Brewing a better-tasting beer…at the ? Experimenting with electricity and yeast fermentation is actually a project for the state¡¯s first culinology student, Alan Martin.
Martin will be the first graduate of the four-year UH culinology program, consisting of science degrees with two years of at , followed by two years of from UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹.
He is already applying what he learns at UH to one of his jobs in the field as a baker at the .
“Having a way better understanding of how yeast really works on a molecular level or microscopic level really helped me understand how the bread works,” Martin says. “Since I started taking those (culinology) courses, my bread¡¯s been coming out way better.”
The hotel?s executive chef, Wayne Hirabayashi, says Martin has already developed new signature items and will help to expand the shelf life of other products, such as the hotel¡¯s chocolate macadamia nuts.
“It?s limitless,” says Hirabayashi. “UH is part of Â鶹´«Ã½, and Â鶹´«Ã½¡¯s just growing so fast. The food industry is growing so fast, and this is giving us a foot above everyone else.”
Martin¡¯s former advisor at Kapiʻolani CC, Associate Professor Lori Maehara, says there¡¯s excitement about the program.
“Culinology is important for Â鶹´«Ã½ because we need more graduates who are interested in the research and science component of culinary arts,” she says.
Adds Martin, “Culinary arts, of course, encourage a lot of creativity, and combining that with science, the possibilities are endless.”
—By Kelli Trifonovitch
