Molecular Gastronomy at Home

Avant-garde? Admittedly. Shocking? Often. Head-scratchingly scientific? Sometimes. A whole new way of looking at food, cooking and gastronomic pleasure? Absolutely! Youssef elevates all things culinary to what can only be dubbed a stunningly precise discipline. By marrying the test tube with the spatula, this book embodies the ultimate crash course for the amateur chef and home cook in preparing food using modern scientific principles. Fifteen techniques of molecular gastronomy are precisely explained, often with an illustrative recipe to accompany them. From smoking, to gelling, to dehydrating, to fermenting, Youssef describes them all, aiming to teach a genuine understanding of food preparation. He explains how to pair food, as well as plate it, for maximum sensory impact. The book itself is a sensory delight with crisp, elegant photos and an easy to navigate layout. While anyone certainly could master the techniques with a little practice, this book is not a casual read. Some of the equipment is highly specialized and/or costly, such as the smoking gun, rotary evaporator and anti-griddle. Certain ingredients like sodium alginate, gum arabic and transglutiminase are obscure, at least to the home cook. For a reader seeking new and broader culinary horizons just come armed with a dash of patience and a pinch of scientific interest%E2%80%94the results ought to be astounding. (Nov.)