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Hervé This
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Molecular Gastronomy: Exploring the Science of Flavor (Arts and Traditions of the Table Perspectives on Culinary History) Kindle Edition

by Hervé This (Author), Malcolm DeBevoise (Translator) Format: Kindle Edition
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 434 ratings
See all formats and editions

“Taking kitchen science to a whole new (molecular) level, Hervé This is changing the way France---and the world—cooks.”—Gourmet
 
Bringing the instruments and experimental techniques of the laboratory into the kitchen, Hervé This—international celebrity and founder of molecular gastronomy—uses recent research in the chemistry, physics, and biology of food to challenge traditional ideas about cooking and eating. What he discovers will entertain, instruct, and intrigue cooks, gourmets, and scientists alike.

Molecular Gastronomy is filled with practical tips, provocative suggestions, and penetrating insights. This begins by reexamining and debunking a variety of time-honored rules and dictums about cooking and presents new and improved ways of preparing a variety of dishes from quiches and quenelles to steak and hard-boiled eggs. Looking to the future, This imagines new cooking methods and proposes novel dishes. A chocolate mousse without eggs? A flourless chocolate cake baked in the microwave? Molecular Gastronomy explains how to make them. This also shows us how to cook perfect French fries, why a soufflé rises and falls, how long to cool champagne, when to season a steak, the right way to cook pasta, how the shape of a wine glass affects the taste of wine, why chocolate turns white, and how salt modifies tastes.
 
“A captivating little book.”—Economist
 
“This book, praiseworthy for its scientific rigor, will hold a special appeal for anyone who relishes the debunking of culinary myths.”—Saveur
 
“Will broaden the way you think about food.”—The New York Sun

“A wonderful book . . . it will appeal to anyone with an interest in the science of cooking.”—O Chef

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  1. Part of series
    Arts and Traditions of the Table: Perspectives on Culinary History
  2. Print length
    393 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publisher
    Columbia University Press
  6. Publication date
    January 4, 2006
  7. File size
    1776 KB
  8. Page Flip
    Enabled
  9. Word Wise
    Enabled
  10. Enhanced typesetting
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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.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B007TADJPC
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Columbia University Press; Illustrated edition (January 4, 2006)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 4, 2006
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1776 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 393 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 434 ratings

About the author

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Hervé This

Hervé This

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Hervé This is a physical chemist of the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique in Paris. One of the two founders of the science called molecular gastronomy, he is the author of Columbia's Kitchen Mysteries: Revealing the Science of Cooking and of several other books on food and cooking. He is a monthly contributor to Pour la Science, the French-language edition of Scientific American.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
434 global ratings
Bad packaging bent the book.
3 Stars
Bad packaging bent the book.
I bought this for my sister as a present and when it came i found that a good amount of the pages where bent from poor packaging. It came in with two other items and was clearly just thrown in with them. Other than that the book seems well written and over all a good read. Unfortunately it came in bad condition.
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Top reviews from the United States

anonymous
5.0 out of 5 stars Much more interesting and readible than the title might suggest
Reviewed in the United States on August 25, 2015
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For the casual or unprofessional reader a title like Molucular Gastronomy has the allure of eating a bowl of stewed prunes. It sounds like a drudge, but physical chemist author Hervé This on the staff of the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique in Paris, applies science to questions of food, cooking and eating and keeps it fascinating. He applies science to questions of why does a tannic wine taste awful when paired with a salad tossed with an acidic dressing, does beef marinade better in a white or red wine, and the best ways to soften lentils. He breaks his book up into four parts. Part one covers kitchen issues and he dissects many old saws of cooking either explaining why the actually work or showing why they don’t. Part two looks at flavor and how it works. In part three he applies science to issues such as bread baking, lumps in food, foams, Spanish Hams and foie gras. Part 4 addresses how the scince of gastronomy will impact the cuisine of tomorrow. He breaks the book up into digestible little bits – the 361 page book contains 101 subparts and subtracting out the introductions, the subparts run a page or two. Here and there they get a little technical but the majority are accessible to nontechnical reader while still of interest to the technical. Anyone interested in food, cooking or eating should find this book a fun read.
28 people found this helpful
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Dr. John T. Webb
5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful collection of answers to esoteric questions
Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2017
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A wonderful collection of answers to esoteric questions, some of which I had received from my children when they began cooking in their early years, (4-9 years old) and I have to admit that I did not know a lot of the correct answers. I wish that I had deard of this book, or that it was even available 40 years ago. The explanations are in relatively basic English, aside from the proper names of nerves and chemical compounds.

I would not recommend this book for anyone looking for simplistic half-answers. The explanations do require some education in several areas of science, as well as Senior high-school English.

