Blog - Page 34 of 35 - Modernist Cuisine

High-Speed Video: Popcorn Popping @ 6,200 FPS

October 27, 2010

Why does popcorn pop? See for yourself at a whopping 6200 frames per second!

Kitchen Tech and Progress

October 22, 2010

The link between humanity’s development and the evolution of cooking techniques is well-documented and perhaps even obvious. Less apparent, however, is that along the way, many “traditional” chefs and cooks turned up their noses at new and emerging gastronomic tools and techniques of their time.

The Language of Food

October 15, 2010

Some artists can translate what a piece says to them into language that evokes that feeling in the rest of us. Maxime “Max” Bilet is one of those artists. On a recent visit to The Cooking Lab, I asked Max about the role language plays in the creation and enjoyment of his art.

Dinner with René Redzepi

October 11, 2010

Nathan, Max and I recently had the pleasure of meeting chef René Redzepi from Noma while he was in Seattle promoting his wonderful new book Noma: Time and Place in Nordic Cuisine. I really admire what René set out to accomplish at Noma and I am impressed by his well-deserved success. René’s sincerity and passion are apparent when you talk to him. And—while he is perfectly fluent in English—his modesty and restraint constantly reminded me that he is very much a Dane.

Not Your Average Carrot Soup

October 7, 2010

At last month’s International Food Bloggers Convention in Seattle, the Modernist Cuisine team prepared a dish they (rather modestly) described as carrot soup for the kickoff reception. Before heading downtown with the team, I caught Maxime Bilet and Anjana Shanker at The Cooking Lab and asked them to describe the dish they were preparing for the reception.

Does It Matter Why We Love Chocolate?

September 20, 2010

Looking at Modernist Cuisine as a (nearly) complete body of work, the amount of information and level of detail can seem overwhelming. On the surface, it is tempting to think of the book as a food science research report or textbook – but that is far from the full story. “Where’s the love?” you might ask if you stumbled upon Modernist Cuisine in a bookstore’s cookbook section. The short answer from the MC team would be, “It’s in there!”

Official Release Date for Modernist Cuisine

September 15, 2010

We’ve been working diligently to get our book done in time to make the 2010 Holiday season, but we have been overtaken by events. Proofreading and correcting 2,400 pages is, as you can imagine, a very big job, and it has been taking longer than we expected to complete that work.

Foodies Gone Geek

August 29, 2010

Dr. Nathan Myhrvold’s presentation at the International Food Bloggers Convention (IFBC) today appeared to be a big hit with the food bloggers in attendance today. Despite the rather scientific nature of the book and the presentation, the audience seemed engaged throughout. The high speed, high definition videos and high resolution photographs elicited cheers from the […]

When Food Words Fail

August 28, 2010

Is food blogging its own unique art? The short answer is yes, as I discovered during Kathleen Flinn’s “Writing With All Five Senses” workshop today. This IFBC workshop was packed with professional food bloggers who seemed to have no problem with the seemingly simple exercise of describing a lemon.

The Cooking Lab Reception

August 27, 2010

Last night, the authors of Modernist Cuisine hosted a small demonstration and reception at The Cooking Lab, where the book was created. (I say “created” rather than “written” because the book contains more original art and research than some universities — but that is for another post). In attendance were approximately 30 food bloggers, many […]