"As Serious Eats's culinary nerd-in-residence, J. Kenji López-Alt has pondered [how to pan-fry a steak with a charred crust and an interior that's perfectly medium-rare from edge to edge when you cut into it] and more. In [this book], Kenji focuses on the science behind beloved American dishes, delving into the interactions between heat, energy, and molecules that create great food. Kenji shows that often, conventional methods don't work that well,...

A complete guide to healthy eating, including advice for using food as medicine and real-life examples of how improved nutrition can remedy health problems, this guide is an authoritative reference tool that is perfect for families. Its unique design presents nutritional theory and practical applications side-by-side with full-color photographs and charts that analyze every aspect of what you eat. It uses real case studies to illustrate every aspect...

Breaking the universe of ingredients down to 99 essential flavors, the author suggests classic and less well-known pairings for each, grouping almost 1,000 entries into flavor families.

"Based on the popular Harvard University and TEDx course, Science and Cooking explores the scientific basis of why recipes work. The spectacular culinary creations of modern cuisine are the stuff of countless articles and social media feeds. But to a scientist they are also perfect pedagogical explorations into the basic scientific principles of cooking. In Science and Cooking, Harvard professors Michael Brenner, Pia Sörensen, and David Weitz bring...

"When it comes to food safety and germs, there are as many common questions as there are misconceptions. And yet there has never been a book that clearly examines the science behind these important issues--until now. In Did You Just Eat That? food scientists Paul Dawson and Brian Sheldon take readers into the lab to show, for example, how they determine the amount of bacteria that gets transferred by sharing utensils or how many microbes live on restaurant...

"When you're cooking, you're a chemist! Every time you follow or modify a recipe you are experimenting with acids and bases, emulsions and suspensions, gels and foams. In your kitchen you denature proteins, crystallize compounds, react enzymes with substrates, and nurture desired microbial life while suppressing harmful microbes. And unlike in a laboratory, you can eat your experiments to verify your hypotheses. In Culinary Reactions, author Simon...