Science and food don't mix

Heston Blumenthal – the darling of BBC Food.  Termed a culinary alchemist, part of the so-called kitchen science movement.  I don’t get all this.  I agree that, of course, while cooking you are making practical use of the laws of science, chemistry and biology.  But there is nothing, and should be nothing, scientific about the whole exercise.  Science (I’m a scientist) is built on measurement and objective study.  Why would we want to reduce cookery to an objective application of knowledge?

Almost by definition, this is impossible.  We have ‘taste’, a fickle art that varies between and within people.  Further than this, I don’t want to reduce cookery to a science.  I love the variation, chaos, subjection, variability and insanity of cooking.  I want my taste and my feelings to dictate how and why I cook.  This idea that we can apply knowledge and this improves our cooking is a little bizarre.  I’m sure that these ideas will aid cooking speed, and accuracy.  But I doubt I’ll get much use out of the methods to improve my cooking.  And I know that it will not improve my enjoyment of food and cooking.