Cooking for Geeks: Real Science, Great Hacks, and Good Food
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Cooking for Geeks: Real Science, Great Hacks, and Good Food
Jeff Potter
Editor
Laurel Ruma
Editor
Brian Sawyer
Copyright © 2010 Jeff Potter
Cooking for Geeks
by Jeff Potter
All rights reserved.
Published by O’Reilly Media, Inc., 1005 Gravenstein Highway North, Sebastopol, CA 95472.
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Editors: Brian Sawyer and Laurel R.T. Ruma
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Copyeditor: Rachel Head
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Indexer: Lucie Haskins
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Interior Designer: Edie Freedman
Illustrator: Aaron Double
Printing History:
July 2010: First Edition.
The O’Reilly logo is a registered trademark of O’Reilly Media, Inc. The Cooking for Geeks cover image and related trade dress are trademarks of O’Reilly Media, Inc. The phrase "Cooking for Geeks" is a trademark of Atof Inc.
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Back cover photograph by Matthew Hrudka.
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Recipe Index
Breakfast
The 30-Minute Scrambled Egg
The 60-Minute Slow-Cooked Egg
Hard-Cooked Eggs, Shock and Awe Method
Oven-Poached Eggs
Buttermilk Pancakes
Eigen Pancakes: The Hello, World! of Recipes
Whipped Cream
Tim O’Reilly’s Scone Recipe
Yeast Waffles
Drinks
The Easier, Cheaper Version of "The $10,000 Gin and Tonic"
Ginger Lemon Soda
Hot Chocolate
Fat-Washing Alcohols: Butter-Infused Rum, Bacon-Infused Bourbon
Oaxacan Drinking Chocolate
Regan’s Orange Bitters No. 5
Sage Rush: Gin, Sage, and Grapefruit Juice
Breads
Bread—Traditional Method
Bread—No-Knead Method
Pizza Dough—No-Knead Method
Pizza Dough—Yeast-Free Method
Appetizers and Sides
158°F / 70°C: Vegetable Starches Break Down
158°F / 70°C: Vegetable Starches Break Down
Reading Between the Lines
Quick-Steamed Asparagus
Seasonal Method
Rosemary Mashed Potatoes
Salmon Gravlax
Sautéed Carrots
Sautéed Greens
Scallop Ceviche
Salty
310°F / 154°C: Maillard Reactions Become Noticeable
Squid Bruschetta
Salads
Seasonal Method
Tomato Basil Mozzarella Salad
Watermelon and Feta Cheese Salad
Soups
Simple Beef Stew
Butternut Squash Soup (Fall)
Butternut Squash, Apple, and Vadouvan Soup
Drip-Filtered Consommé
Reading Between the Lines
Gazpacho (Summer)
Reading Between the Lines
Aki Kamozawa and Alex Talbot’s Sweet Corn and Miso Soup
White Bean and Garlic Soup (Winter)
Reading Between the Lines
Sauces and Marinades
Béchamel Sauce (White Sauce)
Foamed Scrambled Eggs
Gravy
Simple Greek-Style Marinade
Simple Japanese-Style Marinade
Soy Ginger Marinade
Velouté Sauce
Simple White Wine and Cheese Sauce
Mains
48-Hour Brisket
Beef Steak Tips
Butterflied Chicken, Broiled and Roasted
Simple Cheeseburger
Duck Confit Sugo
Duck Confit
Lemony Quinoa and Asparagus with Shrimp Scampi
Mac ’n Cheese
Oven-Cooked Barbeque Ribs
Pork Chops Stuffed with Cheddar Cheese and Poblano Peppers
Rice Congee
Salmon Poached in Olive Oil
Salt-Roasted Fish
Seared Scallops
Simple Seared Steak
Seared Tuna with Cumin and Salt
Slow-Cooked Short Ribs
Desserts
30-Second Chocolate Cake
Chocolate Port Cake
One-Bowl Chocolate Cake
Pumpkin Cake
Candied Orange Rind
Caramelized White Chocolate
Caramel Sauce
Chocolate Almond Bars
Baking Soda
Chocolate Mousse
Chocolate Panna Cotta
A Mean Chocolate Chip Cookie
Gingerbread Cookies
Meringue Cookies
Reading Between the Lines
Quinn’s Crème Brûlée
The Best Tool in the Kitchen?
