Professional Certificate in The Science of Cooking
Professional Certificate Series
Join Harvard Online in this three-part series taught by renowned Harvard faculty to examine scientific concepts that are essential for everyday cooking.
What You'll Learn
Let’s play with food!
Through the professional certificate in the Science of Cooking, you will not only examine scientific concepts that are essential for everyday cooking, but you will also learn how biology, chemistry, and physics change food flavor, texture, and preservation — making our food more nutritious, delicious, and safe to eat.
In Science & Cooking: From Haute Cuisine to Soft Matter Science (chemistry), you will learn to think like a chef and a scientist by understanding how chemical reactions affect food properties.
Course two focuses on physics for you to enhance your scientific understanding of food characteristics, exploring elasticity, viscosity, and the benefits and challenges of enzymes in cooking.
Finally, in the third course, Food Fermentation: The Science of Cooking with Microbes, you will explore the role that microbes play in producing, preserving, and enhancing diverse foods.
By the end of this program, you will have gained a comprehensive understanding of how a foundation in food science can be vital to cooking, preparing you for culinary exploration in the kitchen and beyond!
After completing the Professional Certificate in
The Science of Cooking, learners will understand:
- How scientific concepts are at the basis of traditional, modernistic, and haute cuisine.
- Explore the science and apply principles of physics, engineering, and chemistry to cooking.
- How to think like a chef and a scientist.
- Understand the scientific principles and application of instruments used for chemical and microbial characterization.
- How to appreciate fermented foods and their history, culture, and science, including food preservation and safety methods., culture, and science, including food preservation and safety methods.
Job Outlook
- Overall employment of agricultural and food scientists is projected to grow 9 percent from 2020 to 2030. – Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- The 5-year job outlook for a fermentation scientist is strong. Fermentation scientists study microorganisms; researching, analyzing, and developing new uses for fermentation in food and medicine. - AGCareers.com