The Science Of Good Food - The Ultimate Gps For Your Kitchen

Now more than ever, a diverse array of foods are available to chefs and home cooks alike; popular interest in cooking has sparked curiosity and innumerable culinary questions arise out of everyday cuisine, not to mention unfamiliar and exotic ingredients. From Delicata Squash, Demerara Sugar, and Demi-Glace, to Derby Cheese, Dessert Wine, and Dewberry, food items present tantalizing possibilities and cooks everywhere are eager to master their uses, refine special techniques, and dive into creative and informed kitchen innovation.

This year, a groundbreaking new book points home cooks in the right direction: THE SCIENCE OF GOOD FOOD by David Joachim and Andrew Schloss with A. Philip Handel, Ph.D. (Robert Rose, Inc.; October 2008; $37.95/trade paperback; ISBN-13: 978-0-7788-0189-4) is the ultimate GPS for your kitchen, with delicious recipes designed to teach useful techniques and answer culinary questions.

In addition to scintillating flavors, kitchen science now inspires and influences culinary development. Award-winning chefs and cutting-edge restaurants around the world have become famous for using the principles of chemistry and physics when creating new taste sensations and perfecting time-honored culinary techniques (not to mention de-bunking many kitchen myths).

THE SCIENCE OF GOOD FOOD is the first A to Z reference book to bring the science of food to home cooks and professionals alike. This highly readable book contains more than 1,600 entries, arranged alphabetically and cross-referenced, that touch on a variety of scientific disciplines from biology and chemistry to agriculture and nutrition. And, everyone from kitchen novice and culinary student to professional chef and armchair gourmet will be fascinated to learn how copper bowls affect eggs, what kind of grill gives you the best crust on a steak, what happens to shortbread at high altitude, and how butter tenderizes cake, to list just a few food science features from this seminal book. In addition to practical and scientific information, THE SCIENCE OF GOOD FOOD includes more than 100 recipes.

While demystifying the complexities of cooking, the book sheds a welcome light on the confounding phenomena of everyday eating such as why artichokes make certain foods taste sweeter and what causes some people to think cilantro tastes like soap. Topics on cooking ingredients discuss the basic molecular make-up of meats, poultry, game, fish, shellfish, vegetables, fruits, cheese, eggs, dough, and most other foodstuffs, as well as how these foods react to heat, helping you cook better.

Bursting with practical tips and their scientific foundations, THE SCIENCE OF GOOD FOOD brings the exciting culinary frontier of molecular gastronomy into the home kitchen. Answers to any type of culinary question can be found within its pages such as:
 How do you make the perfect French fry?
 What keeps red cabbage from turning blue?
 Is it better to salt a steak before or after grilling?
 Why do onions make you cry and how do you stop the tears?

The book even includes chemistry principles that unravel the physical and chemical transformations that take place during everyday cooking, explaining things like aeration, caramelization, and gelatinization. Scores of charts, tables, and graphs, and more than 200 photographs and illustrations help you visualize the basic principles of food science.

"The ultimate goal throughout the book is to provide practical information that you can use to create better-tasting food," explains Schloss. "The straightforward explanations of the what, how, and why of food and cooking are intended to help you become a better and more confident cook. After all, cooking and science are really after the same thing: helping us enjoy life. We