When an email has the words “aerogels and edible luminescence” in its title, you can’t help but be intrigued. Within lie more fantastical descriptors: “super-light delicacies formed using Nasa technology; flavour-changing desserts; glow-in-the dark culinary creations."
It all starts to make a bit more sense when I read the two names associated with this Future of Food: Epochal Banquet dining experience: Expo 2020 Dubai, that ultimate platform of world firsts, and Bompas & Parr, a company that specialises in putting together multisensory experiences – think edible fireworks, an all-blue food menu and the world’s lightest dessert.
It’s that last bit – created using aerogel, the world's lightest solid – that diners in Dubai will probably get to sample, among other yet-to-be-revealed dishes.
“One of the dishes on the Expo 2020 menu is [made of] aerogels treated using super-critical dryers to create an egg albumen. This forms a meringue-like base, which has an almost desiccating feel on the tongue,” Sam Bompas, co-founder of Bompas & Parr, tells The National. “It may sound strange, but there is a lot of research that shows humans can enjoy eating almost anything when presented within the right context.
“That an aerogel matrix was used by Nasa [on the Stardust mission in 1999] to collect virgin comet dust for the first time in human history, is very inspiring. And it’s wonderful to be able to telescope a culinary experience from a planetary level.”
Technology-infused dishes – inspired not only by space and microbiology, but also artificial intelligence and hyperintelligence – are at the heart of the two-hour dining experience that will launch at Expo 2020 Dubai later this year.
“The experience will begin with a drinks reception after which guests will enter a culinary universe that is set 300 years in the future,” says Bompas. “The whole meal is structured around the vision of James Lovelock, an extraordinary scientist, on the changing relationship between humanity, plants and artificial intelligence. Basically, the coming age of hyperintelligence.”
In a nutshell, Lovelock’s hypothesis states that 300 years from now, AI will be thinking 10,000 times faster than humans, which is about the same rate of difference between humans and plants.
These AI "beings" will look upon us as we look upon flora, yet will be equally dependent on the health of the planet and, according to Lovelock, 102, partner up with humans to defend it.
“So unlike a Terminator-type scenario, AI is not going to wipe out humans. Rather, this theory allows us to create quite an optimistic vision for the future,” says Bompas.
The dining experience at Expo will explore how humans and AI can combine to sustainably feed a growing population and tackle food waste, as well as the implications for future nutrition.
One dish that the studio is looking to create, for example, is defined by “super nature”. This is a theory used by a group of soil scientists to simulate environments at any point in human history – both prehistory and the future – and then projecting what the environment might be like 300 years later and creating the herbs that might be found in those conditions.
“There has been a lot of nervousness around it, but many scientists see it as an extension of a toolkit that farmers have been using for millennia to successively improve crop yield, and just getting better at that,” says Bompas.
“Having debates around this can start shaping opinions and a climate towards which we, as humanity, are more likely to be successful. If there ever were a time to address this, it certainly is now; this has been the rainiest August I have ever seen in Britain, there are wildfires raging, the most unusual of weather events have been reported and, of course, there is the pandemic.”
While this all sounds sufficiently serious, Bompas assures that the Future of Food: Epochal Banquet dining experience is first and foremost about delicious food and gracious hospitality.
“There’s not a thing we're putting on the table without having done at least five tastings. The way to think about this production is like we're putting together a restaurant, a theatrical meal, a piece of theatre, a museum and, hopefully, the best night of your life.
“This meal is the most ambitious thing we’ve had the opportunity to work on,” he says. “An Expo is about innovation. So we’re taking inspiration from past world fairs, in which many food items that no one had ever tasted before were pioneered, including things we take for granted now, from tomato ketchup to ice-cream cones to hot dog buns.
“Our question was what can we present here that may be normal in 10 or 100 years’ time, but that today will infuse people with awe and magic?”
Tickets to The Future of Food: Epochal Banquet by Bompas & Parr cost Dh550 and will be available from expo2020dubai.com from later this year. The experience is not suitable for guests under 14 and features strobe lighting that may affect those with sensory sensitivities
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UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
- £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
- £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
- £250m to train new AI models
UAE players with central contracts
Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Chirag Suri, Rameez Shahzad, Shaiman Anwar, Adnan Mufti, Mohammed Usman, Ghulam Shabbir, Ahmed Raza, Qadeer Ahmed, Amir Hayat, Mohammed Naveed and Imran Haider.
More on Quran memorisation:
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Things Heard & Seen
Directed by: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini
Starring: Amanda Seyfried, James Norton
2/5
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, last 16, first leg
Tottenham Hotspur v Borussia Dortmund, midnight (Thursday), BeIN Sports
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
Results
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,000mm, Winners: Mumayaza, Fabrice Veron (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 2,200m, Winners: Sharkh, Pat Cosgrave, Helal Al Alawi
6pm: The President’s Cup Prep - Conditions (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 2,200m, Winner: Somoud, Richard Mullen, Jean de Roualle
6.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh90,000 (T) 1,600m, Winner: Harrab, Ryan Curatolo, Jean de Roualle
7pm: Abu Dhabi Equestrian Gold Cup - Prestige (PA) Dh125,000 (T) 1,600m, Winner: Hameem, Adrie de Vries, Abdallah Al Hammadi
7.30pm: Al Ruwais – Group 3 (PA) Dh300,000 (T) 1,200m, Winner: AF Alwajel, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
8pm: Maiden (TB) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m, Winner: Nibras Passion, Bernardo Pinheiro, Ismail Mohammed
How to report a beggar
Abu Dhabi – Call 999 or 8002626 (Aman Service)
Dubai – Call 800243
Sharjah – Call 065632222
Ras Al Khaimah - Call 072053372
Ajman – Call 067401616
Umm Al Quwain – Call 999
Fujairah - Call 092051100 or 092224411
Get inspired
Here are a couple of Valentine’s Day food products that may or may not go the distance (but have got the internet talking anyway).
Sourdough sentiments: Marks & Spencer in the United Kingdom has introduced a slow-baked sourdough loaf dusted with flour to spell out I (heart) you, at £2 (Dh9.5). While it’s not available in the UAE, there’s nothing to stop you taking the idea and creating your own message of love, stencilled on breakfast-inbed toast.
Crisps playing cupid: Crisp company Tyrells has added a spicy addition to its range for Valentine’s Day. The brand describes the new honey and chilli flavour on Twitter as: “A tenderly bracing duo of the tantalising tingle of chilli with sweet and sticky honey. A helping hand to get your heart racing.” Again, not on sale here, but if you’re tempted you could certainly fashion your own flavour mix (spicy Cheetos and caramel popcorn, anyone?).
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
