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At the end of January I tentatively predicted a change in the cutlery we use, it was more of a hope than a prediction, the exact words being: “The knife and fork to be replaced by something better, who knows what, just something better.” Ok, perhaps I should have elaborated as to what I was referring to but, to be honest, I didn’t really know what, I just felt that cutlery was in for an overhaul, that the standard knife and fork could be improved and now it’s happened.
The Molecule-R company has developed the Aromafork - a device that looks and feels like a regular fork but one that can drastically alter your dining experience at the flick of a button. That’s because the aroma fork is fitted with the device that can release specific aromas while a person is eating.
The idea is that smell makes up the majority of our perception of flavour and by adding different aromas to some blotting paper within the fork, users can experience dining experiences like no other. With the list of aroma compounds provided, such as truffle, passion fruit, strawberry, bubble gum and even smoke, a person can experience the same fork of food paired with at least 21 specially designed aromas, and that’s before they start to mix the smells together.
The device was apparently inspired by a dish at the Alinea restaurant that sees duck served five ways and paired with 60 different cube shaped accompaniments. A dish that exemplifies better than most how different pairings can effect flavour and just how much variety can be added to one ingredient. The makers of Aromafork are hoping their device will be able to offer similar results without the extensive man hours needed to prepare such a dish.
The Aromafork is expected to launch later this year - just imagine the pairing experiments you could have with this in the kitchen. It's available to pre-order from the Molecule-R website for $58.95 with the pack containing four forks, 21 aromas and 50 diffusing papers. There is also a spoon version that can be purchased for $24.95 without the aromas.
