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Cooking For Geeks 312

jsuda writes "You've got to have a lot of confidence and nerve to write and try to sell a nearly 400 page book on cooking to the take-out pizza and cola set. No cookbook is likely to turn many geeks into chefs or take them away from their computer screens. However, even though Cooking for Geeks contains a large number of recipes, it is not a conventional cookbook but a scientific explanation of the how and why of cooking which will certainly appeal to that group, as well as to cooking professionals and intellectually curious others." Read on for the rest of jsuda's review.
Cooking for Geeks: Real Science, Great Hacks, and Good Food
author Jeff Potter
pages 432
publisher O'Reilly Media
rating 9/10
reviewer jsuda
ISBN 0596805888
summary an excellent and intriguing resource for anyone who wants to experiment with cooking
The author is a geek himself and brings "geek-like" approaches to the subject matter - deep intellectual curiosity, affinity for details, appreciation of problem solving and hacking, scientific method, and a love of technology. What is even better is his filtering of cooking concepts by a computer coder's framework, analogizing recipes to executable code, viewing of ingredients as inputs and as variables, running processes over and over in a logical manner to test and improve outcomes. This is not a mere literary shoe-horning of cooking concepts into a coder's framework but an ingenuous approach to the topics that should loudly resonate with geeks.

The subject matter includes selecting and using kitchen and cooking hardware; prepping inventory; calibrating equipment (especially your oven, using sugar); understanding tastes and smells; the fundamental difference between cooking and baking (and the personality types which gravitate to one form or the other); the importance of gluten and the three major types of leavening (biological, chemical, and mechanical); the types of cooking; using time and temperatures; how to use air as a tool; the chemistry of food combinations; and very thorough and detailed discussions of food handling and safety. The book is organized into seven chapters and includes an appendix dealing with cooking for people with allergies. The recipes are indexed in the front of the book.

The major conventional flavor types of salt, sugar, acids, and alcohol have been supplemented by modern industrial elements - E- Numbered (a Dewey decimal system-like index) additives, colloids, gels, foams, and other yummy things! All are itemized, charted, and explained in the chapter entitled "Playing with Chemistry." A whole chapter (and an interview with mathematician, Douglas Baldwin) is devoted to the latest and greatest food preparation technique - sous vide - cooking food in a temperature-controlled water bath.

Threaded through the sections are short sidebar interviews of mostly computer and techie types who are serious cooks or involved in the food industry. Some of these contributors are Adam Savage (of Myth Busters fame) on scientific technique, Tim O'Reilly (CEO of the book's publisher) on scones and jam, Nathan Myhrvold, on Moderist cuisine, and others. Other interviews deal with taste sensitivities, food mysteries, industrial hardware, pastry chef insights, and many more. There is an insightful section just on knives and how to use and care for them.

Anyone who is interested in cooking will learn from this book. I now pay attention to things I've never heard of before: browning methods like caramelization and the Maillard processes, savory as a major taste, transglutaminase (a.k.a. meat glue), for example. There is stuff I didn't really want to know - "if you've eaten fish you've eaten worms."

Although one of the strengths of the book is the systematic organization, there are useful tips spread throughout. For example, keeping a pizza stone permanently in your oven will help even out heat distribution; storing vegetables correctly requires knowing whether they admit ethylene gas or not (a chart is included); you can test your smell sensitivity profile by using a professional scratch and sniff test kit obtainable from the University of Pennsylvania. Whatever specialized information not contained in the book is referenced to external sources, especially on the Internet.

If all of this is not stimulus enough for the geek crowd, how about learning how you can spectacularly kill yourself cooking with dry ice, liquid nitrogen, blowtorches, and especially an electrocuted hotdog. Cool! This is mad scientist stuff. Engineering-minded types can learn how to make their own ice cream machine from Legos. You'll also learn how NOT to kill your guests with bacteria and other toxins.

The production is nicely done with easily readable text, plentiful drawings and charts, color captions, and many other quality production features. Weights are based in both grams and US volume-based measurements.

You can purchase Cooking for Geeks: Real Science, Great Hacks, and Good Food from amazon.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.

