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[Moderator note: The original "Modernist Cuisine" by Myhrvold, Young & Bilet topic became too large for our servers to handle efficiently, so we've divided it up; the preceding part of this discussion is here: "Modernist Cuisine" by Myhrvold, Young & Bilet (Part 2)] Since I've received mine I've had little time until this weekend to actually read through it in depth. I've been starting with the history in volume 1, which I find fascinating as I love history. I even looked up some of the original recipe books it references and downloaded them to my kindle through gutenberg as it is a wonderful addition to the whole and its history. Second to that I started sifting tbrough the equipment. Then yesterday I drove three hours north to share the volumes with my family. I don't think their mouths ever closed after seeing them for the first time. We each grabbed a volume, from my 16 year olde nephew to my 70 year olde father and for five straight hours we were consumed and shared with eachother ideas and "finds". In my family cooking and meals are a big part of us "coming together"...this truly added to a family moment for us. Now I've got to find a weekend to bring my 16 year olde nephew down to Massachusetts to cook with me. He wants to get into spherification and I want to experiment with the fish paper. I have a crazy idea to use the paper for and can't wait to start experimenting. ...after that I think the mac and cheese, since everyone has been talking about that on here I can't wait to try it as it brings back fond childhood memories for me.

The eminent cookbook author Bernard Clayton Jr. passed away recently. From the NY Times' obituary, Clayton's Complete Book of Breads was probably one of the first "bread" books I owned. It's practically encyclopedic. As are his Complete Book of Pastry and Complete Book of Soups and Stews. Well, at least encyclopedic for their respective times. Maybe not the first books I turn to now for technique, but always good for an inspiration or two. Do you have any of his books on your shelves?

Cristina Ferrare's Big Bowl of Love with interviews in her home kitchen (lovely kitchen, and very practical) has been on every local news program this morning. I just watched the third I have seen today - this one on ABC Channel 7 - and the enthusiasm of the interviewer was catching. I just ordered the book, mostly because of the descriptions of some of the recipes on a segment on another station. I also have had her book "Family Entertaining" for many years. Amazon does not yet have the "Look inside" feature for this book but it is probably in the near future. I certainly enjoyed the few cooking segments I saw her present on Oprah, although I rarely watch the show, I did tune in for a few because I like Christina's attitude.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/features/food/sc-food-0325-tea-20110329,0,1717613.story this review and article appeared in March 31, 2011 Sun-Sentinel paper in Broward county, Florida

I'm getting rather taken with growing my own veg. Upped growing space this year. I eat out in maybe one 2 or 3 star place a year, and I'm always loathed to forgo my meat and fish to try the increasing number of vegetarian tasting menus. But I do like to try my hand at cooking that kind of thing. I have Essential Cuisine by Michel Bras. I've just ordered a second hand copy of Charlie Trotter's Vegetables book. Any other good sources of the kind of vegetable focused dish one might find in these kind of establishments? Thanks

What websites allow you to put personal cookbook collections online? I know about Eat Your Books and Gobbeldybook. Are there others? Favorites?

Dear all, Almost two years ago you all discussed the release of the first edition of Pastry In Europe. Time flies and we already released the third edition: Pastry In Europe 2011. I'm wondering who's already has a copy or ordered one and what you think about it? Somebody any comments on the 2010 or 2009 edition. Looking forward to hear your comments. Thanks a lot, Joost van Roosmalen Pastry In Europe

Im a big fan of America's test kitchen, and have most of their books (aside from the fact that they reprint many recipes through several books and dont tell you about that ) some time ago they had a "Meat" cookbook which I dont own but would like to look at, probably from the library. I can recall the exact name does this ring any bells? its not the grilling and BBQ book sometimes they are hard to track down: under Chris Kimball? America's test kitchen? Cooks illustrated? hopefully this will ring a bell here. thanks

It looks like MC is sold out. Some sellers say no more copies until July. Obviously, the demand has caught people by surprise for this $500 set of books. So, here's the (hypothetical) question. How high would you go to get a copy in your hands in the next few days? THIS IS A HYPOTHETICAL QUESTION people. I don't have any to sell. How crazy are the foodies here? And, not only do I want to know high high you'd go, but what you'd sacrifice to get one? Sell you car? Sell you iPhone? Sell your mother? Eat Ramen for a year?

