3 ms·
This is ubiquitous in baking at least. Also in confectionery where phase changes and structures are important (the canonical example being tempering). The extre
by joshvm 2y ago
This is ubiquitous in baking at least. Also in confectionery where phase changes and structures are important (the canonical example being tempering). The extreme is probably Modernist cuisine.
You can look at the book "ratio" which presents a small number of standard recipes as proportions, with some hints for modification. I'd also recommend Lateral Cooking which describes recipes in terms of spectrums of ingredient variation or addition, usually starting with the simplest form. Finally there's a lot of interest in physics for coffee brewing, particularly pourover, but I'm somewhat skeptical of the rigour in that field and how much of it translates to better tasting cups.
- leoc 2y agoLet me linkbot those books and authors: Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking by Michael Ruhlman, 2010, ISBN 978-1416571728 https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Ratio/Michael-Ruhlman/Ruhlmans-Ratios/9781416571728 https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Ratio/Michael-Ruhlman... . There's also a mixed-drinks companion book from 2023, The Book of Cocktail Ratios: The Surprising Simplicity of Classic Cocktails with ISBN 978-1668003398: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Book-of-Cocktail-Ratios/Michael-Ruhlman/Ruhlmans-Ratios/9781668003398 https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Book-of-Cocktail-... https://ruhlman.com/ https://ruhlman.com/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Ruhlman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Ruhlman Lateral Cooking: One Dish Leads to Another by Niki Segnit, 2019, ISBN 978-1635572643 (978-1635572643 US ed.) https://www.nikisegnit.com/lateral-cooking https://www.nikisegnit.com/lateral-cooking . Seems to lean on Segnit's prevous book, 2010's The Flavour Thesaurus, ISBN 978-0747599777 (978-1608198740 2012 US ed.): https://www.nikisegnit.com/the-flavour-thesaurus https://www.nikisegnit.com/the-flavour-thesaurus .
- joshvm 2y agoTo add: The Physics of Filter Coffee: https://www.scottrao.com/products/physics-of-filter-coffee-jonathan-gagne https://www.scottrao.com/products/physics-of-filter-coffee-j..., 2021 ISBN 978-0578246086 https://coffeeadastra.com/ https://coffeeadastra.com/ Far as I can tell, Jonathan Gagné doesn't have a dedicated page on his website, it's hosted by Scott Rao. His blog does have a lot of interesting experimental work on the physics which led to the book. As I mentioned, I think this is an interesting academic piece which is at least supplemented by some genuine research. In practice, I feel like getting better pourover is 90% about finding beans that you like, buying a quality grinder and using them while fresh. For confectionery, Chocolates and Confections (Greweling, Culinary Institute of America), 2013, ISBN 978-1-118-76467-1 is a fun book. It's quite pricey but you can pick up used copies now and again. It's a technical book and requires a lot of equipment that the average home cook doesn't have, but I would consider it fairly authoritative for looking up how chocolate things are made (and even discusses considerations for setting up a business). Most CIA books are pretty good on the practical side and they tend to be very exact with ingredients (almost always by weight). https://www.wiley.com/en-gb/Chocolates+and+Confections%3A+Formula%2C+Theory%2C+and+Technique+for+the+Artisan+Confectioner%2C+2nd+Edition-p-9781118764671 https://www.wiley.com/en-gb/Chocolates+and+Confections%3A+Fo...