I heartily recommend it to anyone who has a serious curiosity about why foods smell, feel, and/or taste good, bad, or indifferent.
22 people found this helpful
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A. Barbosa
4.0 out of 5 stars A bit too scientific - and very little practical tips ...
Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2015
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A bit too scientific - and very little practical tips and techniques, much less recipes. Still interesting, though, since it does go into the science of cooking.
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Mo
5.0 out of 5 stars For the scientist-cook
Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2008
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After reading the Italian translation a coupe of years ago, I was so much hoping for an English translation, and here it is; and it's brilliant! It's quite one thing to follow recipes and follow instructions, and quite another to understand at a physico-chemical level WHY you need to do things in a certain way. As a scientisty person- really, just as a curious person- you want to know what's happening to the meat that makes it tender and flavorful, or the cake just that right consistency.

I guess the philosophy that best suits me is to understand the science so well that the art is set free to explore. If you understand WHY, you can also figure out HOW to change it. And more importantly for someone like me, you also know WHAT to do when you make mistakes ;)

What makes the book particularly worth the $$ is the extent of the science- right down to the molecular basis of taste.

If I had a complaint, it would be that the articles are WAY too short. This book seems like the summary of what would be the Vedas of food science.
3 people found this helpful
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Lynn Hoffman, author:Radiation Days: A Comedy
3.0 out of 5 stars interestng, but seriously flawed
Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2008
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This book is one of many that points to the relationship between science and the culinary arts: to the physical and chemical magician behind the curtain of delight. A book that attempts to do that has certain responsibilities and the greatest of these may be accuracy. I lost count of the mistakes, but some of the simplest are the temperature conversions from celcius to fahrenheit. The cook attempting any of the procedures in the book should double-check the temperatures recommended and the fahrenheit-based cook should just beware.
The other important duty of such a book is clarity. Molecular Gastronomy isn't so much translated from the French as it transcribed by machine. Very often it's impossible to figure out through the haze of translation what the author is actually recommending.
On a lesser level, one could ask for a bit of originality and this book does have a bit. The level of ambition is also lamentably low: does anyone really think that putting a spoon in a champagne bottle delays the decarbonation? Are blowing and stirring the only methods of cooling over-hot coffee? How concerned are you that the yolk of your hard-boiled egg be centered in the white?
For most readers, Harold McGee's splendid  On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen  is vastly superior.
40 people found this helpful
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Nick noyes
5.0 out of 5 stars Half price books never disappoint
Reviewed in the United States on January 20, 2023
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As a cook I'm always looking to learn, this book is great and I got a quality used copy from half price book. I trust I will get good products from them.
One person found this helpful
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Beebe
5.0 out of 5 stars It's THE book on cooking for people who believe in science
Reviewed in the United States on May 29, 2020
Verified Purchase
I don't know what I can say about Herve This's work that hasn't already been said by a thousand other people. This book may not give you all the time-tested techniques for making traditional dishes, but it will cut through the BS of common kitchen myths by showing you how This has tested various cooking processes in an attempt to nail down what's happening when we prepare food and how to figure out objectively better methods.
17 people found this helpful
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Lourdes
2.0 out of 5 stars Definitely the science of food
Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2021
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I liked the idea of exploring the science behind cooking but I felt this was too much science and I lost interest halfway through the book. When I bought the book, I had no idea what I would be reading, but it wasn’t what I expected.
3 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Nieves
5.0 out of 5 stars fantástico
Reviewed in Spain on March 25, 2024
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un libro impecable, perfectamente ordenado y estructurado, idóneo para esas personas que tengan curiosidad por la cocina y la gastronomía desde una perspectiva diferente y más ambiciosa
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Nicolò M.
4.0 out of 5 stars Un libro che ogni chimico deve avere nella libreria
Reviewed in Italy on January 11, 2021
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Diciamo che è un libro in cui si fa debunking ovvero si sbugiardano diverse regole dettate dal passato e dicerie sulla cucina, ma si presentano anche nuove conoscenze da cui si può trarre molto per migliorare nella preparazioni di piatti noti e non solo. Interessante come si parli anche della fisiologia del sapore e di come il cervello ci faccia percepire il gusto dei vari cibi.
Portare gli strumenti e le tecniche di un laboratorio di chimica in cucina penso sia la cosa di cui ogni cuoco, chef e scienziato debba fare. Perché tutto è Chimica. Ed è fantastico.
One person found this helpful
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Gabriel Dieger Silva
5.0 out of 5 stars Preciso
Reviewed in Brazil on March 26, 2018
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Muitas das informações contidas no texto são baseadas em pesquisas científicas, dando um caráter preciso às mesmas. Como estudante de gastronomia, estou acostumado a livros com informações empíricas. Nunca antes havia encontrado um livro com essa quantidade de detalhamento. Absolutamente imprescindível para um admirador da ciência e gastronomia.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Very well written and excellent book, definitely something for someone who wants to ...
Reviewed in Canada on March 31, 2017
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Very well written and excellent book, definitely something for someone who wants to know more about the scientific aspects of cooking.
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Guru Charan
5.0 out of 5 stars Must have!!
Reviewed in India on July 12, 2017
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Really useful book! Definitely recommended!!!😊👍👍👌👌
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Guru Charan
5.0 out of 5 stars Must have!!
Reviewed in India on July 12, 2017
Really useful book! Definitely recommended!!!😊👍👍👌👌
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