I've made two recipes out of this book, the red beans and rice and BBQ shrimp (which aren't really BBQ'd). I would defined make both again. Sorry but no pictures Can't wait to try more..

My GF is lactose intolerant and drinks Lactaid brand milk and enjoys goat cheese. I don't care much for the Lactaid and was thinking about using goat milk to replace cow milk in some dishes. Coming up is a fish chowder dinner and I'd like to try goat milk in the chowder. How might goat milk work in such a dish? Any suggestions on cooking with, or substituting, goat milk? Thanks!

It's been a year and a half since we spent a week in San Sebastian wandering the streets and eating way too many pintxos and i'm looking for a good cook/recipe book on the classics and some of the more modern ones hitting the fancier bars. Most of these were simple things, like raw salmon on mayo on toast or anchovies on toast with roast red pepper, etc. I know this seems quite simple (and it is!) but still looking for a good guide to get started. Any suggestions? Amazon has a couple but the reviews and pictures don't give me a good sense of what is in them. thanks

Quay (http://www.quay.com.au/) is considered one of the best restaurants in Australia and in the world. This book is even better. The layout and photographs are impressive. All dishes are interesting and personal. The recipes are detailed and well written. The dessert section is on par with the rest (the "guava snow egg" is stunning). Better if I stop here with the superlatives. If you love the Alinea and the Noma books, then consider this a blind buy, it's on par with those 2 books. On amazon.co.uk it costs 20£, a total bargain. Teo

Martin Bosley is the chef of his eponymous restaurant in New Zealand: http://www.martin-bosley.com/ I've never been to New Zealand, so unfortunately I don't have first hand experience on his food, but I read great comments, so when I heard he published his new book based on restaurant recipes (he published another book a couple of years ago, but more for the homecook), I bought it. This is the press release, with some images of the pages: http://www.randomhouse.co.nz/data/media/documents/press%20releases/Nov_2010/Martin%20Bosley_Media%20Release.pdf The book is divided in 2 sections: the first one is for Brasserie Flipp (the place where he worked before the new restaurant), the second one is for the eponymous restaurant, for a total of about 300 pages. I still haven't tried any recipe, but till now I'm really satisfied. There are many interesting ideas, recipes are detailed and well written, and the photographs are high quality. Even "simple" dishes, that could sound trivial to someone, are well thought and inspiring: for example there are a ton of fish tartares, each one with creative pairings. They put a lot of efforts also about the dessert sections. And I like the attitude of chef Bosley: his photo is not polished, and he included the photos of each person of his staff. You can buy the book directly from the restaurant. It costs 90 NZ$ plus shipping (I spent 60 NZ$ for shipping to Italy). A bit expensive, but if you are interested in books of high end restaurants, this is a good add to your collection. Teo

I would be interested to buy some Peruvian cookbooks, like the series named Nuestros Grandes Chef published by El Comercio, or some books published by the University of San Martin de Porres. I wrote to both editors, but never received any answer. Is there any forum user living in Peru and willing to help me? Of course I would pay something for the help. Thanks in advance. Teo

Even with all the attention being lavished on Modernist Cuisine, I find it hard to believe no one has been cooking from Ideas in Food! The first preparation I made from it was red wine vinegar; before reading the book, I'd been reluctant to use cider vinegar as the starter (even though it's the easiest vinegar to find with a live mother), but they convinced me to stop being such a purist about it. I've been regularly feeding my red wine vinegar over the past few weeks, it's thriving, and I love the flavour. I've used it in everything from vinaigrette to Sauerbraten. Last night I made the macaroni and cheese recipe. The version in Modernist Cuisine calls for sodium citrate and carrageenan; the version in Ideas in Food just calls for evaporated milk, which already has disodium phosphate and carrageenan in it. I think this is a really elegant solution if you don't want to spring for the specialty chemicals. Better still, the recipe worked like a charm, and was fast and delicious. I'm looking forward to playing with different kinds of cheese, but I think it's safe to say I'll be keeping a can of evaporated milk handy at all times from now on. Edit: Society-friendly Amazon link.

