing wine flavour, Food Foams and Molecular Gastronomy. There will also be a field trip to Apocalypse When? on Friday 18th September included as one of the events. For more details check out Dublin Fringe Festival
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Barista Foam Smackdown
14:00 – 16:00, 12 September 2009 @ Science Gallery
Tickets from Science Gallery
What does it mean when you have bubbles in an espresso? How does the taste change when milk is frothed at different temperatures? Which milks are best for foaming and why?Join myself and Ireland’s National Barista Champion, Colin Harmon , as we describe the mechanics and science of foaming milks, including the impact of texture on taste. The event will feature a ‘smackdown’ where three audience members will compete by trying their own hand at making the perfect foam before their cappuccinos are judged by a panel of celebrity experts.
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The Science of Taste & Aroma
10 Week Evening Course @ UCD Adult Education Centre (Autumn Term)
For more information or bookings contact 01-7167123 or UCD Adult Education
Course Description
Ever wonder why an apple tastes like an apple? Or whether that glass of wine really has notes of vanilla or a hint of violets? This course explores the Science behind Taste & Aroma and takes a scientific approach to the appreciation of flavour. Using sensory analysis techniques and aroma essences participants will deconstruct the flavour of foods such as Coffee, Tea, Wine and Cheese.
Kitchen Chemistry and the science of cooking are also investigated.
Course Outline
Week 1 Introduction: Taste & Smell – the Chemical Senses
Week 2 The Composition of Foods – a closer look at what foods are made of
Week 3 The Physiology of Taste – how humans percieve flavour
Week 4 Deconstructing Flavour 1 – Coffee Flavour Chemistry
Week 5 Deconstructing Flavour 2 – Wine Flavour Chemistry
Week 6 Deconstructing Flavour 3 – Cheese Flavour Chemistry
Week 7 The Flavour & Chemistry of Tea
Week 8 The Science of Cooking 1 – Chemistry in the Kitchen
Week 9 The Science of Cooking 2 – Physics in the Kitchen
Week 10 The Kitchen as a Laboratory – Experiment & Create
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Food Foams – Blowing the Bubble into Food @ Science Gallery 20 August 2009
Attached below are links to the recipes that I used on the day:
http://www.slideshare.net/secret/4KS5bfbcBX778j
and
http://www.slideshare.net/secret/1OzhvjVbxeVwbG
The ingredients and some equipment were sourced from cuisine innovation
and the following company stock the el bulli versions of these ingredients:
Artisan Foods
39 Canal Walk
Parkwest
Dublin 12
Ireland
Tel +00 353 1 620 49 84
Fax +00 353 1 620 49 81
simon@artisanfoods.ie
www.artisanfoods.ie
Here are some pictures of the caviar/ravioli:
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August 23, 2009
The Science of Taste & Aroma – 4, 5 July @ Science Gallery
Pictures from the event!!
Weekend Workshop (4 – 5th July) @ Science Gallery
Science Gallery
Trinity College Dublin
Dublin 2
Workshop Outline
Saturday 4th
Morning
* Exploring Taste & Smell (The Chemical Senses)
* The Physiology and Psychology of Taste
* Flavour Chemicals – what are they?
* The Science of Tasting – scientific sensory analysis techniques
Afternoon
* An introduction to wine and wine making – how the grape, process and geography affects the flavour?
* Wine Taste Training – using flavour standards to train the nose to detect common wine flavours
* Wine tasting exercises and tasting tests – blind tasting, describe the flavour of a wine sample, pick out the odd sample out of a triplet of samples, identify grape variety from the taste
Sunday 5th
Morning
* An introduction to Coffee and Coffee Flavour – coffee varieties, production and roasting process
* Coffee Taste Training – using flavour standards to train the nose to detect common flavours in coffee
* Coffee cupping exercise – cup coffee like the experts, assess and describe different coffee samples, blind tasting and taste tests
Afternoon
* Key scientific concepts used in Molecular Gastronomy
* Demonstrations on how to make novel foods like apple caviar, pea ravioli or hibiscus paper with the scientific insight into what is happening
* An opportunity to experiment and develop your own El Bulli-esq creations!!
Fee for the two day workshop is E140 with Science Gallery Membership (Free membership). Places are limited. Participants must be over 18 years old.
If interested please email me on: sciencetastearoma@gmail.com or call 085 81 000 42. Places limited to 20. Start time 10 am, finish 5 pm each day.
Comments from previous students of Science of Taste & Aroma Course in UCD:
“Fantastic course, would thoroughly recommend it”
“I’ve never enjoyed a course as much as I’ve enjoyed this one”
“David has obviously put an enormous amount of work & commitment into developing this course and continuously trying to improve it. It is suitable for both people who have a scientific background and those who don’t”
“The tasting sessions worked really well. I’m now paying attention to aroma and taste everywhere”
Update
Delighted to say that Colin Harman (reigning National Barista Champion) will be attending the Deconstructing Coffee session on Sunday morning and will be lending us his expertise on speciality coffee, coffee tasting and the Art of the Barista. Following the National Barista Championship Colin went on to come 4th in the World Barista Championship in April – a really brilliant achievement. For more information on Colin and his work checkout his blog Dublin Barista or his video link Tamper Tantrum. Colin is an ex-student of The Science of Taste & Aroma course in UCD.
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