French and Italian Meringue
Simple Ginger Syrup
356°F / 180°C: Sugar Begins to Caramelize Visibly
Cocoa-Goldschläger Ice Cream
S’mores Ice Cream
French and Italian Meringue
Lemon Meringue Pie
Pear Sorbet
Simple Pie Dough
Poached Pears in Red Wine
Strawberry or Raspberry Soufflé
Michael Chu’s Tiramisu
Zabaglione (Sabayon))
Components & Ingredients
Green Olives
Simple Lime Marmalade
Mozzarella Cheese
Mozzarella spheres
Preserved Lemons
Seitan
Sugar Swizzle Sticks
Vanilla Extract
Basic White Stock
Yogurt
List of Interviews
Brian Wansink on Cooking Styles
Lydia Walshin on Learning to Cook
Adam Savage on Scientific Testing
Buck Raper on Knives
Adam Ried on Equipment and Recipes
Jim Clarke on Beverage Pairings
Gail Vance Civille on Taste and Smell
Virginia Utermohlen on Taste Sensitivity
Xeni Jardin on Local Food
Harold McGee on Solving Food Mysteries
Doug Powell on Food Safety
Michael Laiskonis on Pastry Chefs
Martin Lersch on Chemistry in the Kitchen
Jeff Varasano on Pizza
David Lebovitz on American Cooking
Hervé This on Molecular Gastronomy
Linda Anctil on Inspiration
Ann Barrett on Texture
Douglas Baldwin on Sous Vide
Dave Arnold on Industrial Hardware
Nathan Myhrvold on Modernist Cuisine
Preface
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:
http://www.cookingforgeeks.com/book/feedback/
How to Use This Book
This book is designed for use in a couple of different ways.
If you want to "just cook," flip to the recipe index, pick a recipe, and skip straight to that page. The surrounding text will explain some aspects of the science behind the recipe. While the recipes in this book are chosen to complement and provide examples of the science, they’re also recipes that are fantastic in and of themselves. Most of the recipes are for single components—say, beef short ribs—without accompanying sides. This allows the various components of a meal to be covered in appropriate science sections, and also keeps each recipe short and easy.
If you’re more interested in curling up with a cup of $favoriteBeverage, pick a chapter based on your interests and tuck in.
The first portion of this book covers topics you should think about before turning on the oven: how to approach the kitchen and how to think about taste and smell. The middle portion covers key variables in cooking (time and temperature) and baking (air), as well as some secondary variables. The final two chapters address some of the more creative things you can do in the kitchen, either with "software" (chemicals) or "hardware" (blowtorches!). Recipes and experiments are sprinkled throughout the book, along with interviews of scientists, researchers, chefs, and food bloggers. Here’s a taste of what you’ll find in this book:
Chapter 1
What does success in the kitchen mean? How do you pick a recipe, and then how do you interpret it correctly? This chapter considers these questions and also touches briefly on nutrition (really, the all-pizza diet has got to go).
Chapter 2
This chapter covers the basic must-haves, but it is ultimately up to you to experiment, adapt, and modify these suggestions to fit your needs and tastes. Use common sense. In addition to the essentials, this chapter also touches on storage tips, kitchen organization tricks, and things to keep in mind if you’re new to cooking.
Chapter 3
This chapter explains the physiology of taste and smell and shows how to improve your understanding of flavor combinations, giving ideas on how to stir up new ideas.
Chapter 4
This chapter explains the chemical reactions that occur when heating foods, so that you’ll know what to look for when cooking. We start with a discussion of heat, looking at the differences between various ways of cooking, how the temperature choice impacts the outcome, and what chemical reactions are taking place. The rest of the chapter then examines a range of temperatures, starting with the coldest and ending with the hottest, discussing the importance of each temperature point and giving example recipes.
Chapter 5
This chapter takes a brief look at gluten and then examines baking’s key variable, air. It covers the three primary methods of generating air—mechanical, chemical, and biological—giving common techniques for creating air and notes on how to work with the associated ingredients.
Chapter 6
This chapter takes a look at cooking techniques that use food additives, both traditional and modern. Some recent culinary techniques, falling under the genre termed molecular gastronomy or modernist cuisine, rely on chemicals. Some of these chemical-based techniques are covered in the second portion of this chapter. Even if you’re not the type who wants to use food additives, understanding the chemistry and purposes of various food additives makes recovering from kitchen errors quicker and decoding ingredient lists at the grocery store easier.
Chapter 7
Here we cover some of the commercial and industrial tools used in preparing foods, such as sous vide, and throw in a few, uh, "crazy" (and fun!) things that one can do in the kitchen as well. Modern commercial kitchens, most likely including the high-end ones in your area, use a variety of tools that consumers rarely encounter but that can help create some absolutely stellar meals.
As is so often the case with science, what we don’t know about cooking seems to be increasing at a faster rate than what we do know. And then there’s the difference between theory and practice (in theory, they should be the same; in practice, hahaha). One research paper will find that myosin (a protein in muscle) denatures in fish at 104°F / 40°C, while another reports 107°F / 41.7°C, and yet another at an entirely different temperature. Maybe it’s the type of fish that matters (lean versus fatty does make a difference), or maybe it’s just that fish. Biology does not confine itself to simple models, so when you’re trying to combine the various pieces of information into a uniform picture, some discrepancy is unavoidable.
On the Web
So much of cooking is about sharing, community, and discussion. Beyond this book, here are a few places to share your creations, comments, and questions.
For videos, more recipes, and additional interviews, see this book’s companion website, at http://www.cookingforgeeks.com/.
If you use Facebook, see http://facebook.com/cookingforgeeks.