[Moderator note: The original "Modernist Cuisine" by Myhrvold, Young & Bilet topic became too large for our servers to handle efficiently, so we've divided it up; the preceding part of this discussion is here: "Modernist Cuisine" by Myhrvold, Young & Bilet (Part 1)] I wouldn't pay much attention to the Amazon estimated shipping dates. It is unclear to me that they have any real basis. All of the books in the first printing will ship from China to in the US, Canada or Europe in the next 3 weeks, and a few thousand are currently somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. So far about 2/3 of the first printing has been pre-ordered. So everybody currently on order ought to get books from these shipments. A second printing is being ordered. You'd think that traveling thousands of miles by boat would be the majority of their journey. But that isn't really the case. So far they have had several snafus in getting the books out. Some distributors shipped books to the wrong distribution center. Some decided to ship books by train from Seattle to various places in the middle of the country. Some shipped to one distribution center, then decided that the books were too heavy for the equipment at that center, so they proceeded to ship them by truck to another distribution center. One distributor seems to have lost track of 150 books - hopefully this is just a computer error. It is frustrating, and I am trying to get it all fixed for future shipments. As as result, the first batch of books has been in the US since early February but took another 3 weeks or so to reach customers. I'm sorry about that, but there is not much I can do. In principle the remainder of the books ought to reach customers in March, but I suspect that it will take until some point in April due to various silly delays in the book distribution system.

A few years ago, for the most part, I stopped buying tomatoes "out of season." In other words, I quit buying tomatoes if they weren't grown locally during Mother Nature's natural growth cycle. While I am sure that the Producer's and Marketing Teams will tell us that tomatoes harvested in January are at the "peak of their flavor," is a tomato picked weeks in advance in preparation for a 3,000 mile journey really compare to the flavor of a local tomato in season? Sure, I tried the "tomatoes on the vine," the "salad" tomatoes, the "hydroponic" tomatoes and the "organic" tomatoes and while some of them had passable flavor, they never compared to the local tomatoes I buy in August. (I may buy a Roma tomato or two in December to slice and add to salad, but that's it). Right now we still have the remnants of last week's snow and a new dusting is expected tonight. Fresh, local tomatoes won't show up in our markets for at least 4 months around the end of June and the crop will last through mid-September. I gladly cook with quality canned tomatoes during the dormant months. (Just last week I made a delicious braised veal dish with canned San Marzano tomatoes). It begs the question; have you ever found a tomato "out of season" that compares to a fresh, local tomato "in season?"

Folks, we appear to be approaching a momentous date in publishing history. Of cookbooks. At least that's what I've heard. Yes, the greatest cookbook series ever is going to be in a bunch of food crazy people's hands very shortly. Actually, it appears to be in some people's hands already . Now, trust me, I'm as crazy as the rest of 'em...and anxiously awaiting my copy from Amazon (and don't tell my wife, please). But, and here's the big but, there have been some cookbook series released in the past that I think are pretty damn good. Mastering the Art of French Cooking Volumes 1 & 2 were no slouches, and were pretty groundbreaking, if I recall correctly. Jacques Pepin's The Art of Cooking Volumes 1 & 2 have a place on my shelf. As does Time Life's 23-volume Foods of the World set. However, for my money, the greatest cookbook series ever published (up until next month, that is) is still Time Life's The Good Cook series. A 28-volume series whose chief consultant was the great Richard Olney, the scope and breadth of the work is simply amazing, in my opinion. Great photos, great writing and great educational technique are all there. Now, that's just my opinion, and I'm wondering what everyone else thinks about this.

Q&A with the Modernist Cuisine Team The Society for Culinary Arts and Letters is thrilled to be able to offer this Q&A with the team behind Modernist Cuisine: The Art & Science of Cooking. This ground-breaking multivolume work has spawned two discussion topics, one focusing on the book and one devoted to cooking with the book. In this topic, we will have the unprecedented opportunity to explore the book's development, design, and production with the team that made it happen. The book authors -- Nathan Myhrvold (Society member nathanm), Chris Young, and Maxime Bilet -- worked with editor-in-chief Wayt Gibbs to answer several questions we posed. The team also shares for the first time a multipage arc of content that traverses several volumes across a crucial content area: how understanding the weirdness of water can benefit your understanding of cooking. (Please click on the thumbnails of each page below to see a larger image.) What follows provides an opportunity to get to know Modernist Cuisine that much better, a book that many are hailing as one of the most important publications in the history of cooking. In addition to the excerpts and initial Q&As, Wayt Gibbs will respond on behalf of the MC team to your questions. We hope that you enjoy this opportunity to take a glimpse at this remarkable book.

