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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.

Read on...

• Table of Contents
• 1. History and Fundamentals
• 2. Techniques and Equipment
• 3. Animals and Plants
• 4. Ingredients and Preparations
• 5. Plated-Dish Recipes