Cookaholics Bulletin Board

The players are well known…

Nathan Myhrvold, the Princeton, Cambridge, Microsoft geek is releasing “Modernist Cuisine at Home"next week for $140.

Guy Crosby, representing Harvard, is releasing, with the help of a cast of dozens from ATK is releasing “Cooks Illustrated: The Science of Good Cooking”in a couple of weeks with $40 cover price and a street price of $26.40.

J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, representing MIT, and sitting on “a six figure advance” that was announces well over two years ago is planning a two volume release of “The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking” in the fall of 2013 –two years past initial forecasts. Will food science still matter next fall?

Well, I think the science doesn't care whether we care or not....

Food science can change the way we cook, fundamentally. It doesn't have to involve fancy chems or equipment. Whether we continue to focus on it specifically or just start accepting the findings as part of regular everyday practice may change.

There is another group of heavier food science users too; those on restricted diets. I have a friend who turned up his nose on such things until he eliminated gluten from his diet. Suddenly he is interested in a whole variety of food science.

In addition, a big generation of geeks has gotten older with more leisure time and have taken to cooking. I think that trend will continue.

I may have to do without Nathan for a couple of reasons, but Kenji-Alt is a for sure buy. I still use my CI membership to look stuff up but I don't follow them the way I used to when ATK was my primary food show, TG for PBS. So Guy Crosby doesn't ring a bell.

Isn't Guy Crosby the food scientist that appears on ATK to explain brining and the like? He took the place of that cartoon guy.

I may get Myhrvold, will definitely check out Kenji, but the jury's out on Guy Crosby. Although I guess as long as it's not Guy Fieri, I might give it a look.

I like food science, but at my level, i.e. the most specialized piece of equipment I'd need would be my pots and pans; maybe a pressure cooker. Beyond that I'm intrigued but it's not something I can see myself doing. Maybe when the kids move out and I retire.
Doesn't mean that I don't love reading all the stuff you people are up to though. But I certainly wouldn't buy a cookbook on it. I've been waiting for Kenji's book, disappointing that it'll be another year. sigh.

Can't say I'm surprised, actually ...

Hopefully they don't ask for their advance back.

I'm going with Kenji.

I am buying Kenji's. I can't afford the Nathan Myhrvold one at the current price so that one is out. I just saw a preview of the Kindle edition of The Science of Good Cooking and despite what one reviewer says, the pictures appear nice and clear, so I am buying the Kindle version for my iPad. It would be a good read while I am waiting in SF for my plane to Boston in a couple of weeks.

PS, Bought it and it renders really nicely on the iPad. I am looking forward to reading it. I am hoping I can get DH to read some of it as well.