Interesting book review in today’s Wall Street Journal.
According to writer Katy McLaughlin, Nathan Myhvold’s “Modernist Cuisine: The Art & Science of Cooking” is “a large-scale investigation into the math, science and physics behind cooking tasks from making juicy and crisp beer-can chicken to coating a foie-gras bonbon in sour cherry gel.” (Myhvold is pictured here in a NYT photo by Ryan Matthew Smith.) The book is the work of a team of 36 researchers, chefs and editors, along with one multimillionaire computer whiz.
I don’t doubt that the author, a 51-year old former Microsoft Chief Technology Officer who also happened to have his Ph.D from Princeton by the time he was 22, knows what he’s talking about. I’m just wondering how many home cooks will rush out to buy a 2,400-page tome that weighs 47 pounds and costs $625. I mean, really, if you can't spend 15 minutes cooking a boneless chicken breast, are you really going to spend 15 ninutes fathoming "Fick's first law of diffusivity?"
Nonetheless, McLaughlin assures us that the massive manuscript includes “insights that even the humblest home cooks can use to improve their meals.” And, to pique our appetites, she throws out some juicy little tidbits.
“Among the book's revelations: Expensive pots and pans are a waste of money. Organic food is no healthier than non-organic. Black coffee cools off faster than coffee with cream.”
By the way, "Modernist Cuisine" is only $467.62 at Amazon.com.
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