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jdlinn's review against another edition
4.0
Will this book make you a better cook? Probably not. Is it particularly useful for home cook? Also no. Is it a fun read if you have a decent background in chemistry? Absolutely! Was fun to see just how much overlap there is between my research and the frontiers of food science.
jnmph76's review against another edition
2.0
As much as I love cooking and love science, this book was drudgery to read.
alnotai's review against another edition
challenging
informative
slow-paced
1.0
Truly struggled to finish it, and I'm a biochemist. I have been reminded maybe 30 times of the nature of emulsions. It feels like every chapter was written independently from the last, and the technical complexity of each one varies accordingly. Not a great experience overall.
gls_merch's review against another edition
4.0
This book opened my eyes to the science (mostly chemistry and physics) behind cooking. The basic idea of the author is that cooking as a science has largely been unchanged since the Middle Ages. Look at cookbooks today and the techniques that they recommend, and you will find that there are, in most cases, no scientific basis for the recommendations. This book will address many basic questions around cooking wisdom that many cooks have heard about such as "Should I salt beans before or after they are cooked? ". But the book is much deeper than that as it provided detailed scientific review on subjects such as "What is the optimal way to cook a souffle to maximize height/volume?" and in other cases even provided forward thinking ideas (e.g. a proposal on how to re-hydrate stock meat with a truffle flavored liquid). This book is definitely geared toward someone who at least has basic skills and knowledge in cooking. However, I can see how someone who is not passionate about cooking, but has a scientific and curious bent could really get into cooking as a result of reading this book. A must read for people passionate about cooking, and I would think a good introductory volume for anyone looking to be a professional chef.
brashtech's review against another edition
2.0
I was disappointed by this book. I read an article about Hervé This in Discover Magazine, and the short artlce had much more interesting, practical information than the entire book. The book just skims the surface, in general.
the_smoking_gnu's review against another edition
3.0
I don't think this book works very well as an audiobook.
I was fine with the rather in-depth science. I guess I know more about the science mentioned in the book than about the food.
This books is essentially an numeration and unfortunately most of it just went in one ear and out the other.
I retained two things:
hot coffee + milk + 5min wait is hotter than hot coffee + 5min wait + milk
All spirits ageing in oak barrels will acquire a vanilla flavour.
I was fine with the rather in-depth science. I guess I know more about the science mentioned in the book than about the food.
This books is essentially an numeration and unfortunately most of it just went in one ear and out the other.
I retained two things:
hot coffee + milk + 5min wait is hotter than hot coffee + 5min wait + milk
All spirits ageing in oak barrels will acquire a vanilla flavour.
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