Art or Science?

Yesterday afternoon I had a lovely chat with Sarah on her Suffolk Sound radio show. It was loosely based on preparations for Christmas, but as a novice, she was particularly intrigued by the process of making a Christmas cake. We talked it through, starting with soaking the fruit in brandy to plump up the raisins etc and ending with advice on decorating the finished result. She knew that the cake needed “feeding” so I explained what that meant – unwrapping the clingfilm on the baked cake and spooning a little brandy over it each week to keep it moist while the flavours develop. Rolling out marzipan on icing sugar and fondant icing on cornflour – marzipan as a layer to keep the icing white… you know the processes. But then she asked if cooking was art or science? That’s a question I’ve never been asked, but without hesitation I said science. Part of my training was the study of Organic Biochemistry. It’s a shame Domestic Science is so undervalued by schools when it uses Biology, Chemistry and Physics in equal measure. The clue is in the name!