Cooking for Geeks: Real Science, Great Hacks, and Good Food (2 page)
Read Cooking for Geeks: Real Science, Great Hacks, and Good Food Online
Authors: Jeff Potter
Tags: #COOKING / Methods / General
Brian Wansink on Cooking Styles
Lydia Walshin on Learning to Cook
Adam Savage on Scientific Testing
Adam Ried on Equipment and Recipes
Jim Clarke on Beverage Pairings
Gail Vance Civille on Taste and Smell
Virginia Utermohlen on Taste Sensitivity
Harold McGee on Solving Food Mysteries
Michael Laiskonis on Pastry Chefs
Martin Lersch on Chemistry in the Kitchen
David Lebovitz on American Cooking
Hervé This on Molecular Gastronomy
Hackers, makers, programmers, engineers, nerds, techies — what we’ll call “geeks” for the rest of the book (deal with it) — we’re a creative lot who don’t like to be told what to do. We’d rather be handed a box full of toys or random electronic components, or yarn, or whatever, and let loose to play.
But something happens to some geeks when handed a box full of spatulas, whisks, and sugar. Lockup. Fear. Foreign feelings associated with public speaking, or worse,
coulrophobia
. If you’re this type, this book is for you.
Then there’s another type of geek: the über-nerd, who’s unafraid to try anything...maybe a bit
too
unafraid, but hasn’t had that Darwin Award moment (yet). The type of geek who is either “all on or all off,” who addresses every aspect of the perfect cup of coffee, down to measuring the pressure with which the grinds are tamped into the espresso machine’s portafilter. This kind of geek is always on the search for the next bit of knowledge. If you’re this type, this book will inspire you.
And then there’s everyone else: the everyday geek, normal, inquisitive, and looking to have more fun in the kitchen. Maybe you’re comfortable in the kitchen and would like new ideas, or perhaps you’re not quite sure where to start but are ready to give it a go. This book will show you easy ways of trying new things.
Regardless of which type of geek you are, as long as you have “the courage of your convictions” to pick up the spatula and try, you’ll do fine. The goal of this book is to point out new ways of thinking about the tools in that box full of kitchen gear.
Of course, I have plenty of tips and secrets to share (“spill the beans,” as they say), so I hope you’ll buy this book and take it home with you. Scribble notes in the margins about bits that you like (or just star — upvote? — those paragraphs). Write in questions on things that leave you perplexed or wondering. Learning to cook is about curiosity, learning to ask questions, and figuring out how to answer those questions.
When you’re done with the book, pass it along to a friend (although my publisher would rather you buy that friend a new copy!). If you’ve received this book from a friend, I hope it’s because they think you’ll enjoy it and not because your cooking is lousy. Cooking is about community, and sharing knowledge and food is one of the best ways to build community.
If you’re the (N+1)
th
person to have received this book — if it’s dog-eared, worn, and beat up, and by the time you’re done with it there aren’t any more spots left to write comments in the margins — then I have a favor to ask of you: send me the marked-up book when you’re done. In return, I’ll send you back something random (possibly only pseudorandom). See the book’s companion website for information on how to do this: