Morphogenesis of cheese flowers through scraping

Matteo Ciccotti

Professeur de l'ESPCI, Laboratoire de Science et Ingénierie de la Matière Molle

Location to be announced

ABSTRACT

The “Tête de moine” Swiss cheese is generally served by scraping the surface of a cylindrical loaf with a sharp tool. This produces thin sheets of cheese that are strongly wrinkled at the edge, resembling frilly flowers and enhancing the tasting experience. In this work we unveil the physical mechanisms at play in this scraping-induced morphogenesis. We measure the deformation of the cheese during scraping and show that plastic deformation occurs everywhere, but find a larger plastic contraction in the inner part of the flower, causing its buckling into shape. We show that it surprisingly derives from the lower friction coefficient evidenced on the cheese close to its crust. Our analysis provides the tools for a better control of chip morphogenesis through plasticity in the shaping of other delicacies, but also in metal cutting.

BIOGRAPHY 

Matteo Ciccotti is Professor of Mechanics and Physics of Materials at ESPCI Paris PSL since 2010 and Consultant in adhesion and fracture of a wide range of materials. Previous affiliations are Università di Bologna (Italy) on earthquakes and rock mechanics, then Université de Montpellier 2 (CNRS, France) on stress corrosion fracture of glasses. Present research projects at SIMM Laboratory concern the dissipation mechanisms in the adhesion, fracture and cutting mechanics of polymers and composite materials.