View the Chapters

Chapter 1: Plants

Foods derived from plants are the largest part of the human diet and the focus of this chapter. With their wide range of colors and textures, as foods they represent both the largest portion of the human diet and the largest chapter in the book.

Chapter 2: Animals

This protein-packed chapter is filled with photos of meat and dairy, as well as fish and shellfish.

Chapter 3: Cutaways

The Cutaways chapter collects our unique cross-sectional photos that reveal a magical view of what happens inside pots and ovens as you cook.

Chapter 4: Cooking

The fourth chapter focuses on the many ways in which ingredients are transformed into food.

Chapter 5: Phenomena

A fifth chapter on Phenomena—both natural and manmade—gathers a wide-ranging set of images, including shots of fleeting moments, captured on high-speed video, and examples of the physics, biology, and chemistry at work every day in our kitchens.

Bonus: Photographic Techniques

A 38-page chapter pulls back the curtain at Modernist Cuisine Lab to explain, in a highly visual way, how the team captured and digitally illustrated tips for taking better photos of food at home or in a restaurant, even if all you have on hand is a point-and-shoot camera or a camera phone.

Bonus: Photo Descriptions

Starting on page 286, you can find a description of each photograph that recounts some of what we find most interesting about it, whether that be culinary details, historical and cultural context, a bit of scientific background, or insights into how the photo was captured.