Cooking For Engineers Forum Index Cooking For Engineers
Analytical cooking discussed.
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

Cookbooks For The Science-minded, Know of any?
Goto page 1, 2  Next
 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Cooking For Engineers Forum Index -> Cooking Tips
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
efsitz
Guest





PostPosted: Thu May 12, 2005 8:09 am    Post subject: Cookbooks For The Science-minded, Know of any? Reply with quote

I started reading through this site and realized there was no way I could cover enough of it to know whether someone already brought this up. Therefore, I'll just post it here. There's a book I bought a few years ago that is a lot like this website. It's called "Cookwise" by Shirley O. Corriher. I have not made too many of the recipies in it, because it's really not exactly for that. It's written by a biochemist, and the recipies are there mostly to serve as demonstrations of particular cooking concepts. For example, there is a recipe for lowfat ice cream that is there to demonstrate how certain molecules other than fats can contribute a "creamy mouthfeel" to a food. The ice cream itself? Reasonably tasty, though nothing earth shattering. The feel, though? Really fascinating.

Anyway. I don't know if anyone mentioned the book here, but if you like to know why bread rises, yada yada, it's a cool book to have. She talks about the whole saturated/unsaturated fat thing, too, though not in as much depth as this site does.

I'd love to find other books like this. Knowing what's really going on when I cook something helps me a lot in knowing which steps are worth my full attention. Otherwise, I take random shortcuts and wind up with random results! Smile
Back to top
nick
Guest





PostPosted: Thu May 12, 2005 8:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It's not a cookbook, but Harold McGee's "On Food and Cooking" is the bible for people like us--it explains the science behind damn near everything related to food. The author, along with Herve This, is one of the heads of the "molecular gastronomy" movement/group, which is a bunch of chefs, chemists, and biologists who get together and do lab experiements with cooking.

Rose Levy Beranbaum's "The Cake Bible" is the best cookbook I've ever seen (I've seen a lot as a professional pastry chef) in that it actually tells you why you're doing things, probable causes of problems, etc.
Back to top
enginerd
Guest





PostPosted: Thu May 12, 2005 8:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I would also remind you to watch Alton Brown's Good Eats on the food network. He also has a cookbook out I'm Just Here For The Food.
Back to top
mhchu
Guest





PostPosted: Thu May 12, 2005 8:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Alton also has a great book on kitchen equipment and tools called Gear for Your Kitchen.
Back to top
WoodlandSprite
Guest





PostPosted: Thu May 12, 2005 8:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Another fun read is "What Einstein told his Cook" by Robert Wolke.
Back to top
celia_cook
Guest





PostPosted: Thu May 12, 2005 8:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks guys for all the suggested books now I know what to get myself for my birthday! :roll: I am the type who has cookbooks for bedtime reading and have shelves full of them but I don't I have one where it explains the underlying science, chemical reactions, or just explanations of why certain food combinations effect a result. cheers!
Back to top
Zaydia
Guest





PostPosted: Thu May 12, 2005 8:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I second the suggestion for Alton Brown's "I'm just here for the Food". It's an amazing book, and his show is hillarious, entertaining, and educational.

He also has 2 other books - I'm Just Here For More Food: Food x Mixing + Heat = Baking and Alton Brown's Gear for your Kitchen.


Good luck! Hope this helped!
Back to top
5minutes
Guest





PostPosted: Thu May 12, 2005 8:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

One more voice in the Alton Brown fan crowd.

Along with being the host of Good Eats on the Food Network, Alton also has his own website with even more stuff.


--------------------
-5minutes

"The fact that “Dr.” Phil has the number 1 cookbook on Amazon.com makes me want to end it all." - Alton Brown
Back to top
JediLow
Guest





PostPosted: Thu May 12, 2005 8:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Heh... I'm seeing a "Cooking For Engineers" book in the horizon Teasing
Back to top
Karen
Guest





PostPosted: Thu May 12, 2005 8:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you want to know "Why?" you've got to read "How to Read a French Fry" by Russ Parsons.

The subtitle is "And Other Stories of Intriguing Kitchen Science." No less than Julia Child praised the book in O magazine. It is great fun to read and has over 100 recipes.
I highly recommend it!

I'm also going to take note of the books you guys have mentioned. They sound like great recommendations, too!
Karen


--------------------

Let's Play Restaurant!
The "Let's Play Restaurant!" Blog
Back to top
FrustratedChef
Guest





PostPosted: Thu May 12, 2005 8:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

When I was in Napa with my wife a few years ago, I couldn't wait to get out of those darn vineyards so I could visit the Culinary Institute of America.

There, I bought "The Professional Chef's Techniques for Healthy Cooking." Most of the recipes are geared towards feeding a restaurant, i.e.: portions are typically for 10 - 15 people. But, the book has probably the best summaries I've ever read of all major cooking techniques, what they do to various kinds of food and why. There are also excellent descriptions of the major categories of food, how to balance them, and how to prepare and store them.

I can tell it's one of those books that will be a reference for me for the rest of days... sort of like A Technical Introduction to Digital Video... but very very different. Teasing
Back to top
chennes
Guest





PostPosted: Thu May 12, 2005 8:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've recently begun acquiring culinary school textbooks. The recipes can be tricky to use (they typically feed large crowds), but the ones I have picked up so far have been long on "why" as well as "how". In addition, they typically have extensive bibliographies that lead to even more cookbooks. In particular, Bo Friberg's "Professional Pastry Chef" and "Advanced Professional Pastry Chef" are excellent resources.
Back to top
GUEST Z
Guest





PostPosted: Thu May 12, 2005 8:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

some of these books are now installed on my little invisible wishlist ,,, what I want to know is , is there something like a vitamin bible out there? (something like grays anatomy <rough metaphor sorry> except about vitamins)?
Back to top
marix
Guest





PostPosted: Thu May 12, 2005 8:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

there all so is an old book about the science and cooking by brilliant savarin...i dont know the exact english title, coz im danish, but if i translate it into english it would something like "a taste-fysiological experience"
its an really old book, but he explains fx. how we taste different tastes on different part of our thong, and also if i remember right he was the one exploring the 5.th spice...

im a cater trainee my self, and i never was into science and chemistry in school. but now ive learned to see the use of it in cooking and thats what i find exiting...

im glad i found this webpage, and im gonna recoment it to my cooking-friends.
Back to top
chennes
Guest





PostPosted: Thu May 12, 2005 8:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

marix wrote:
how we taste different tastes on different part of our thong

OT- your English is better than my Danish to be sure, but this made me laugh... I think (hope?) that you meant tongue.

Oh, and welcome to the board.
Back to top
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Cooking For Engineers Forum Index -> Cooking Tips All times are GMT
Goto page 1, 2  Next
Page 1 of 2

 
Jump to:  
You can post new topics in this forum
You can reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group