Scott from Seattle Food Geek Is Joining the MC Team!

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Photo courtesy of Scott Heimendinger.

I’m overjoyed to announce that, starting in January, I’ll be joining the Modernist Cuisine team full-time as the Business Development Manager and MC Evangelist! If you’ve been following the blog (or if you’ve ever had a 5-minute conversation with me), you know that I’ve been a huge fan of Modernist Cuisine since I first heard about the project. From my first interview with Nathan Myhrvold in May 2010, to my recent experience of interning with the kitchen team, it has been my dream to join this team. Now, I’ll have the tremendous pleasure of helping Modernist Cuisine grow in new and exciting ways and spreading our message to a much broader audience.

We are fortunate to be witnessing a worldwide culinary revolution. In much the same way that Escoffier’s Le Guide Culinaire forever changed cooking in the early twentieth century, Modernist Cuisine enables contemporary ideas, tools, and cooking techniques to spread more widely than any other book before it. In fact, I’ve been infamously quoted as saying “Escoffier would crap his pants” at the sight of the five gorgeous, comprehensive volumes. However, with the U.S. book launch completed and foreign editions now broadly available, our work is far from done.

More than ever, we are excited about the huge potential we see on the road ahead. We’ll be exploring ways for The Cooking Lab to contribute to the Modernist revolution, not only through our books but also through new services and products that we hope to develop ourselves and in collaboration with a wide range of other companies, from food and equipment manufacturers to chefs and restaurant owners, to publishers and producers. We’ve got a list of great ideas to turn into realities, and we also want to know what you’d like to see from us. If you have an idea, a request, or a partnership opportunity, we’d love to hear your thoughts. Contact us online or email info@modernistcuisine.com.

I’m incredibly excited about the future of Modernist Cuisine, and I’m honored by the privilege of helping to shape it!

Maxime in Europe; Named One of 30 Under 30 in Forbes

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We are very excited to announce that Modernist Cuisine coauthor Maxime Bilet has been named to Forbes magazine’s 30 Under 30 List in the category of Food & Wine! At 29 years old, Max just makes the cut, joining other “movers and shakers” as Forbes puts it, such as Gilt Taste editor Jennifer Pelka; Lena Kwak, the inventor behind Thomas Keller’s gluten-free flour C4C (Cup for Cup); Top Chef alumnus Kevin Gillespie; and many more talented 20-somethings.

Unfortunately, Max isn’t around The Cooking Lab today to celebrate. He’s busy promoting the foreign editions of MC in Europe. You can see him in Paris tomorrow (December 20) at 6 PM at TASCHEN’s bookstore in Paris and on Thursday (December 22) at 6 PM at TASCHEN’s London store.

What to Buy a Foodie for the Holidays

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We think that many chefs will be surprised by a 52-pound box beneath their tree this year because Modernist Cuisine is high on people’s lists. But beyond MC, gift options are plenty: we’ve put together a gift guide to help you find the perfect present for every foodie in your life. Each member of the MC team has come up with his or her favorite suggestions. Many of them are much easier to lift! These are all things that we personally have, wish we had, or would give as a gift. For other great ideas, see Eater.com’s and Seattle Food Geek’s gift guides, as well as our equipment page.


Vitamix
$378 5.99
Available at Amazon, Sur La Table
Recommended by Sam Fahey-Burke, Culinary Research Assistant

Cuisinart Stick Blender
$19.73
Available at Amazon, Sur La Table
Recommended by Judy Wilson, Editorial Assistant

Aroma Kit
Cost varies by size and brand
Available at various online retailers
Recommended by Maxime Bilet, Coauthor


Excaliber Food Dehydrator
$105 – 2.19
Available at Amazon
Recommended by Johnny Zhu, Culinary Research Assistant


Inventing Cuisine DVDs
$19. – 22
Available at Amazon
Recommended by Aaron Verzosa, Culinary Research Intern

Uni Opener
Approx. $128
Available at various online retailers
Recommended by Nathan Myhrvold, Coauthor


Lucky Peach issue or subscription
$9. 28
Available at McSweeney’s, Amazon
Recommended by Chris Young, Coauthor

Benriner Japanese Mandoline
$26. – 64
Available at Amazon, Sur La Table
Recommended by Anjana Shanker, Culinary Reasearch Assistant

FoodSaver Vacuum Sealer
$66 – 1.48
Available at Amazon
Recommended by Wayt Gibbs, Editor-in-Chief

Liquid Nitrogen
Approx. $2/gallon
Available at welding supply stores
Recommended by Aaron Verzosa, Culinary Research Intern

Pacojet
$3,998
Available at Pacojet
Recommended by Nathan Myhrvold, Coauthor


Heston Blumenthal at Home
$37
Available at Amazon
Recommended by Chris Young, Coauthor


Deni or Kuhn Rikon Pressure Cooker
$66 1.49 (Deni brand), $95 – 259 (Kuhn Rikon brand)
Deni available at Amazon
Kuhn Rikon available at Amazon, Sur La Table
Recommended by Mark Clemens, Art Director (Deni); Mark Pearson, Business Development (Kuhn Rikon)

