Molecular Gastronomy: Exploring The Science Of Flavor (2006) - Plot & Excerpts
Molecular Gastronomy has became a catch-all term for the various activities of cooks to manipulate the flavour, appearance and even form of food and its constituent ingredients through scientific means. Of course, on a very basic level, combining ingredients is a form of science, yet it is fair to describe molecular gastronomy as taking things way beyond a basic level.In recent years molecular gastronomy has started seeping out of the kitchen laboratory and onto the restaurant plate, thanks to a pioneering group of think-ahead chefs who want to really understand and reinvent everything if they can. There is also an enthusiastic bunch of amateur cooks who are doing their own kitchen experimentation. The exclusive genie is really out of the bottle and books like this help shine light on this form of 'kitchen alchemy'.This book has been translated into English from an earlier work (Casseroles et éprouvettes) and in essence it contains a good, general overview for the average person to this exciting world. This reviewer notes, with a little disdain, the relatively small physical size of the book and its printing - would it have really cost a lot more for another inch or so of paper?The book is split into four key sections - Secrets of the Kitchen; The Physiology of Flavor; Investigations and Models and A Cuisine for Tomorrow. Each section is further sub-divided and presented by an excellent, detailed contents page at the front - at the back, after a great glossary and bibliography is a very extensive index too. It might be fairer to say that each mini section is effectively its own chapter, and everything that stands in the way is just a navigation tool. Whether it was luck or editing judgement that the tally of mini sections came to 101 we shall never know.It is pleasing to note that, despite being an academic book by nature and necessity, the writing style has been tailored to be accessible to the average person who wants to learn more. Clearly where further technical or scientific detail is needed, this book would not solely suffice but there is sufficient pointers to the really-detailed reading that would probably be just boring filling to 95%-plus of this book's target audience. It is a great compromise that does not water the book down or make it out-of-reach. In the years that have passed since this book was released in French, more developments and advances have taken place. Maybe it is time for an update (hint, hint!). That said, this book still remains an excellent introduction to a subject that is by nature prone to being confusing to outsiders. If you are looking for pretty pictures and diagrams of the finished dishes this book is not for you - but the written word can be a very powerful, illuminative force in its own right.To conclude, this is a great book on so many levels. It acts as an introduction to a nearly endless science, it sits as a memory aid to many key points and techniques and it sets off a taste for even further reading, experimentation and trial. Now, that hoped-for updated version can have more than 101 mini chapters and, oh, a little larger physical presence too.Molecular Gastronomy: Exploring The Science of Flavor, written by Hervé This and published by Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231133135, 392 pages. Typical price: GBP9. YYYYY.// This review appeared in YUM.fi and is reproduced here in full with permission of YUM.fi. YUM.fi celebrates the worldwide diversity of food and drink, as presented through the humble book. Whether you call it a cookery book, cook book, recipe book or something else (in the language of your choice) YUM will provide you with news and reviews of the latest books on the marketplace. //
some great information in here, and i love the fact that he includes his email address if there is a food product or dish especially of interest to the reader. he wants you to contact him about the best way to prepare it. the fact that the delay in developing tele-olfaction and tele-gustation is a source of frustration for This and other gourmets (and probably you) shows you just how scientific and imaginative the guy is. complementary traits too often thought of as contradictory. the mechanical beahvior of bread resembles that of plastic materials ya'll. while the book deals with a lot of very specific questions about the best way to do certain things with food, and i love the detail gone into, i still wish that level of detail could have been directed toward simpler, more basic preparations. that said, heating the tip of tongue (95 degrees) produces sweet sensation; cooling it (41 degrees) produces sour one. And you should add vinegar or lemon juice to pasta cooking water and oil or butter to pasta when done to prevent sticking.
What do You think about Molecular Gastronomy: Exploring The Science Of Flavor (2006)?
Molecular Gastronomy: Exploring the Science of Flavor is food book written by Hervé This. He is a French physical chemist on the staff of the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique in Paris. M. B. DeBevosie translated this book from French to English and published it in 2006. The book has 377 pages, four chapters total. Each chapter consists of several sections. In the beginning of each section the author states the history behind writing the section to provide the readers with generous information about his argument. Then, he states the questions he is trying to answer following it with an experiment that reveals the scientific reasoning of how things are cooked. Each section presents one argument. The sections are 2 - 2 ½ pages long, directly to the point. The author is very confident in his experiments, although, the experiments are basic and simple, but are reasonable in winning the argument. He even asks the readers many times to try it themselves to gain their trust. The book is smooth in reading, in which it is designed into sections each is 2- 2 ½ page long that allows the reader to breath in between the sections. For a physical chemistry book about food I find the sections style a very smart idea not to overload the reader with long research talk, but rather simplify the research to be easier to understand and straight forward. Overall, Molecular Gastronomy is a good book in “Exploring the Science of Flavor”, unusual to any of the cookbooks I have seen. Its beauty is in combining science with food, it’s a distinctive perspective and a new lens into understanding the art of cooking and flavor.
—زهراء مُحمد
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.
—George
This idea for this book is brilliant and tantalizing; its realization is deeply disappointing.The author addresses dozens of interesting questions that may have occurred to anyone who eats food and has some curiosity. Why is some meat tougher than other meat? How does cooking make food taste better? What is a Maillard reaction? And in example after example, he fails. He begins to explain, but what you thought was the topic sentence (E.g., "Pieces [of meat] with high concentrations of collagen are best boiled, whereas ones with low concentrations of collagen are better suited to roasting.") is actually all the information you're going to get.Some reviewers have complained that it's too "technical." I see how you might think that, given the cavalier tossing about of chemical names, but I think if it were more scientific in explaining what the chemicals were doing, it might be a lot more accessible.Some of the essays are better than others, but the dominant pattern is to tell, not show; to assert, not demonstrate; to tantalize, and then pad the page with ancillary detail that might be interesting were it a sauce piquant for the text, and not the main course.
—Jay
