It’s that time of year: gift-guide season has arrived and there’s no shortage of ideas for cooks—we all love indispensable kitchen tools, after all. In previous years, our gift guides encompassed our favorite equipment and tools, including suggestions for photographers. This year, however, we decided to take some of our favorite seasonal songs literally. We’re […]
This holiday season, we’re sharing the love—of Modernist Cuisine, that is. Mark your calendars and set your alarms: starting December 8th, we’re giving away a different Modernist Cuisine gift every day for eight days. We’ll offer a new item each morning at 12:01 A.M. (PST), so check our website daily to see what we’re giving […]
Let’s cut to the chase: we look forward to Thanksgiving leftovers almost as much as the formal dinner itself. One of the most emblematic leftover preparations is undoubtedly the post-Thanksgiving turkey sandwich. A delicious amalgamation of last night’s meal, this sandwich is the essence of Thanksgiving between two slices of structurally sound bread. When it […]
When it comes to turkey, there are many different theories about the best way to prepare a bird. The topic can get downright philosophical with every side presenting evidence on behalf of a particular technique, leaving you to exit the fray with over a dozen methods, each one somehow better than the last. While some methods yield far […]
This fall, we found ourselves inspired by the sentiment and iconography of Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). A two-day holiday, it begins November 1st with All Saints Day, when the spirits of infants and children are honored, and is followed by All Souls Day, honoring adults. Both holidays are a way of […]
Chances are, there’s a food holiday (and maybe even two or three) for every day of the year. While we like to celebrate amazing food regularly at Modernist Cuisine, we couldn’t let National Pasta Month come and go without acknowledging it. As the weather in Bellevue, Washington, turns gray and cold, a plate of Spaghetti […]
Last week, we had the pleasure of hosting chef Massimo Bottura, of Osteria Francescana, at The Cooking Lab while he was on tour promoting his first book, Never Trust a Skinny Italian Chef. He was joined at the table by a group of exceptionally talented, Italian-influenced chefs from this region: chef Suzette Gresham of Acquerello, […]
There are always stories behind food, whether it’s a quintessentially Modernist dish, spheres and all, or a beloved recipe handed down over generations. Mistakes are made, learned from, and then ideas are refined through trial and error. You can taste the labor, the love, and the inspiration in sublime flavors and intriguing textures. In the […]
What is Carrageenan? History From eggnog and soy milk to infant formulas and toothpaste, carrageenan is found everywhere. The word carrageenan may sound foreign and vaguely exotic, but it’s simply a generic term for a type of sugar extracted from various species of red seaweed. In Modernist cooking, it’s classified as an emulsifier, stabilizer, hydrocolloid […]
Ferran Adrià is one of the most creative and influential chefs alive, but that isn’t the entire story. He’s also a philosopher and an avant-garde provocateur. From 1983 until it closed in 2011, elBulli was a fountain of tremendous creativity and stimulation, and it was often a source of controversy because of its techniques, approaches […]