 | Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com | Why do recipes call for unsalted butter--and salt? What is a microwave, actually? Are smoked foods raw or cooked? Robert L. Wolke's enlightening and entertaining What Einstein Told His Cook offers answers to these and 127 other questions about everyday kitchen phenomena. Using humor (dubious puns included), Wolke, a bona fide chemistry professor and syndicated Washington Post columnist, has found a way to make his explanations clear and accessible to all: in short, fun. For example, to a query about why cookbooks advise against inserting meat thermometers so that they touch a bone, Wolke says, "I hate warnings without explanations, don't you? Whenever I see an 'open other end' warning on a box, I open the wrong end just to see what will happen. I'm still alive." But he always finally gets down to brass tacks: as most heat transfer in meat is due to its water content, areas around bone remain relatively cool and thus unreliable for gauging overall meat temperature. Organized into basic categories like "Sweet Talk" (questions involving sugar), "Fire and Ice" (we learn why water boils and freezers burn, among other things), and "Tools and Technology" (the best kind of frying pan, for example), the book also provides illustrative recipes like Black Raspberry Coffee Cake (to demonstrate how metrics work in recipes) and Bob's Mahogany Game Hens (showing what brining can do). With technical illustrations, tips, and more, the book offers abundant evidence that learning the whys and hows of cooking can help us enjoy the culinary process almost as much as its results. --Arthur Boehm |
Average Customer Rating:   A Delicious Mouthful of Information Why does European chocolate (or Mexican chocolate, for that matter) taste better than the Nestle and Hershey equivalents? Should roads be paved with molasses rather than asphalt? Why call white chocolate chocolate, when it's not chocolate at all? Does adding salt to water really make it boil faster? What does "partially hydrogenated oil" really mean? How do you defrost foods, make perfect cookies, clean silverware, or avoid blowing things up in the microwave? Wolke's book is the perfect mouthful of information for anyone who has ever spent time in the kitchen and wondered why things work the way they do. Chapter by chapter, Wolke explain some of the questions that have been haunting cooks for years. He uses both scientific and layman terms to explain to all from the novice to the chemistry professor that the kitchen is the ultimate lab for biology, chemistry, and physics. Rather than digging through pages of scientific literature, Wolke provides short, clear answers to every-day questions concerning all aspects of the kitchen and food science, from sugar to salt to kitchen tools.
Rather than limit his explanations to paragraphs of information, Wolke, with the help of food professional Marlene Parrish (his wife), he has you, the reader, put the concepts to the test. Where else to test kitchen science than in the kitchen? His physical examples include everything from Chocolate Velvet Mousse (ever tried mixing chocolate and oil?) to Boiled Live Lobster (should you boil or steam it?). If you've ever questioned the conventions of cooking, Wolke probably has a witty yet clear answer for you in What Einstein Told His Cook: Kitchen Science Explained.
Witty Book for Any Kitchen Lover Have you ever wondered if it is really possible to fry and egg on a hot sidewalk? How about why it takes longer to cook foods at higher altitude? And what the heck does "ultra pasteurized" mean in regard to milk? If these questions have ever crossed your mind, you can find the answers, and the answers to many others, in "What Einstein Told His Cook" by Robert Wolke.
If e=mc2, is WAY over your head, have no fear, Wolke keeps the explanations basic. With witty remarks and answers to more questions about cooking, foods, and kitchen related topics than imaginable, Wolke makes learning about kitchen science easy and enjoyable. He explains all his concepts, ideas, and technology in straightforward English. On top of that, he even throws in recipes here and there, which is definitely an added bonus. The book's nine chapters covered more than imaginable. The first chapter went through everything sweet, from raw sugar to how white chocolate is made. The second chapter covered everything about salts. The third was all about fats, such as what partially hydrogenated means. The four was about kitchen chemicals, such as MSG and cream of tarter. The fifth covered everything about meats from surf (sea foods) to turf (red meat). The sixth covered fire and ice, such as "Can hot water freeze faster than cold water?" (In all honesty, I had heard that hot water froze faster that cold when I was younger, and I just learned that that's incorrect!) The seventh covered a lot about coffee and alcoholic beverages. I learned a lot that I never knew before from that chapter, probably because I've never touched either. The eighth was a really interesting chapter because it was all about the microwave and how it works. It was honestly fascinating and covered ideas I had never thought of. The ninth and final chapter was all about tools used in the kitchen. Once again, I found this chapter very informative. I also found myself wanting to head down to Bed, Bath & Beyond to pick up some of these fun kitchen gadgets, like the olive picker.
I would give this book 5 stars. It was an easy and informative read. Wolke splashed the pages with humor that made it quite a delight to read. I also felt that I learned a lot from the book. I enjoy cooking and I learned some of the answers behind the questions I had. I also learned the answers to many questions I had never thought of before.
Personally, I thought this was a high quality book. I would recommend it to anyone looking to gain some more knowledge about everyday kitchen questions. It turned me into a little bit of a scientist in my own kitchen. I found myself testing out ideas that were in the book. When I cooked my popcorn, I caught myself thinking about what I had learned in the book. I think the knowledge I gained from this entertaining read will stick with me for a while.
**Just in case you were wonder, an egg fries at 158 degrees Fahrenheit. As Wolke says, "that's quite a bit hotter than any reasonably attainable ground temperature." He even tested it himself! To me, he is the "myth buster" of the kitchen. He did several experiments that brought kitchen science to life!
Interesting Information This book is pretty interesting, but I was hoping it would answer some more basic questions about cooking and chemical reactions in baking and cooking. I guess I was hoping for it to be a little more scientific. Great fun to read and packed with information Wolke certainly enjoys food -- but more than that, he enjoys debunking scientific myths and putting the truth out there to his readers. His explanations of the old stories about frying an egg on the sidewalk, using a potato to soak up salt, selecting a caviar spoon, etc. are great fun. They also present science as logical, straightforward, and interesting, as it should be presented. As a popularizer of science, Wolke is hard to top.
He is, sadly, addicted to puns that range from bad to terrible. Easy to Read, Insightfull Book about the Science of Cooking My wife and I have been working out and eating better to shape up and life a healthier life.
With this, I've been studying food and cooking, and was drawn to this book.
It's a fun, quick read, shedding light on the products we cook and cook with. Its insights have already affected the way I cook and prepare food. It's breezy conversation tone and clear cut facts make the book fun and addictive. I'll be buying the follow-up and the author's other books in the near future, and have shared this one with friends and family.
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