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Cooking For Geeks

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  • by QuietLagoon ( 813062 ) on Wednesday September 08, 2010 @02:49PM (#33511656)
    A site [cookingforengineers.com] in a similar vein.
  • by Rob the Bold ( 788862 ) on Wednesday September 08, 2010 @03:11PM (#33511984)
    For anyone interested in this sort of book, I'd also recommend Cookwise: The Hows & Whys of Successful Cooking [amazon.com] by Shirley O. Corriher. Not nearly as geeky as this book sounds, but it does incorporate a great deal of science into nearly every recipe. And it does it in a way that probably won't scare off non-geeks, either.
  • Re:The staples (Score:4, Interesting)

    by stonewallred ( 1465497 ) on Wednesday September 08, 2010 @03:13PM (#33512008)
    I concur, as the deer roast, slowly being braised in my oven with potatoes, mushrooms, carrots, onion and celery will attest. And when I pull it out, I will pop in some buttermilk biscuits I made a couple of weeks ago, and froze before cooking them, into the oven to quickly cook to go with my dinner. Protip for geeks, learn to cook a few really good, yet complicated looking meals. There are many simple recipes that look and taste as though you slaved for hours to make. And yes, there are really women in the world, and yes, a well cooked meal impresses them far more than how well you can program, even if the ability of program impresses them.
  • Re:The staples (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Abstrackt ( 609015 ) on Wednesday September 08, 2010 @03:17PM (#33512058)

    That's just gay. Not Geek.

    Yes, cooking really is joyful.

    To echo Hatta's sentiment, some of us like to extend our attention to detail beyond the geek cave. The engine that is your brain is only as good as the fuel you give it so knowing how to cook properly is an important skill.

  • by spun ( 1352 ) <loverevolutionary@@@yahoo...com> on Wednesday September 08, 2010 @03:42PM (#33512416) Journal

    Any geek who aspires to cook good food would do well to read the magazine, Cook's Illustrated and watch the PBS series America's Test Kitchen, that puts out the magazine. This is a nonprofit foundation, the magazine has no ads, like Consumer Reports. They perform scientific experiments on recipes. In a typical article, they will find a classic recipe, analyze the many variations, and explain what commonly goes wrong. They will then attempt to correct the flaws, turning to their food scientists for explanations of things like the Maillard reaction and why adding veal makes a meatloaf jucier (it's the gelatin in veal forming a matrix that keeps water from escaping.) They also perform unbiased reviews of equipment that will let you know, for instance, which cheap nonstick skillet outperforms all the expensive ones.

    I've found the scientific approach helpful in my own cooking, not just when recreating the recipes given. Once you know how the Maillard reaction works, for instance, you know why searing meat first and then finishing is not as good as starting at a low temperature and finishing at a high one. Once you understand why Brassicas respond well to a high, dry heat you will never boil brussel sprouts or cauliflower again.

  • Re:The staples (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 08, 2010 @03:55PM (#33512590)

    And yes, there are really women in the world, and yes, a well cooked meal impresses them far more than how well you can program, even if the ability of program impresses them.

    And I agree - a scant few talents makes you more appealing to the opposite sex then being able to throw down like Morimoto in the kitchen.

    Certainly any talent helps, but I think you both overstate cooking. I love food and cook extremely well. Food and cooking is an interest I've shared with most women I've dated, including my ex wife and my current fling. However does it help that much? Nope. I'd put things like dressing well, holding a good conversation and maybe even dancing ahead of cooking. You should learn to cook well enough to feed yourself. Not being able to take care of yourself isn't sexy, but throwing a kick ass dinner party isn't going to get you laid. However, it's insanely fun, if you like that kind of thing. Having fun is very appealing to the opposite sex. Still, if you aren't into cooking as a hobby, learning to cook a fancy meal isn't going to be very impressive.

  • Re:The staples (Score:4, Interesting)

    by dubbreak ( 623656 ) on Wednesday September 08, 2010 @04:08PM (#33512792)

    That's just gay. Not Geek.

    Quite the contrary. The easiest way into a woman's pants is often through her stomach.

    Being able to cook an impressive meal is, well, impressive to most women. That combined with a healthy wage indicates and ability to take care of her. If you are not entirely unattractive (which could be interpreted as poor gene stock) and can manage basic hygiene then getting her clothes off should not be difficult at all (she may even initiate). As long as you don't thoroughly disappoint her in the bedroom she'll want to marry you.

    Anecdotally I've found that after cooking for female friends they show a greater interest in me regardless of relationship status. Women like men who can cook.

  • Re:The staples (Score:3, Interesting)

    by BonquiquiShiquavius ( 1598579 ) on Wednesday September 08, 2010 @06:36PM (#33514802) Journal
    Here Here! I started cooking after the beginning of my marriage, and all I had was a four inch Ikea knife and an old cast iron skillet. I made some of the best meals I've ever made. Now almost five years later, with much nicer knives and cooking supplies, I can make the same meals much quicker, but only increased experience makes them any better.

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