Ideas in Food

[Tri2Cook]

I'm really looking forward to this one.

[Chris Amirault]

I agree. Alex, what can you tell us about it? Where do things stand?

[RedRum]

the two of the most influential chefs in my life at the moment, completely having changed the way I cook and think of food. For me they are as influential as McGee, This and Heston. Some of their ideas are amazing, like the re-hydration of dry pasta, or the agar clarification of liquids. I just cook for fun at home, but some of their ideas have allowed me to create some amazing dishes. My latest triumph is a pasta dish where the pasta was re-hydrated in parmesan water. Only served it with a bit of butter, pepper and parmesan shavings, and made a chef friend of mine go bonkers. He works in Greece and the dish will soon be part of his menu!

Really looking forward to the cookbook.

[joesan]

Me too will definitely be buying. They are tremendously inventive and full of creativity.

Compared to others like Michael Laiskonis (who is astoundingly generous with his recipes and techniques on his blog) they don't seem to give away much on their blog as regards in depth details. I guess that's understandable though if they're planning on selling a cookbook.

I'm really looking forward to reading some of their techniques and recipes in depth. While some of their blog entries can be a little, how can I put it, florid the actual recipes that are on the site are very well written and clear. Should be a great read.

[twodogs]

the book is an evolution of ideas in food. it blends the science and creativity of our cooking in a compilation of essays accented with recipes.

[adey73]

Please Alex, Metric measurements too?

And if you do requests; all your Cavatelli recipes.. And.. And...

Edited September 24, 2009 by adey73 (log)

[twodogs]

yes, metric and yes, cavatelli, not all of them, rather we will have a pasta chapter

[docsconz]

No doubt the book will give greater insight into specific dishes than either the website or the blog, but that isn't really the purpose of their online presence. As the name suggest, it is all about batting around ideas and both looking for and supplying inspiration. Having had quite a bit of their cooking over time, I can without a doubt say that their ideas are based on a solid understanding of food, flavor and technique. They really work. The book should be a masterpiece. This along with the upcoming book from Nathan Myhrvold and Chris Young (also about 1 year away) are at the top of my wish list.

[Tri2Cook]

No doubt the book will give greater insight into specific dishes than either the website or the blog, but that isn't really the purpose of their online presence. As the name suggest, it is all about batting around ideas and both looking for and supplying inspiration.

That's how I've always viewed the site. When they do share a specific recipe or technique, it's fun because you see exactly how they approached the idea but it's the ideas themselves that inspire me the most. Then I think wow, that's a really cool concept... I wonder how I can twist that to my own purposes? At this point, their book is at the top of my "books to look forward to" list. The only way I can see it being bumped to #2, or at least a tie for #1, is if Michael Laiskonis were to announce a book (sorry about that Alex but I'm a pastry guy at heart).

[Chris Amirault]

It's finally out -- click here for a Society-friendly Amazon link.

Anyone have it yet? Mine's just been ordered.

[edsel]

It's finally out -- click here for a Society-friendly Amazon link.

Anyone have it yet? Mine's just been ordered.

Mine arrived last week (I had it on pre-order). I've only had time to thumb through it, but it looks to be quite useful.

[mkayahara]

I got mine the other day, and have been trying to find time to read it between cleaning up from the holidays and getting back up to speed with work. It's certainly tantalizing (though I think I've caught one or two errors in it or, at the very least, awkward phrasings). I'll be making my first preparation from it tomorrow, if all goes well.

[Chris Amirault]

Awkward phrasings such as...?

[mkayahara]

Awkward phrasings such as...?

Such as this:

Salts are created when acids and bases react with one another. A transformation occurs when there is a partial or total replacement of a negatively charged atom with a positively charged metal atom, resulting in sodium.

Admittedly, it's been a long time since high school chemistry, but that doesn't sound quite right to me.

