Welcome to Kitchen Chemistry!

I'm glad you're here! You've made a great choice. Spring 2018 Kitchen Chemistry starts right away on January 16th. Keep reading to get started and be ready for Day 1.

My Story

I'm a chemist by training. I love chemistry. I have a PhD in chemistry and I've taught organic and biochemistry here at Muhlenberg College for the last 11.5 years. My research is on bacterial enzymes, and at any given moment, I have 4-6 students working in my research lab.

I didn't start learning to "cook" until I was 25 years old. I come from a family with no culinary tradition to speak of...so let's just say, I did not grow up rolling out pie crusts at my grandmother's elbow. If I could, I would take you to meet all the friends and family that knew me before I learned to cook. Why? Because I was awful.

When I finally figured out that cooking was just chemistry...in another form; that was my breakthrough. Sure, I still had to learn the difference between sauteing and braising, cake flour and bread flour, green and white onions...but with chemistry I was able to understand, predict and then cook like a real professional.

Why Kitchen Chemistry?

As you'll see through my teaching philosophy, I think chemistry is for everyone. Chemistry is such a powerful tool, and knowing a little can go a really long way - especially in the kitchen.

I really want to convince people (that think they are "not science people") that chemistry is for them, too. I conceived the course that became kitchen chemistry back in 2010. It took a few years to build, because there were no resources out there in chemistry education on teaching the basics of chemistry to non-chemists using food and cooking. The course launched for the first time in 2012. Since then, I've collaborated with some like-minded faculty at 3 other institutions to bring you the textbook, The Science of Cooking, Kitchen Chemistry went online for the first time in summer 2017, and now in Spring 2018 you get to participate in version of Kitchen Chemistry that is clustered with ITL 384. paired Kitchen Chemistry with an Italian food and culture course (we cooked all Italian food! Super fun!)

Why cluster Kitchen Chemistry with ITL 384?

Since I created Kitchen Chemistry the course has regularly filled up. I get dozens of emails from students begging for a seat in the class. As a cluster, sophomores have a chance to roster Kitchen Chemistry...before the cluster version...a sophomore would have never gotten into the course.

Why ITL 384? I can't help it; I LOVE Italian food. I'm also Italian-American (my name Colabroy is an Americanzied version of Calabrese, and my great-grandparents immigrated from Calabria, Italy). Daniela and I have carefully constructed this cluster so you can learn about food from two distinct perspectives, that also inform and enrich one another. Lucky you!

In the lab (yes - we have a lab, and we cook!) we will make Italian dishes, and our final lab project is an Italian food bonanza. It's really quite something. Faculty from all over campus beg to be a "judge" for our final lab project presentations!

What should YOU do now?

Complete the Introduction to Course Module by Jan 16, so you are ready to begin on Tuesday.

To move through the module, just click the "next" button in the lower right of each page.

If you haven't already, you should acquire The Science of Food and Cooking/Provost, that is our textbook.

The module for Unit 1 is open to you once you complete the Introduction Module.