Modernist Cuisine; the $625 cookbook. - Page 8

The question is, Matt: how does it compare to Gwyneth Paltrow's cook book?











And don't front...we know you have a copy.

Alright, so we made two things from here today. One was the ham and cheese "omelet" and the other was the parmesan creme brulee. The omelet was cool, and I can see how it is interesting, but I make better omelets the old fashioned way. The creme brulee was actually pretty classic, but cooked in a steam oven rather than a bain marie, and obviously had parmesan. It was fucking fantastic. Both recipes were super easy to follow, and very precise.

basically the same way, without the stripes and with a different filling.

OK, so obviously I haven't read the whole thing, and I have made only a few recipes from it, but I have to say, the more I have it the more I like it. Especially cool is the very beginning of volume 2 where they explain the ins and outs of traditional cooking methods. It really gives you a good handle on why some things can be a pain in the ass to get right, and others are more effective. I've really enjoyed learning why cooking in an oven basically sucks, which is something that isn't unfamiliar to a lot of us who have cooked a good amount, while other methods seem much more consistent.

Other parts of the book, especially the fetishizing of making the ultimate (fill in the blank with comfort food) is kind of boring to me, but that may be because I don't associate those foods with what I really want to eat as much as others do. I think it is going to be popular, though, with a lot of the people getting turned on to food recently, a bit how foodguy talks about the crossover from cocktail culture to wine culture.

Other stuff is cool, but a bit too geeky for me, but whatever. I just don't demand some of the same in depth knowledge others do, but if you have a particular question, like what is the optimal frying batter for a certain outcome, they can be great. I just don't want to wade through all of it.

What I don't really like, because I kind of have a problem with it in general, is the amount of time spent on all of the modern gels and chemicals used to create different textures. I suppose I should like it, as they might give great outcomes, but I have some sort of innate problem in reaching for a jar of sodium hexomatophosphate in order to get just the right temperature on an aspic. Not sure why, maybe it is the proximity to Alice Waters.

Hope that answers some questions, I'll post more thoughts as I get more into it.

I am obviously not Matt, but my understanding of it is that if you get the pan hot while dry, the cells will expand, and then the oil that you add sits on top of it, allowing the item to cook in the oil without sticking to the pan. If the oil is added when the pan is cold, or if the food is added when the pan is cold, when the pan heats up and the cells expand, some of whatever is in the pan is stuck to the pan b/c the cells expanded and trapped it in.

Also, oils tend to get sticky as they are heated, so adding them just before the meat gives better results.

No kidding, I ruined a pan once with olive oil- scorched it, and couldn't clean it off for the life of me.

That looks tasty

there isn't a right or wrong answer to when to heat the oil. you get different effects. think of cooking onions for the most obvious example. if you start the onions in cold oil, they kind of melt into the oil, cook for a long time and become sweeter; if you start them in hot oil, they remain intact, are done more quickly and have a more aggressive flavor. for proteins that are sticking, there are two possible factors: first, you always want to start proteins in a hot pan (i'm trying to think of an exception, there might be one, but I'm drawing a blank). second, proteins will tend to stick until their surface is completely dried ... or as we cooks call it, browned. don't be in too big a hurry to mess with what's in the pan. let it get a good sear. if it doesn't move when you touch it, let it go a little longer (even if you need to reduce the heat a little).

Hey fg- I'm having trouble parsing what they say about braising and using the broiler. Can you read that section, really just page 99 in volume 2, and explain what they are suggesting. They say to put the covered pot on low heat and under the broiler. I'm confused. How do I do this?

no puedo! they recalled their review copies and i'm on the wait list for my own.