May I put in my two bits worth two please?
Pastry - combining flours, fats and liquids to produce a baked product. I see a MC book about such things doing either or both of two things, detailing the science behind how pastes work and the effect of heat on them; and/or developing new techniques to old methods to produce reproducible, repeatable results every time without having to have the "knowledge" in your fingers. e.g. what's the best baking temp for which particular type of paste, etc.
Savoury fillings for pies, pasties, sausage rolls, etc., both meat based and vegetarian; the best thickeners and why, optimal serving temperatures, the effects of heating, freezing and reheating on various thickeners; deconstructed assembly: individual preparation of filling ingredients for pie fillings and their optimal combination prior to baking in a piecrust.
Oh, and some info on the sweet stuff would also be mildly interesting ;-)
