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I also read a few days ago that the former chief technology officer of Microsoft (I think his name is Myhrvold) has compiled a massive encyclopedic set of books, maybe six volumes for six hundred bucks. Of course, from a laboratory science perspective, his goal was to produce the first and last definitive cookbook, sort of a principia. Totally geek. His kitchen has centrifuges and autoclaves.
 
spork said:
I also read a few days ago that the former chief technology officer of Microsoft (I think his name is Myhrvold) has compiled a massive encyclopedic set of books, maybe six volumes for six hundred bucks. Of course, from a laboratory science perspective, his goal was to produce the first and last definitive cookbook, sort of a principia. Totally geek. His kitchen has centrifuges and autoclaves.
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That is SUPER Geek...the rest of us pale in his shadow.:) Cool!
 
The trouble with "thinking geeks" is that they can mistake cooking/baking for pure science, disregarding the artistic flair, and pure leaps of faith that the process can involve ..
 
One of the reasons I was sooooo happy to find this board is that one of the other boards I'm on has three posters who bought Modernist Cuisine and their own sous vide machines, vacuum chambers, etc. I realized they were speaking a language I wasn't.

I love to cook, but this was out of my league. For cooking and science, I'll take Kenji Alt/Serious Eats......
 
OMGoodness!!!!!!!! :w00t2:This totally deserves the w00t smiley and is going on my Christmas and Birthday list! I looked up reviews and he uses computer code as analogies for recipes and one review mentions something about learning to make your own ice cream machine out of Legos!?!?! Eeeeeeeeeeee! This sounds wicked sweet. You can also find it on amazon for cheaper. Think Geek is great for finding geek stuff but it's often over priced so it pays to look to see if the items are offered elsewhere. :mrgreen: Thank you PF for posting this! I'd actually read this cookbook.

Oh, and the author also has a blog which you can find with a quick Google search. It led me to this page http://insideinsides.blogspot.com/ which is a blog with MRI's of different fruits and vegetables! So cool.
 
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purple.alien.giraffe said:
OMGoodness!!!!!!!! :w00t2:This totally deserves the w00t smiley and is going on my Christmas and Birthday list! I looked up reviews and he uses computer code as analogies for recipes and one review mentions something about learning to make your own ice cream machine out of Legos!?!?! Eeeeeeeeeeee! This sounds wicked sweet. You can also find it on amazon for cheaper. Think Geek is great for finding geek stuff but it's often over priced so it pays to look to see if the items are offered elsewhere. :mrgreen: Thank you PF for posting this! I'd actually read this cookbook.

Oh, and the author also has a blog which you can find with a quick Google search. It led me to this page Inside insides which is a blog with MRI's of different fruits and vegetables! So cool.
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I shop at ThinkGeek as often as I shop at Wally World or Costco.:)
 
They day I have to cook like that is the day I stop cooking! I go by feel, taste, smell etc. I hardly ever use recipes and when I do I usually change them to my own taste. I've only recently started writing down what I put in dishes in case I want to make it again and can't remmeber how..lol!
 
I don't use recipes either and only write stuff down because my husband complains if I don't. The reviews for this book though state that it encourages cooking by taste, feel, smell, etc. and gives scientific explanations for cooking methods specifically so people can improvise and be creative. That and the fact that I'm a geek for just about anything science are why this book appeals to me.
 
Different strokes for different folks, nothing wrong with that :) I just don't like turning cooking into a science. I love Heston Blumenthal though and I would love to eat at his restaurant one day!
 
Sorry if that came across as confrontational or argumentative. I didn't mean for it to sound that way. I'm just such a science nerd. Even when I draw or paint, I'm often thinking about the science behind light and form and how to create illusions of depth and three dimensional space based on the science of how we see things. I think I could find science in just about anything. On the other hand, some of the best stuff I've ever made has come from grabbing three of four random spices and smelling them to see if they smell good together, so I understand the value of not always over-thinking things and sometimes putting away the science. I'm always fascinated by how people cook because there are so many influences to draw on and it's usually very connected to the individual's personality. The people who enjoy it the most always seem to have a style that is uniquely their own. I don't know, it's just cool.
 
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I also love the "Why?" All else is cool, but I need to know why, too. It's all science, it makes life tick!
 
I'll have to check this book out! I'm a science geek, too and love knowing why stuff works in cooking. I think sometimes it lets you be a little creative because you know what you can sub for ingredients.

Have your read, "On Food and Cooking, The science and lore of the kitchen"?
 
Fantastic...I went to Amazon to check out "On Food and Cooking, The science and lore of the kitchen" and ended up getting "Cooking For Geeks" and "Ratios." "On Food and Cooking" is on my wishlist...Bad Fiona, Bad.
 
I'm a touch and feel type of cook, but I LOVE to know the hows and whys behind cooking. I'd love the book for those kinds of reasons....and would love to know things it promises to reveal...such as would a pizza cook in a superheated oven and why medium steaks appeal to most people's taste.

It's definitely one I'd read!
 
giggle.

there's a lot of kitchen 'stuff' where understand the wherefores and whyases is very helpful.

how to hard boil/cook (yeah they argue about the boil/cook words....sheesh....) so it peels easily.
or - why does the yolk get green?

and then there's the open the spice bottle and see if it smells like it'd go good with the dish. that's std procedure around here (g)

are both "science?" can a food scientist explain what size/shape spice molecules with what valence goes well with other types? don't think so. first, we're smart, but we're not yet that smart - and second, there's no accounting for taste. I hate sage - period. don't care if it's got an ideal molecular structure to go with X, don't care for it!

now, if one understands why the green develops around an egg yolk, one can take steps to avoid the problem. just accepting "this is my way" and "here's the perfect way to" doesn't actually work unless one has exactly the same conditions.
 
Frank always measures items for making his bread, so "Santa" brought him Ratios for Christmas last year. He felt it had some interesting information, but did not agree with some of the ratios. Basically, he felt the book did not "click" with him.
 
I'm interested in the personality types, liking either cooking or baking. Want to borrow it when I'm done, Kathleen?

Ohhhh, Shrek just brought in a handful of catalogs.
 
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