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What Einstein Told His Cook: Kitchen Science Explained
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 641.5
EAN: 9780393011838
Edition: 1
ISBN: 0393011836
Label: W. W. Norton & Company
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 350
Publication Date: 2002-05
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Studio: W. W. Norton & Company
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Editorial Review:
Why do recipes call for unsalted butter--and salt? What is a microwave, actually? Are smoked foods raw or cooked? Robert L. Wolke's enlightening and entertaining What Einstein Told His Cook offers answers to these and 127 other questions about everyday kitchen phenomena. Using humor (dubious puns included), Wolke, a bona fide chemistry professor and syndicated Washington Post columnist, has found a way to make his explanations clear and accessible to all: in short, fun. For example, to a query about why cookbooks advise against inserting meat thermometers so that they touch a bone, Wolke says, "I hate warnings without explanations, don't you? Whenever I see an 'open other end' warning on a box, I open the wrong end just to see what will happen. I'm still alive." But he always finally gets down to brass tacks: as most heat transfer in meat is due to its water content, areas around bone remain relatively cool and thus unreliable for gauging overall meat temperature.
Organized into basic categories like "Sweet Talk" (questions involving sugar), "Fire and Ice" (we learn why water boils and freezers burn, among other things), and "Tools and Technology" (the best kind of frying pan, for example), the book also provides illustrative recipes like Black Raspberry Coffee Cake (to demonstrate how metrics work in recipes) and Bob's Mahogany Game Hens (showing what brining can do). With technical illustrations, tips, and more, the book offers abundant evidence that learning the whys and hows of cooking can help us enjoy the culinary process almost as much as its results. --Arthur Boehm
Einstein's cook was lucky. But you, too, can have a scientist in your kitchen: Robert L. Wolke. Does the alcohol really boil off when we cook with wine? Are smoked foods raw or cooked? Are green potatoes poisonous? With the reliability that only a scientist can provide, Robert L. Wolke provides plain-talk explanations of kitchen mysteries with a liberal seasoning of wit. A professor of chemistry and a lifelong gastronome, he has answered hundreds of questions about food and cooking in his syndicated Washington Post column, "Food 101." Organized into basic categories for easy reference, What Einstein Told His Cook contains more than 130 lucid explanations of kitchen phenomena involving starches and sugars, salts, fats, meats and fish, heat and cold, cooking equipment, and more. Along the way, Wolke debunks some widely held myths about foods and cooking. Whether kept in the kitchen or on the reference shelf, What Einstein Told His Cook will be a friendly scientist at your elbow. 20 illustrations.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating: - No Reason to Invoke Einstein
This book is REALLY interesting! So far, I've just skipped around from section to section but soon will inevitably read it from cover to cover and love it all.
So far though, I see absolutely no rhyme or reason why the name Einstein was used at all in the book title. It just seemed like a weird marketing gimmick.
The book is good and stands on it's own. There's no need to tie it to the genius of Einstein. Or maybe I just missed the point....
Rating:  - Want more?
Full of trivia as well as little morsels of fact everyone wonders about. Completely worth the price, it just so happens we have all new facts and ideas!
Rating: - Informative and easy read
I found this book to be a very easy and entertaining read. The author did a very good job of making it entertaining with some anecdotes and tongue in cheek writing style. It was also very informative. If you are a fan of Alton Brown style of delivery, you will probably enjoy this book.
Rating: - Einstein Sure Knew a Lot!
The headmaster at the school where I teach recommended this book for my domestic arts class and it has been a great source of information - the kind you don't normally find in the usual textbooks. We have enjoyed learning all the ends and outs of information that is not normally covered in cooking classes. Plus the book is divided into sections with very creative titles; and with the use of well-placed humor, this book is not only very informative but very entertaining!
Rating: - Funny and interesting cooking facts
My husband and I are both engineers and enjoy cooking. This book appealed to us and is a wonderful explanation of the science behind the kitchen. The author has a certain humor, which keeps the book interesting, and explains details well, even for non-technical people. I would recommend it as an addition to your kitchen.
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