3D innovation in pasta and sauces
3D innovation has also reached the world of gastronomy.
This culinary technique enables us to create customized food on demand. Vegetables, meat, fish, fruit, pasta and sauces made with a 3D printer: it may sound like science fiction but this is the future of the kitchens in restaurants all over the world.
The controlled production of digital food is unparalleled. Chefs often tend to change a whole recipe to innovate and create a new dish, but with the 3D printer gastronomic innovation becomes much simpler.
3D innovation has found a place in the food sector thanks to experimentation with some specific products, pasta and sauces, given the possibility of creating new shapes and textures.
What is it and how does a 3D food printer work?
A 3D printer is a machine capable of creating pieces from a predetermined design. In this case, the printers print food. They use an additive manufacturing process in which numerous layers of material are deposited on top of each other until an object is obtained. The most common 3D printers used for gastronomic innovation function with five capsules that build the food. Their mechanism is the same as that of a conventional printer, but instead of injecting ink they inject food ingredients. Initially, only straightforward foodstuffs and dishes could be printed, with little complexity, and the most common were snacks. However, the technology has improved over time and pizzas and pasta dishes can now be printed.
Production on demand
The printing of food may be the solution to many of the planet’s food problems. For example, one of the characteristics of 3D innovation in gastronomy is the possibility of production on demand. In this way, less food is wasted. But this is not the only advantage because this innovation also makes it possible to personalise diets. Balanced menus can be created with the most suitable ingredients and nutrients.
3D innovation in pasta and sauces
In Italy there is a restaurant that already prepares its pasta with 3D printers. This is the case of Italian chef Davide Oldani, who produces three-dimensional printed pasta. According to him, pasta made in this way could become one of the most popular ingredients in the future. For this chef, the 3D printer is undoubtedly a very powerful tool at the service of his creativity, because it allows him to obtain pasta in a thousand and one different shapes, flavours and colours. But pasta is not the only ingredient they have been able to emulate. The sauce that dresses the pasta can also be printed. On introducing the specific ingredients, the digital printer makes a sauce with the desired texture and creaminess.
Technology can make different gustatory pleasures flourish where traditional cooking is unable to do so. 3D innovation is so far-reaching that it is posited as the perfect tool, offering us endless possibilities when it comes to developing recipes. All of them personalized according to the hands that use it.
3D innovation in food is paving the way for a new model of production and consumption. How do you think it will affect the industry and consumer habits?
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