[mkayahara]

I hasten to add - though perhaps not hastily enough - that minor glitches like the one I named above in no way detract from my appreciation or enjoyment of the book. Having read further into it today, I can safely say that there are so many starting points here that I'm sure I'll return to it again and again for... well, for ideas in food. (I'm already plotting to buy a pressure cooker.) There's a generosity of spirit at work here that I think is characteristic of the authors. I'm looking forward to reading the rest.

[MattyC]

Pre-ordered mine, got it last Tuesday when it came out. Got through the whole thing pretty quick.

Great book, although if you've been following 'Ideas in food' for years, you'll find a few things in the book fine-tunings of previous ideas they have talked about - which isn't to say that's a bad thing, not at all, just some things may look familiar.

It does very much convey the curiosity and spirit of Aki and Alex, so even if you've experienced some of the recipes and ideas they toss around in the book, it's just as thought provoking as anything else they have contributed to, and for that alone, is more than enough I would think for anyone to buy the book. Already made a few people order the book, as I think this is one of those 'everyone needs to have' kind of books.

[twodogs]

this neutralization is the definition of salts forming in chemistry so other than evaporation which we know produces salt, this describes how salts were formed in general. we used sodium in the example but it applies to potassium salts etc.

thanks for diving in

[MelissaH]

Awkward phrasings such as...?

Such as this:

Salts are created when acids and bases react with one another. A transformation occurs when there is a partial or total replacement of a negatively charged atom with a positively charged metal atom, resulting in sodium.

Admittedly, it's been a long time since high school chemistry, but that doesn't sound quite right to me.

this neutralization is the definition of salts forming in chemistry so other than evaporation which we know produces salt, this describes how salts were formed in general. we used sodium in the example but it applies to potassium salts etc.

thanks for diving in

There are two different ways of making salts in the two sentences quoted above.

The first refers to a neutralization reaction, such as would happen if you mixed solutions of hydrochloric acid (HCl) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH) to make a (warm) solution of sodium chloride (NaCl). Intro chem classes often do this.

The second is the part I have more of a problem with, because you can't just swap out an anion (one that's negatively charged) for a catanion (one that's positively charged), as is implied in the above sentence. If you tried to write a reaction doing that on a test in one of my intro chem classes, I'd mark you wrong. You'd wind up with an unbalanced, and unbalanceable, reaction (not to mention a physical impossibility).

You can, however, make sodium chloride via a redox reaction, one where electrons move: mix sodium metal (neutral) and chlorine gas (Cl₂, also neutral), and you'll get electrons moving, flames, and sodium chloride (NaCl). You might see this as a

in a chemistry class, but it's not something students would typically do themselves. The atoms in the sodium metal will each lose an electron and become sodium cations (Na⁺). Each of the atoms in the chlorine molecules will gain an electron and become a chloride anion (Cl^-). The balanced chemical reaction would be:

2 Na + Cl₂ —> 2NaCl

I don't have my copy of the book handy to see if the context clarifies what's quoted above.

MelissaH

[chef.vaizard]

I'm ONLY on the vinegar section, and I think this is the best $13 I've spent all year! (It's also ONLY the 6th day into 2011, but that's irrelevant).

If I could, I'd read through this book in one sitting, and continually refer to it throughout the year.

I'm interested to hear from anyone that has also read Harold McGee's new tome, and also Cooking for Geeks to get a comparison. Obviously content and perspective would be different, since Alex and Aki are professional chefs and Harold and Jeff (since we're all on a first name basis- I'm Jonathan by the way) aren't. I'm interested to hear someones perspective on how these three books, which share subject matter, compare and contrast.

[Msk]

I haven't read this book cover to cover yet, but it is long on content and techniques. It's very different than I thought it would be in that there are no pictures (at least in the kindle version). But some of the techniques and the possibilities they offer are very exciting to me.

I made the Mac and Cheese using the "Pasta Hydration" technique and it was awesome. To me this book is not about recipes per se, but a highlight of an interesting technique that you can bring your own spin to. The balance between sceince and pragmatism in the kitchen is pretty amazing here.

Mike