Microplane
$8. – 17
Available at Amazon, Sur La Table
Recommended by Anjana Shanker, Culinary Reasearch Assistant

SousVide Supreme
$299 3.99
Available at Amazon, Sur La Table
Recommended by Daniel McCoy, Editorial Assistant


Thermapen
$89
Available at Amazon
Recommended by Wayt Gibbs, Editor-in-Chief

Kopi Luwak Coffee
$50 and up
Available at various online retailers
Recommended by Mark Clemens, Art Director


Artistre Experimental Kit
$59
Available at Amazon
Recommended by Judy Wilson, Editorial Assistant

1800 Watt Induction Burner
$66 4.15
Available at Amazon
Recommended by Johnny Zhu, Culinary Research Assistant

Physics World Names MC in 2011 Top 10 List!

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The British science magazine Physics World has named Modernist Cuisine one of the top 10 books of 2011. Other books on their list include Hidden Reality: Parallel Universes and the Deep Laws of the Cosmos by Brian Greene; The 4% Universe: Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and the Race to Discover the Rest of Reality by Richard Panek; and Quantum Man: Richard Feyman’s Life in Science by Lawrence Krauss.

While we love hearing that foodies (and Amazon) have included Modernist Cuisine on their “Best of 2011” lists, knowing that the scientific community regards us as one of this year’s major contributions really gets us excited. When Nathan Myhrvold first envisioned MC, he wanted to make a book that not only explains how to cook sous vide but also why it works, including easy-to-follow explanations of air pressure, the movement of heat, and the properties of water. As the book expanded in scope, so did its coverage of the science of food and cooking. Sublimation, microbiology, the health effects of various foods, and more are all treated in a deep yet approachable way.

To read the Physics World article and listen to the podcast, click here. A free account is required to access the feature.

Nathan Myhrvold to Appear on “Top Chef”

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This season of Top Chef is the biggest yet, and Nathan had the esteemed honor of serving as a guest judge on one of the episodes. This was the business excuse that allowed him to check out some of East Texas’s best barbecue, as he described in September for Bloomberg Businessweek.

Top Chef airs Wednesday evenings on BRAVO. The episode on which Nathan appears airs January 4, 2012. Stay tuned for more details as we get closer to the air date.

Think you already know the outcome? Tell us who you think the winner will be in the comments below.

Bienvenue! Willkommen! Bienvenida!

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Bienvenue!Bienvenue au site Modernist Cuisine! Maintenant que les éditions française, allemande, et espagnole sont disponibles, nous sommes aussi entrain de mettre tous les aspects de notre site disponsibles dans ces langages afin que tous nos lecteurs aient la plus complete expérience de Modernist Cuisine. Pendant ce temps, nous vous encourageons de visiter la page Modernist Cuisine chez Taschen.com.
Willkommen!Willkommen auf der Internetseite von Modernist Cuisine! Jetzt wo die Bücher in Deutsch, Französisch, und Spanisch erhältlich sind, arbeiten wir daran, die meisten Funktionen unserer Internetseite auch in diesen Sprachen bereit zu stellen, so dass alle Leser den größtmöglichen Nutzen von Modernist Cuisine haben. In der Zwischenzeit empfehlen wir Ihnen die Seite Modernist Cuisine bei Taschen.com.
Bienvenida!¡Bievenidos al sitio de Modernist Cuisine! Ahora que las ediciones del libro en español, francés, y alemán, están disponibles, estamos trabajando para proporcionar todos los beneficios de nuestro sitio web también en su idioma, para que todos los visitantes tengan lo mejor experiencia de Modernist Cuisine. Mientras tanto, le recomendamos que visite la página de Modernist Cuisine en Taschen.com.

It’s Time for Top 10 Lists

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As the year winds down, many people are compiling their top 10 lists. Top reality-TV moments, top restaurants, top scientific discoveries. We are happy to say that MC has garnered an honorable mention on Epicurious’s top 10 list.

This has been a year of stiff competition, with new books out by the likes of Blumenthal, Cooks Illustrated, Pépin, Ruhlman, and Momofuku.

Despite this, Modernist Cuisine has made it to the very top of Amazon’s Top 10 books in the cooking, food & wine category. Amazon says it “Pushes the limits of culinary arts and photography…a stunning six-volume set.” Amazon has also recently launched its “look inside” feature for volume two of Modernist Cuisine. You can view the table of contents, scope out photos, and read about grilling.

Nathan Talks Cookbooks on Eater.com

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One thing we’ve learned from working with Nathan Myhrvold is that if you get him talking about a topic that interests him (and there are many, many, many topics to choose from), he’ll go on and on until someone comes and rushes him off to another meeting. You’ll probably learn something in the process, too, even if it’s a subject you think you know everything about. Recently, Eater.com‘s Paula Forbes got him talking about his cookbook collection: which ones are his favorites, which he’s most sentimental about, and why he doesn’t think much of the barbecue books out there.

A few of the cookbooks Nathan keeps at The Cooking Lab. Photo courtesy of Paula Forbes.

Click here for the whole interview.