What Einstein Told His Cook: Kitchen Science Explained

By Robert L. Wolke and Marlene Parrish

Book Overview

"Wolke, longtime professor of chemistry and author of the Washington Post column Food 101, turns his hand to a Cecil Adams style compendium of questions and answers on food chemistry. Is there really a difference between supermarket and sea salt? How is sugar made? Should cooks avoid aluminum pans? Interspersed throughout Wolke's accessible and humorous answers to these and other mysteries are recipes demonstrating scientific principles. There is gravy that avoids lumps and grease; Portuguese Poached Meringue that demonstrates cream of tartar at work; and juicy Salt-Seared Burgers...With its zest for the truth, this book will help cooks learn how to make more intelligent choices." --Publishers Weekly

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393329429
• ISBN13: 9780393329421
• Release Date: August 2008
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

An excellent read, if not entirely comprehensive

Most semi-competent amateur cooks will find this to be an informative and entertaining read. It will likely appeal to fans of Alton Brown's Food TV show "Good Eats". As well as explanations of many foodie things that you will never see explained in run-of-the-mill cookery books, it includes a decent number of fairly straightforward recipes. It is broken into many short sub-chapters, making it easy to read in bursts of 3 or 4 minutes. What it is not, is a comprehensive explanation of all kitchen science. If you are looking for a manual of cookery science and techniques, or a book aimed at budding professional cooks, then look elsewhere.

Kitchen Commentary on Chemistry

This book reads like more like a conversation, or informal lecture than like a textbook or even a cookbook. The author follows a basic cookbook and textbook rule by splitting his subject matter into small and distinct chapters. If you're looking for a cookbook, look elsewhere. This book has some, but they can be found elsewhere. They're used here to expound upon the subject matter of the particular chapter in which they appear. If you're looking for hardcore science look elsewhere, this book is written for the chemistry layman (it includes little techspeak terms most of which you should already know from high school chemistry.) If you're a serious foody you probably already know a great deal of whats in this book. But if you're the average person looking for a good read or a basic food chemistry education this book is perfect. The author dispells many modern food myths, and teaches basic food science.

Allows one to use plastic spoons for caviar, etc.

This is a most delightful book, full of kitchen wisdom and chemistry, good and bad puns, and many, many clever witticisms. It is a flat out pleasure to read, but what really makes it such an outstanding piece of work, and a book every kitchen should have, is that it is so full of information, from why and how corn syrup ends up in sodas to why and how to wash your mushrooms--and yes, they are indeed grown in manure, but not to worry, as Wolke explains on pages 286-288 in a little essay entitled, "You Can't Wash Your Car with a Wet Mushroom." (I believe that.) This is the kind of book you'll find yourself reading from cover to cover instead of peeling the potatoes. Speaking of which, Wolke advises that there is a very slight problem with green potatoes, but that reports of their poisonous nature are greatly exaggerated. (See pages 117-120 for the true scoop.)I have just one problem: nowhere does Wolke say how many sesame seeds are in a teaspoon. However, inspired by Wolke's labor-intensive lime squeezing experiment on pages 281-284, I was able to work it out myself. The answer is 840. I found this by counting the number in a half teaspoon and multiplying by two, genius that I am. (Alas, this was before I realized that I could have counted the number in a quarter teaspoon and multiplied by four.) Which reminds me of the joke about a guy on a train counting cows in a field. When asked how he could do this he explained that he counted their legs and divided by four.Now you may think this was an idle exercise and wonder if I am not slyly making fun of Wolke's book. Au Cointreau! What I learned by counting sesame seeds exemplifies one of the lessons in the book, namely how hard it is to measure anything exactly. On page 294 Wolke asks, "Have you noticed how surface tension makes the liquid bulge up above the rim of the measuring spoon? How accurate can that be?" Well, I have, and I want to tell you getting a straight line of sesame seeds across the top of that measuring spoon was no piece of cake either!There are nine chapters and a really excellent index, suggestions for further reading and a brief glossary. There are some excellent recipes by Wolke's wife, Marlene Parrish. I performed a "thought experiment" on several of them and found that my mouth was watering. One of them, how to make turkey or chicken gravy on page 156 is almost exactly the way I make it. (Smile.) Parrish uses the roasting pan, transferring it to the stove top burners after removing the bird, and then deglazes the pan more or less in the French style. I must note that on the previous page Wolke himself does not recommend this technique finding it "hard to straddle two burners" not to mention "one big cleanup job after dinner."Which makes me wonder who makes the gravy in their household--or, better yet, who does the dishes!The chapters begin with sugar, "Sweet Talk" and end with "Tools and Technology." Wolke gives us a full mouthful on the differences betwee