The 3rd chapter in Unnaturally Delicious is "Hewlett Packard with a Side of Fries", and it illustrates some of the ways food technologies are changing the kitchen - namely 3D food printers and robotic cooks.
“For about a thousand bucks, it is already possible to buy a kit that can print food, according to Hod Lipson, a robotics and engineering professor at Columbia University; he heads up a project that makes Fab@home, a 3-D printer.2 It isn’t exactly the food replicator used by Captain Kirk, but 3-D food printing and robotic chefs are moving us a few small steps in that direction.”
Here's an image of a commercial model from a company called Natural Machines which sells the so-called Foodini.
You can find some really cool photos of printed foods from this article at Nature News or check out these awesome candy creations.
Want to hand the cooking duties completely over to someone (or something) else?
“Mark Oleynik and his company, Moley Robotics, unveiled a prototype robot cook at the world’s largest industrial fair in the spring of 2015. The robot turned out perfectly prepared crab bisque. Perfect because the robotic arms were programmed to follow—in every way—the movements of a celebrity chef, Tim Anderson, who had won the British version of the reality television cooking competition Master Chef.”
Here it is in action (for more see here).
