Customer Reviews

What Einstein Told His Cook: Kitchen Science Explained

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

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 between cane and beet sugar, between brown and white sugar, between cocoa and chocolate, and makes me feel good about not being crazy about white chocolate. He separates the sea salt from the rock salt; he explains what MSG is and where it comes from; how home water filters works; why "the nearer the bone, the sweeter the meat" is actually true, and of course how to open a champagne bottle and clarify butter... Ghee, I'm exhausted!

One of my favorite explanations is why beef in the supermarket looks bright pink on the outside and brown on the inside. (See pages 127-128, and, no, they don't spray it with dye, which is what I always thought.) I also liked it when Wolke got down and dirty and tried to fry an egg on the sidewalk, and after some heavy-duty "Techspeak" came to the conclusion that you can't; that frying an egg on the sidewalk is an urban legend. (But try the roof of your Arizona "sun-baked, dark blue, 1994 Ford Taurus" which "measured 178 degrees F, more than hot enough to coagulate both white and yolk.") (p. 193)

The icing on the cake for me (if you will) was Wolke's explanation of "Why Crackers Are Holey" beginning on page 307. What his explanation amounts to is a guide on how to make crackers, which is something I've been stumbling around in the kitchen, trying to do off and on for ages. Two key factors that I was unaware of: One, the oven has to be very, very hot ("saltines are baked at 650 to 700 degrees F."; matzos at "800 to 900 degrees F.") and Two, crackers need holes to let the air out! And now to find an oven that gets that hot...

Here are a couple of witticisms: On page 305 Wolke is talking about ovens that use light to cook food, and "the promotional statements...[that sound] like pseudoscientific hype:" They "harness the power of light." They cook "with the speed of light" and "from the inside out." He comments: "Light does indeed travel, appropriately enough, at the speed of light, but it doesn't penetrate most solids very far. Try reading this page through a steak."

Or, "The makers of matzos, the unleavened flatbread of the Jewish Passover, seem to have gone hog wild (you should excuse the expression) on perforations. Matzos are much hole-ier than secular crackers." (p. 307)

Bottom line: fascinating and fun to read.

I might have liked this book better if I read it before I read On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen by Harold McGee. But I read that one first and enjoyed the technical explanations. Some of the same questions are explored in both books, and in McGee's book you will get a detailed explanation suitable for a college student. This book you will get an explanation suitable for about 7th grade. It's more like Mr. Wizard or Bill Nye asked these questions instead of Einstein. If you want easier reading and simple answers, this book is for you. But I felt it was dumbed down compared to McGee's book.

Excellent writing! I used to love the sciences growing up but now I've entered the "real world" complete with a sit-all-day-looking-at-a-computer-screen job. Because of that, I have recently found cooking (something to invigorate my mind and senses in the evening). Wolke's book is the perfect combination of both cooking and science, with just the right amount of humor and sarcasm. I just finished it last night and am already online to buy his other works. Happy reading!

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.

I LOVE THIS BOOK! I got it for Christmas and thought that I wouldn't learn much from this book as I have many other similar books (Cookwise and so on). How wrong I was! This is a well-written, easy-to-read book for anyone with an interest in why cooking works or doesn't work. It contains a few recipes for you to 'experiment'. The author is the most engaging and entertaining science professor I've ever heard (I wish mine were like this at school), he can explain ions, density, sugars, starches and much more with great clarity and humor! As a pastry chef, premed student and mom I shall be using many of his ideas (like why two cups of sugar 'fits in' to one cup of water) for my kids and my own pleasure! I especially like the Q&A style which means I can read a bit and read more later when I have more time!

This book is a culmination of articles written on kitchen science. None of them will take more than a few minutes to read -- but are packed with fascinating information. All are written with great humor, which makes all of the information palatable.

Why does it take longer to cook at altitude?
What is the difference between baking powder and baking soda (and why are they used?)
Does the massive amount of soda/beer drinking contribute to global warming?
Does hot water freeze more quickly in the freezer?
Why could lasagna eat a hole in the aluminum foil?
Why are foods sweet?
What are sweeteners made of...?
What is the difference between all the salts on the market?

And many many more...

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.

This isn't a chemistry textbook (thank goodness). It's not really a cookbook, either. And Robert L. Wolke isn't quite the Cecil Adams of food, although sometimes he comes close. What this is, is a very useful and informative guide to food and cooking.

Wolke covers basic issues like "What is a calorie?" ... "What's the best way to defrost frozen food?" ... and "What's the point of clarified butter." And he addresses more complex ones, related to fats, various methods of cooking, the hows-and-whys of microwaves, and much more. He does so with a certain degree of flair and humor, but is also chock full of information. He clearly knows his stuff. Keep in mind, though, that most of what's in here originally appeared in the form of newspaper columns. That may be one explanation for why these answers sometimes aren't as in depth as some reviewers might have preferred.

(Interestingly, Wolke's answer to the question "How do they get the non-stick coating to stick to the pan?" gives us the opportunity for a head-to-head test with Cecil Adams, who answers the same question in one of his Straight Dope books. Personally, I think Cecil came out ahead, but your opinion may vary.)

What I found most interesting (apart from the chapter on fat, for some reason) was Wolke's deconstruction of the arguments against irradiated food. Keep this section handy for the next time someone wails about "the equivalent of one billion chest X-rays" (the correct response to which, Wolke notes, is "So what?").

Absorbing the knowledge here will, I think, make you both a better cook and a more informed consumer. And both of those are good things.

God I love it when some one can make me understand a concept without patronizing or condensending to me. Wolke puts my least favorite subject - science - into the palm of my hand with a generous and often surprising amount of humour and insight. This is not a book for the superstitious (those of you who believe microwaves will make your brocolli radioactive know who I'm taking about) - rather it is for those curious among us who simply have to know but don't know where to get the answers. Well, this is the place.

This book looks at some of the main issues (and ingredients) relating to food and cooking from the perspective of science.

The author, chemistry professor and popular food writer, explores some of the more 'controversial' ingredients such as sugar, salt, fat, and other chemicals used in the kitchen and their known effects on us. He also answers (or at least makes a good attempt to answer) some of the nagging questions about food and its preparation, such as microwave issues and MSG. Lots of not-always-useful-but-interesting tidbits (pardon the pun) are also thrown in, like the answers to "can eggs be frozen?" or even "what do you do with the wine cork when the waiter gives it to you?" to spice things up.

While the explanations in the book are scientific and accurate, they are written in an accessible and entertaining way. Minimal chemistry knowledge is required.

A great book for anyone who eats. Better still for anyone who cooks.