By Calvin Palmer
A German cook’s experiment to concoct a “molecular gastronomy” dish with liquid nitrogen ended in an explosion last night that cost him both his hands.
The 24-year-old man, from Stahnsdorf, near Berlin, was attempting to try out a new recipe from the school of molecular cooking, which aims to apply scientific processes to gastronomy.
The house of his girlfriend’s mother was rocked by an enormous explosion, which blew off one of the man’s hands. The other was so badly injured that it had to be amputated.
He was taken to a hospital in Marzahn. His condition is said to be life-threatening and he is on a life support machine in the intensive care unit.
He claimed he was trying to fill a gas lighter but his girlfriend later admitted he had been trying to empty a canister of liquid nitrogen in the bathroom.
Criminal investigators secured the remains of a nitrogen flask, bits of clothing, flesh and bits of skin from the scene.
[Based on a report by the Berliner Morgenpost.]
