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Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Originally published in France, This's book documents the sensory phenomena of eating and uses basic physics to put to bed many culinary myths. In each short chapter This presents a piece of debatable conventional wisdom-such as whether it is better to make a stock by placing meat in already boiling water, or water before it is boiled-and gives its history, often quoting famous French chefs, before making scientific pronouncements. In the chapter on al dente pasta, for instance, This discusses pasta-making experiments, the science behind cooking it and whether it is better to use oil or butter to prevent it from sticking. Most of the discussions revolve around common practices and phenomenon-chilling wine, why spices are spicy, how to best cool a hot drink-but more than a few are either irrelevant or Franco-specific (such as the chapters on quenelles and preparing fondue). This's experimentation, however, is not for the mildly curious, but readers unafraid to, say, microwave mayonnaise will find many ideas here.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
Taking kitchen science to a whole new (molecular) level, Herve This is changing the way France -- and the world -- cooks. Gourmet Mr. This's book will broaden the way you think about food. New York Sun 2/8/2006 This has written an interesting and timely combination of our everyday experience with sophisticated science. -- Claudia Kousoulas Appetite for Books 2/1/2006 He is revered by the revered. -- JJ Goode epicurious.com 3/16/2006 A wonderful book... it will appeal to anyone with an interest in the science of cooking. O Chef 3/2006 For anyone who likes to eat or cook. Choice 6/1/2006 This offers some though-provoking opportunities for play in the kitchen. Pagosa Springs Sun 4/20/2006 This book, praiseworthy for its scientific rigor, will hold a special appeal for anyone who relishes the debunking of culinary myths. -- Todd Coleman Saveur 12/1/2006 A fresh approach... that will entertain and enlighten anyone interested in the process of cooking and the enjoyment of food. -- Raymond J. Shively, Jr. The Bloomsbury Review Nov./Dec. 2006 Anyone with an inordinate passion for cooking would love this book. -- Mia Stainsby Vancouver Sun 12/6/2006 A timely addition... Suitable for both scientists and the lay public. -- Thorvald Pedersen EMBO Reports Vol 8 No 1 2007 This book is laden with science while rendering a clear approach to flavor. Academia June 2007 [A] captivating little book. The Economist 01/04/08 He is fantastic. I didn't really cook before but this book may be changing my life. -- Keanu Reeves
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Most helpful customer reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Science behind food,
By
This review is from: Molecular Gastronomy: Exploring the Science of Flavor (Hardcover)
This book is fantastic! It helps you understand the mechanism of the science that's working when you cook, taste or anything related to food. In my opinion, the only downside of the book is that if you really want to enjoy it to the fullest, you'll need some basic knowledge in organic chemestry, cause as you advance in the book, the vocabulary becomes more scientifically elaborate. Overall, it's a great book and a must have for all foodies!
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Loved the read, seller was very friendly,
By
This review is from: Molecular Gastronomy: Exploring the Science of Flavor (Hardcover)
I loved the book, the read was great.The first copy I recieved had a slightly torn cover. I told the seller and he replied very quickly the same day and offered to send me another copy, free of charge, and I didn't have to send the other one back. I would reccommend this seller. Very easy to work with.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
3.7 out of 5 stars (33 customer reviews) 208 of 223 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not what you're used to......,
By Margot Vigeant "Mom, engineer, and cook" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Molecular Gastronomy: Exploring the Science of Flavor (Hardcover)
If you're thinking about buying this book, you are interested in the chemistry of food and have probably read Robert Wolke's "What Einstein Told his Cook" or Joe Schwarcz's "That's the way the Cookie Crumbles" or perhaps even the paragon of English-language food chemistry: Harold McGee's "On Food and Cooking". If you haven't, I recommend you start with one of those first ("Einstein" would be my #1 choice).Why? Because those books are better written and about topics that are of more general interest to a North American audience. Molecular Gastronomy is unabashedly FRENCH - which is an excellent thing, but surprising if you're not expecting it. The foods it focuses on are French foods, the research it cites is French research, and I suspect even the translator has French as his first language. So, for example, this book discusses the "Perfect Sabayon" - a lovely culinary question, however one that many Americans (even "foodie" Americans) might find less interesting than the question of cookies going stale (as covered in Schwarcz). The translation is odd.... it is clear, in reading it, that it wasn't originally written in English. Some particularly French phrasing persists in the translation and I am also not convinced that the translator had as extensive a chemical vocabulary as was called for (for example, the phrase "vitreous transition temperature" is used, where "glass transition temperature" is the term used in most materials science texts). As other reviewers have commented, the vignettes themselves may leave something to be desired. Each chapter is quite brief (Schwartcz's work is similar), so may not have the text to go into the depth a reader might desire. However, the real strength of this work is that it addresses interesting food/chemical questions that aren't being covered by the North American writers.... there's a lot of wine, cheese, and emulsified sauce in this book that you don't see anywhere else. 42 of 45 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
I'm not nearly as impressed as Saveur was.,
By Andrew Grygus "factor" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Molecular Gastronomy: Exploring the Science of Flavor (Hardcover)
Craftsmanship looks impressive, until you try to read it. The italic "g" and several accented characters are simply not in the typeface used and are replaced by spaces leaving you guessing at what they might be, and the translator didn't fully understand the usage of "I" vs. "me".I think some have been dazzled by scientific words they didn't understand and afraid to call it fluff. There's not near enough science to satisfy a scientist but way more than enough undefined organic chemical names to glaze the eyes of even a highly educated cook. I can get you a really great deal on a disulfide bridge - you want phenylthiocarbamide with that? The chapters are mercifully short, but it's quite difficult to extract any practical information from a great many of them. They often end with questions - some clearly state unknowns, which is fine, but others leave you wondering if they are questions or answers. Taking a whole chapter to explain the choice of title would have been fair warning had I not already purchased the book. For the record, I have read two much larger science/cooking volumes by Harold McGee (On Food and Cooking, The Curious Cook), end to end with great interest and I recommend them highly. 48 of 53 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Exploring the Science behind Cooking,
By John Matlock "Gunny" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Molecular Gastronomy: Exploring the Science of Flavor (Hardcover)
Cooking, which has certainly been around for a long time, has been treated more as an art than a science. The recipies and techniques that we follow are handed cown from parent to child, or since writing was invented from chef to student.But do many of these procedures make sense. Why do we have such traditional ideas of cooking that seem almost cast in stone with little or no evidence that this is indeed the best way to do things. In this book M. This states a principle, but carrying it further he researches where this principle originated, and then conducts carefully measured experiments to see if this is true. For instance in making beef stock, the rule says put the meat into cold water and increase the temperature gradually. What happens if you put the meat into boiling water? Or what is the difference in Cheeses that are made from milk from cows that had south facing fields when compared to cows on fields that faced a northern slope. What about if the cow was fed silage (wet grass stored in silow where it ferments)? And what's the best way to test whiskey? That's the idea, here is the analysis of cooking taken to a scientific level. It's a fascinating book for one interested in more than just the mechanics of cooking. I was reminded of Russ Parson's book 'How to Read a French Fry.' |
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