Cooking for Geeks: Real Science, Great Hacks, and Good Food (74 page)
Read Cooking for Geeks: Real Science, Great Hacks, and Good Food Online
Authors: Jeff Potter
Tags: #COOKING / Methods / General
CURIOSITY AND THE JOY OF DISCOVERING HOW SOMETHING WORKS ARE TWO OF A GEEK’S DEFINING CHARACTERISTICS.
I can think of very few other things that have brought me as much joy as learning to cook and providing for others. It scratches the same neurons that solving a puzzle or producing a brilliant piece of code does, but tastes better and often takes less time — not to mention that you can do it for other people and make them happy, too!
Speaking of puzzles, here’s how to solve the 12-coin problem I gave in the first chapter. Start with coins 1–4 on the left side and 5–8 on the right side. If the scale registers them as equal, place 9 and 10 on the left and 11 and 1 on the right side. If equal, 12 is the bad one. If not equal, remove 11 and 1 and move 10 to where 11 was. If the scale remains in the same unbalanced position, 9 is the bad one. If the scale is balanced, 11 is the bad one. And if the scale flips to the other side, 10 is the bad one. The trick is to realize that a balance scale can give you not two but three bits of information: <, =, and >, as opposed to = and !=. I’ll leave solving the problem of the starting positions of 1–4 and 5–8 being unequal for you.
I hope that by now the puzzle that is learning to cook has been replaced with the joy of understanding the basic mechanics of the system. True, there are still many more puzzles left to understand, but the core principles of cooking can actually be summed up in a single page (see next page).
Whatever your reasons for learning to cook — health, financial, social, giving, romantic — and whatever your style, cooking should be fun. I hope you’ve found this book useful in showing you ways to bring a certain playfulness to food, both inside and outside the kitchen.
Happy cooking!
Manage expectations and perceptions.
When cooking for someone, expectations and perceptions are just as important as the objective quality of the dish. Only you, as the cook, will know what it was supposed to be. If the chocolate soufflé falls, call it a fallen chocolate cake, toss some berries on top, and ship it.
Use quality ingredients.
The number one predictor of a great tasting meal is great-tasting produce and ingredients. Tomatoes should taste like tomatoes, avocados should be soft and creamy, and apples should have their distinctive crisp.
Create harmony and balance.
Harmony is found in combining compatible ingredients. Balance is found in adjusting sweetness and sourness (acids) and seasoning correctly with salt. Start with good produce, taste it, and adjust with an acid (vinegar, lemon juice) and salt.
Practice food safety.
When working in the kitchen, be mindful of the growing conditions for pathogens. Avoid cross-contamination by washing your hands. Frequently. Foodborne illness isn’t fun, but it’s usually the secondary complications for at-risk populations that are life-threatening.
Eat whole foods.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with processed foods, but they tend to be higher in salt, sugar, and fat. Food additives aren’t in and of themselves evil, but like anything, too much — or not enough — can be problematic because of what our body does or doesn’t do in response.
Measure temperatures, not time.
Proteins in meats and starches in grains undergo physical reactions at certain temperatures, regardless of whether they’re boiled, grilled, or sautéed. A 4 lb chicken will cook faster than a 6 lb chicken, but both will be done at the same temperature. Timers are useful, but internal temperature tells you a lot more.
Add flavor and aroma with browning reactions.
When sugars caramelize (for sucrose, starting at around 340°F / 171°C) and proteins undergo Maillard reactions (starting at around 310°F / 155°C), they break down and form hundreds of new compounds. For some reason, we like the way those compounds smell.
Pay attention to the details when baking.
Use weight instead of volume measurements, and pay attention to the various variables in play; gluten levels, moisture content, and pH levels especially. Baking is a great place for A/B experimentation: the ingredients are cheap, relatively consistent, and easy to foist off onto coworkers trying to lose weight (muhahaha).
Experiment!
If you’re not sure how to do something, take a guess. If you aren’t sure which way to do something, try both. One way will probably work better, and you’ll learn something in the process. Worst case, you can always order pizza. Have fun, be curious, but use your common sense and be safe.
Jeff Potter
has done the cubicle thing, the startup thing, and the entrepreneur thing, and through it all maintained his sanity by cooking for friends. He studied computer science and visual art at Brown University.