Modernist Cuisine

Publishers Information

About Modernist Cuisine

Publisher Web Link: http://modernistcuisine.com/

Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking

A rev­o­lu­tion is under­way in the art of cook­ing. Just as French Impressionists upended cen­turies of tra­di­tion, Modernist cui­sine has in recent years blown through the bound­aries of the culi­nary arts. Borrowing tech­niques from the lab­o­ra­tory, pio­neer­ing chefs at world-renowned restau­rants such as elBulli, The Fat Duck, Alinea, and wd~50 have incor­po­rated a deeper under­stand­ing of sci­ence and advances in cook­ing tech­nol­ogy into their culi­nary art.

In Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking, Nathan Myhrvold, Chris Young, and Maxime Bilet—scientists, inven­tors, and accom­plished cooks in their own right—have cre­ated a six-volume 2,400-page set that reveals science-inspired tech­niques for prepar­ing food that ranges from the oth­er­worldly to the sub­lime. The authors—and their 20-person team at The Cooking Lab—have achieved astound­ing new fla­vors and tex­tures by using tools such as water baths, homog­e­niz­ers, cen­trifuges, and ingre­di­ents such as hydro­col­loids, emul­si­fiers, and enzymes. It is a work des­tined to rein­vent cooking.

How do you make an omelet light and ten­der on the out­side, but rich and creamy inside? Or French fries with a light and fluffy inte­rior and a del­i­cate, crisp crust that doesn’t go soggy? Imagine being able to encase a mus­sel in a gelled sphere of its own sweet and briny juice. Or to cre­ate a silky-smooth pis­ta­chio cream made from noth­ing more than the nuts them­selves. Modernist Cuisine offers step-by-step, illus­trated instruc­tions, as well as clear expla­na­tions of how these tech­niques work. Through thou­sands of orig­i­nal pho­tographs and dia­grams, the lav­ishly illus­trated books make the sci­ence and tech­nol­ogy of the culi­nary arts clear and engag­ing. Stunning new pho­to­graphic tech­niques take the reader inside the food to see cook­ing in action all the way from micro­scopic meat fibers to an entire Weber grill in cross-section. You will view cooking—and eating—in a whole new light. A sam­pling of what you’ll discover:

• Why plung­ing food in ice water doesn’t stop the cook­ing process;
• When boil­ing cooks faster than steaming;
• Why rais­ing the grill doesn’t lower the heat;
• How low-cost pots and pans can per­form bet­ter than expen­sive ones;
• Why bak­ing is mostly a dry­ing process;
• Why deep-fried food tastes best and browns bet­ter when the oil is older;
• How mod­ern cook­ing tech­niques can achieve ideal results with­out the per­fect tim­ing or good luck that tra­di­tional meth­ods demand.

Many invalu­able fea­tures include:

• Insights into the sur­pris­ing sci­ence behind tra­di­tional food prepa­ra­tion meth­ods such as grilling, smok­ing, and stir-frying;
• The most com­pre­hen­sive guide yet pub­lished on cook­ing sous vide, includ­ing the best options for water baths, pack­ag­ing mate­ri­als, and seal­ing equip­ment; cook­ing strate­gies; and trou­bleshoot­ing tips;
• More than 250 pages on meat and seafood and 144 pages on fruits, veg­eta­bles, and grains, includ­ing dozens of para­met­ric recipes and step-by-step techniques;
• Extensive chap­ters explain­ing how to achieve amaz­ing results by using mod­ern thick­en­ers, gels, emul­sions, and foams, includ­ing exam­ple recipes and many formulas;
• Some 300 pages of new recipes for plated dishes suit­able for ser­vice at top-tier restau­rants, plus recipes adapted from mas­ter chefs includ­ing Grant Achatz, Ferran Adrià, Heston Blumenthal, David Chang, Wylie Dufresne, David Kinch, and many others.

From the pro­fes­sional chef to the home cook, Modernist Cuisine is an indis­pens­able guide for any­one who is pas­sion­ate about the art and sci­ence of cooking.

Author Information

About Nathan Myhrvold

DR. NATHAN MYHRVOLD is chief executive officer and a founder of Intellectual Ventures. Before founding his invention company, Myhrvold was the first chief technology officer at Microsoft. He left Microsoft in 1999 to pursue several interests, including a lifelong interest in cooking and food science. Myhrvold competed on a team that won first place in several categories at the 1991 World Championship of Barbecue, including first prize in the special pasta category for a recipe that Myhrvold developed on the day of the contest.

After working for two years as a stagier at Seattle’s top French restaurant, Rover’s, Myhrvold completed culinary training with renowned chef Anne Willan at the Ecole De La Varenne. In addition, he has worked as Chief Gastronomic Officer for Zagat Survey, publisher of the popular Zagat restaurant guidebooks. Through his many visits to the world’s top restaurants, Myhrvold has become personally acquainted with many of the leading modernist chefs and the science-inspired cooking techniques they have pioneered.

Myhrvold’s formal education includes degrees in mathematics, geophysics, and space physics from UCLA, and Ph.D.s in mathematical economics and theoretical physics from Princeton University. In his postdoctoral work at Cambridge University, Myhrvold worked on quantum theories of gravity with the renowned cosmologist Stephen Hawking.

Cookbooks by Nathan Myhrvold

0

Your rating: None

My Cookbook

Modernist Cuisine

by Nathan Myhrvold, Chris Young, Maxime Bilet

About Chris Young

Chris Young opened the exper­i­men­tal kitchen at The Fat Duck and worked under world-famous chef Heston Blumenthal to over­see devel­op­ment of his most inno­v­a­tive dishes. Young com­pleted degrees in math­e­mat­ics and bio­chem­istry at the University of Washington. He left behind his doc­toral work for a job as com­mis chef at one of Seattle’s top-rated restau­rants, and quickly earned a rep­u­ta­tion for his abil­ity to apply sci­ence and tech­nol­ogy in the kitchen.

At The Fat Duck, Young expanded the exper­i­men­tal kitchen from one to more than six full-time chefs. He also coor­di­nated the work of sev­eral con­sul­tant sci­en­tists. Beyond devel­op­ing new dishes for the Fat Duck’s menu, Young was respon­si­ble for man­ag­ing the recipe devel­op­ment for the crit­i­cally acclaimed first and sec­ond sea­sons of “BBC’s Perfection: With Heston Blumenthal.” Young has also writ­ten exten­sively on the sci­ence of food and cook­ing for The Fat Duck Cookbook and has pub­lished schol­arly research in the Journal of Agricultural Chemistry and Food Science.

Young has been an invited speaker at the Culinary Institute of America, University of Washington, University of Reading, the British Society of Food Flavourists, and var­i­ous food companies.

Cookbooks by Chris Young

0

Your rating: None

My Cookbook

Modernist Cuisine

by Nathan Myhrvold, Chris Young, Maxime Bilet

About Maxime Bilet

Maxime Bilet received a BA in cre­ative writ­ing, lit­er­a­ture, and visual arts from Skidmore College. Bilet then grad­u­ated with high­est hon­ors from the Institute of Culinary Education in New York. He com­pleted a stage at Jack’s Luxury Oyster Bar and was quickly hired to the head chef posi­tion there by Jack Lamb. Moving to London, he accepted a stage with Heston Blumenthal’s devel­op­ment team at The Fat Duck. Just prior to join­ing the culi­nary team as head chef for recipe research and devel­op­ment at The Cooking Lab, Bilet trained as sous chef to open the London branch of Auberge de L’Ile.

Cookbooks by Maxime Bilet

0

Your rating: None

My Cookbook

Modernist Cuisine

by Nathan Myhrvold, Chris Young, Maxime Bilet