Molecular Gastronomy: Exploring the Science of Flavor (Arts and Traditions of the Table: Perspectives on Culinary History) (Hardcover)

by Professor Hervé This (Author), Professor Malcolm DeBevoise (Translator)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Originally published in France, This's book documents the sensory phenomena of eating and uses basic physics to put to bed many culinary myths. In each short chapter This presents a piece of debatable conventional wisdom-such as whether it is better to make a stock by placing meat in already boiling water, or water before it is boiled-and gives its history, often quoting famous French chefs, before making scientific pronouncements. In the chapter on al dente pasta, for instance, This discusses pasta-making experiments, the science behind cooking it and whether it is better to use oil or butter to prevent it from sticking. Most of the discussions revolve around common practices and phenomenon-chilling wine, why spices are spicy, how to best cool a hot drink-but more than a few are either irrelevant or Franco-specific (such as the chapters on quenelles and preparing fondue). This's experimentation, however, is not for the mildly curious, but readers unafraid to, say, microwave mayonnaise will find many ideas here.
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From Scientific American
A well-known chemist, a popular French television personality, a best-selling cookbook author, the first person to hold a doctorate in molecular gastronomy, and, coincidentally, a former editor at Pour la Science, the French edition of Scientific American. All these appellation come together in Hervé This, a scholar-gastronome who now has his first book available in English. One of the founders of molecular gastronomy, which brings the instruments and experimental techniques of the lab into the kitchen, the author blends practical tips and provocative suggestions with serious discussions—about how the brain perceives tastes, for example, and how chewing affects food.

Editors of Scientific American

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 392 pages
• Publisher: Columbia University Press (December 9, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 023113312X
• ISBN-13: 978-0231133128
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #117,408 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

131 of 141 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not what you're used to......, December 12, 2006

By	Margot Vigeant "Mom, engineer, and cook" (central PA, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you're thinking about buying this book, you are interested in the chemistry of food and have probably read Robert Wolke's "What Einstein Told his Cook" or Joe Schwarcz's "That's the way the Cookie Crumbles" or perhaps even the paragon of English-language food chemistry: Harold McGee's "On Food and Cooking". If you haven't, I recommend you start with one of those first ("Einstein" would be my #1 choice).
Why? Because those books are better written and about topics that are of more general interest to a North American audience. Molecular Gastronomy is unabashedly FRENCH - which is an excellent thing, but surprising if you're not expecting it. The foods it focuses on are French foods, the research it cites is French research, and I suspect even the translator has French as his first language. So, for example, this book discusses the "Perfect Sabayon" - a lovely culinary question, however one that many Americans (even "foodie" Americans) might find less interesting than the question of cookies going stale (as covered in Schwarcz). The translation is odd.... it is clear, in reading it, that it wasn't originally written in English. Some particularly French phrasing persists in the translation and I am also not convinced that the translator had as extensive a chemical vocabulary as was called for (for example, the phrase "vitreous transition temperature" is used, where "glass transition temperature" is the term used in most materials science texts).
As other reviewers have commented, the vignettes themselves may leave something to be desired. Each chapter is quite brief (Schwartcz's work is similar), so may not have the text to go into the depth a reader might desire. However, the real strength of this work is that it addresses interesting food/chemical questions that aren't being covered by the North American writers.... there's a lot of wine, cheese, and emulsified sauce in this book that you don't see anywhere else.

46 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exploring the Science behind Cooking, March 4, 2006

By	John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Cooking, which has certainly been around for a long time, has been treated more as an art than a science. The recipies and techniques that we follow are handed cown from parent to child, or since writing was invented from chef to student.

But do many of these procedures make sense. Why do we have such traditional ideas of cooking that seem almost cast in stone with little or no evidence that this is indeed the best way to do things.

In this book M. This states a principle, but carrying it further he researches where this principle originated, and then conducts carefully measured experiments to see if this is true. For instance in making beef stock, the rule says put the meat into cold water and increase the temperature gradually. What happens if you put the meat into boiling water? Or what is the difference in Cheeses that are made from milk from cows that had south facing fields when compared to cows on fields that faced a northern slope. What about if the cow was fed silage (wet grass stored in silow where it ferments)? And what's the best way to test whiskey?

That's the idea, here is the analysis of cooking taken to a scientific level. It's a fascinating book for one interested in more than just the mechanics of cooking. I was reminded of Russ Parson's book 'How to Read a French Fry.'

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very well written, almost too technical, May 23, 2006

By	JFT "Johnny" (Ann Arbor, MI) - See all my reviews

Mr. This has written a well-developed group of essays, really scientific reports, on aspects of cuisine. This is neither a consideration of cooking artistry or technique, but rather varied explorations of the scientific principles behind the transformation of materials in food science. I found many of the essays interesting although some have less relevance to my kitchen than others. Some essays are clearly written for other food industry professionals--the discussion of vinaigrette includes the xanthan gum, et al, which home cooks generally don't use to stabilize their vinaigrettes. Where Mr. This gets really interesting is in his multi-essay development of emulsions (mayonnaise, vinaigrette, flan, quiche, cream, etc.), gels, and the chemistry behind them. I am already excited to try his suggestions for a chocolate 'dispersion'. In fact, I would recommend to Mr. This, should he write another book for a more general audience, to focus on the emulsion and the gel as central concepts of his cuisine, which have opened up new potential worlds of innovation. Throughout the book he strikes a good balance between respect for tradition (as a source of preliminary hypotheses to be tested) and innovation--his discussion of potential new two-phase cooking techniques from a complete matrix was quite French in its precision and dream of new potentials. Not to be missed, once you have made it through the book, is his witty and worthy glossary.

The writing is quite scientific and usually, but not always, well translated from French. In places this irritated me, such as an appositive "Mr. X, he who does such and such, walked..." (not the exact quote), the 'he who does such and such' being a word-for-word translation of the French "celui qui fait...". However this was an irritation and not an impediment.

I do strongly recommend this book although it is NOT the best for a general foodie-science geek who wants only to understand the principles behind most common household cooking techniques. That is done much better by Alton Brown, et al and this book presupposes such knowledge, and more. It is a more advanced text and a look into the new world of 'molecular gastronomy' as a science and the brave new world it is ushering in.