I picked up this book recently and had my first chance to cook with it this evening. I was drawn to it because many of the recipes within can be made with simple, fresh ingredients that I can easily locate. And couscous, which I can get at the Carrefour. The first thing I did was set some preserved lemons going: This is the simple, four-day method that calls for lemons boiled in brine for about a half hour; then covered in oil. Then, the chicken roasted with honey, cinnamon, and ginger - Roast Chicken with Couscous, Raisin, and Almond Stuffing, p. 92. The top got too close to my element, but it tasted exceptional. The honey sauce that drips off the chicken is just the thing for drenching the couscous with to serve. The only ingredient I couldn't get was the orange-flower water, which I simply left out. On the side, I made the Mashed Eggplant and Tomato Salad, p. 42 because I'll eat eggplant served up pretty much any way I can. Really good. I plan on making this throughout the summer - with bread and cheese it would be enough for dinner on a hot night. I only wish I had better quality olives. There was plenty for leftovers for lunch, too. Once the lemons are done, I've got the chicken, olive, and preserved lemon tagine bookmarked to try. If anyone else has got this book, I'd be interested in seeing what you've tried or hearing what's good.

I've been looking through a lot of old cookbooks and culinary magazines on Google books and noticed this. Apparently, if you want to avoid getting sick in the winter, you should eat lots of fat. I guess it was most shocking to me because in todays overly cautious world, virtually nobody would suggest to increase you fat intake for nearly any reason. http://books.google.com/books?id=E1kBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA327&img=1&zoom=3&hl=en&sig=ACfU3U01NhL6dSdPr4csM9bYjhWd8FDBOw&ci=29%2C156%2C914%2C1248&edge=0 Has anybody else noticed similar items in their old books?

Today's email from Leite's Culinaria was headed with a note about "The Fat Lady" and clicking on Fat Lady took me to Jennifer's Blog. Heading it is the post about her new cookbook coming out in September. For those who do love "The Rest of the Animal" this looks to be a great addition to a cook's library. I discovered that I have other books by this author. I've long been a proponent of "natural" fats (as have many others in this forum) and I'm surprised I had forgotten the "Fat" cookbook, which I purchased some two years ago and managed to shuffle aside with a stack of others books acquired about the same time. I also have "Bones" and found it after reading about roasted marrow bones in another thread on this forum.

eG Forums topic on Modernist Cuisine by Nathan Myhrvold & Chris Young. Society-friendly link to their multi-volume book on Amazon. As the above topic indicates, Society members are pretty excited about the arrival of the multi-volume MC package. Thanks to the generosity of the MC team, a few Society members have been granted access for two weeks to an online version of the book. (Here's my initial reaction.) Our exposure to this remarkable project is prompting one major reaction: what should we cook first?!? Thus this topic, a place where we can all discuss what we'll do and how we'll do it, then compare notes about what did (and didn't) happen. Along the way, we can also share kludges, sources, photos, and the like. Indeed, cooking many of the things in MC may require a bit more preparation than other cookbooks, whether it be sourcing some sodium hexametaphosphate or getting your hands on a chamber vacuum sealer. But that's not to say that every dish need be a hydrocolloid-n-liquid-nitrogen showpiece taking the better part of a week. Volume 6, the Kitchen Manual, is filled with recipes for everything from house cocktail bitters to potato purée, from SV stock to hamburger buns. I, for one, plan to start with some basics! There's some content already available online at the Modernist Cuisine website, and those of us with access to the online copy may get started a bit early to whet your appetite. Of course, next month, we'll all have copies to cook from. Because you bought it, right?

Has anyone found any old public domain cookbooks or books on food in Google books? I've done a little searching but mostly end up with books using food as a metaphor.