FAQs - Modernist Cuisine

Frequently Asked Questions

 

About the Book

What is Modernist Cuisine at Home?

Modernist Cuisine at Home is the lavishly illustrated cookbook for home cooks created by Nathan Myhrvold and the Modernist Cuisine team. This award-winning, 456-page book brings Modernist cooking to an even wider audience of passionate and curious home cooks. It contains all the essential information that any cook needs to stock a modern kitchen, to master Modernist techniques, and to make hundreds of stunning recipes. The book includes a 228-page water resistant kitchen manual that houses all the recipes. Drawing on the same commitment to perfection that produced Modernist Cuisine, Modernist Cuisine at Home applies innovations pioneered by the Modernist Cuisine team to refine classic home dishes, from hamburgers and wings to macaroni and cheese. More than 400 new recipes are included, most with step-by-step photos that make it easy to bring dining of the highest quality to your own dinner table.

How is Modernist Cuisine at Home different from Modernist Cuisine? How is it the same?

Modernist Cuisine at Home is an entirely different book than Modernist Cuisine. Although we kept Modernist Cuisine in the title, this book is not a condensed version of its predecessor. While we still strongly believe that home chefs can make most of the recipes found in Modernist Cuisine, Modernist Cuisine at Home contains new content, including inspiring photos and original recipes designed specifically to empower cooks of all skill levels. The recipes in Modernist Cuisine at Home are less complex, listed in both weight and volume, and most can be made with kitchen equipment that you already own. Some recipes do call for specialized equipment, but none require anything that you can’t easily find online or at a cooking store. Although you will find a few Modernist Cuisine dishes that have been adapted for home cooks, such as the iconic Striped Omelet, Caramelized Carrot Soup, or Roast Chicken, most of the recipes are brand new. In general, the food is less formal; you’ll find recipes for Crispy Skinless Chicken Wings and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches.

For a deeper dive into the science of cooking or advanced techniques, we recommend Modernist Cuisine. If you want to learn about food safety, microbiology, the history of foie gras cultivation, or hundreds of other topics, it’s still the book to turn to.

What’s the same as Modernist Cuisine is our focus on quality in both the information in the book and in the way it’s presented. You’ll find stunning step-by-step photos for most recipes and ingredients measured in grams (because every serious cook should have a scale).


What’s Inside

What does Modernist Cuisine at Home cover?

The book is divided into two main parts. Part One: Stocking the Modernist Kitchen includes chapters on countertop tools, conventional cooking gear, cooking sous vide, and ingredients. The first part of the book provides an authoritative guide to which features are worth paying extra for, and which aren’t, on essential gear such as digital scales, sous vide water baths, silicone mats and molds, blenders, plus more. It also helps you get the best out of the kitchen appliances that you already own.

Part Two: The Recipes includes more than 400 recipes and variations, carefully chosen to demonstrate how even the most familiar dishes can be elevated by applying Modernist techniques in the home kitchen. The recipes start with a chapter on the basics, including stocks, sauces, condiments, brines, marinades, and spice mixes. From there, the chapters are centered around a classic dish. Chapters include Breakfast Eggs, Salads and Cold Soups, Pressure-Cooked Vegetable Soups, Steak, Cheeseburger, Carnitas, Braised Short Ribs, Roast Chicken, Chicken Wings, Chicken Noodle Soup, Salmon, Shellfish, Pizza, Mac and Cheese, Risotto and Paella, Cornmeal, Dishes for the Microwave, and Custards and Pies.

Does Modernist Cuisine at Home include a kitchen manual?

Yes, Modernist Cuisine at Home includes a 228-page, wire-bound kitchen manual that makes it easy to bring all the recipes and reference tables into the kitchen in one compact collection.

What equipment do I need to get started?

There are no set of tools that are required to get started with Modernist Cuisine at Home. Modernist cooking can be done with tools available in most standard kitchens. Even the recipes that involve sous vide techniques can be made without specialized gadgets; you can use a simple pot on the stove and a thermometer. However, we do believe that two inexpensive pieces of equipment are absolutely essential to all Modernist cooking techniques: a reliable digital scale and an accurate digital probe thermometer. While we encourage you to try using new equipment, they are not necessary to cooking the recipes in this book.


Purchasing the Book

Where can I buy it?

All of our books are available through the Modernist Cuisine Shop. You can find additional online booksellers who carry the book on our Buy page or wherever fine books are sold.

Is Modernist Cuisine at Home available in languages other than English?

We currently have seven translations of Modernist Cuisine at Home. They include French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, and Japanese.

Is Modernist Cuisine at Home available as an app?

The app was created and published by Inkling using our content in 2013. Unfortunately, our partnership with Inkling has ended, which is why the app is no longer for sale and no longer appears in the app store or is updated. If you have a question or issue, we recommend reaching out to Inkling. You can connect with them directly through support@inkling.com.


Registering Modernist Cuisine at Home

How do I register my books?

We decided to make keeping in touch simple, so we are no longer asking readers to register their books. Although we’ve taken down the registration system on our website, our community of readers can receive updates about new projects, events in their area, and special promotions by signing up for our mailing list and following us on social media.