Starch is all around us. Both plants and humans use starch for energy. Plants create starch, and we use it in its refined or unrefined forms for many culinary purposes.  We eat plant seeds and roots largely for their starches and we grind them to make starch-rich flours. Without starch there would be no pastries! As a culinary professional, it is helpful to know how starch acts under various conditions. As such, I sought to replicate culinary conditions under the microscope—I wanted to see what happens when you cook starch!