This just keeps getting better and better! This isn’t the fluff on food writing that I supposed it might be based on its title which drastically undersells the overall work. This is a great writer, and the translation is generally excellent. It borders frequently on poetry in its descriptions while maintaining a heavy reliance on underlying science. It manages to maintain enough generality to keep a broad audience while still expounding on the science at play. It will eventually sit in a place of pride on my bookshelf on next to Harold McGee who is one of the few writing at this level.
This does an excellent job of debunking some commonly held misconceptions about food and cooking while simultaneously creating a new vocabulary to make future descriptions and work easier to grasp.
Somehow I had been under the misunderstanding that the author was a chef when in fact he is a physical chemist. And the translator is a poet by trade.
I remember reading and quite liking the book. Somehow I didn’t end up referring back to it as much as I imagined I would, though. It might be I don’t need chemistry-of-cooking stuff as much as I figured when I got the book.
Joseph, It’s not the type of book one could directly cook out of certainly. It does do a good job of debunking some commonly held misconceptions about food and sensation. Some portions are very theoretical and there are some suggestions that seem to require some creativity, difficult to obtain equipment/molecules, and advanced knowledge to attempt new dishes. In several places he suggests some falsifiable experiments. It’s great to see some of this type of material begin to enter the mainstream.