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"Modernist Cuisine at Home" by Myhrvold and Bilet

Chris Hennes

By Chris Hennes
in Cookbooks & References

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Chris Hennes

Chris Hennes

Posted
Posted (edited)

Modernist Cuisine was released just over a year ago to much acclaim (we're cooking with it in this topic), but there was an immediate clamor for a more home-cook-friendly volume: as nathanm mentioned here, that clamor is being answered in October 2012 with the forthcoming Modernist Cuisine at Home (eG-friendly amazon.com page).

From nathanm's post on the book:

MCAH is basically all new material. A few of the most popular recipes from MC are carried over, like mac and cheese, but even these have been re-done to be easier to make in a home kitchen.

If you already have MC, then we think of this as being like volume 6 - i.e. a volume covering home cuisine. There is very little duplication of topics between MC and MCAH - about the only ones I can think of are some coverage of sous vide technique, and some basic recipes like stocks, but even there the MCAH versions are different and adapted for the home.

I've been doing a lot of cooking from the original Modernist Cuisine set and it has resulted in some of the very best food I've ever produced, and in some cases the best I've ever eaten: so of course another volume was a no-brainer for me. It's still not cheap, but I'm pretty stoked about it. Eater has an interview with Myhrvold here with some more details. Who's in?

Edited 6/27 to add: book homepage and table of contents.

Edited by Chris Hennes (log)

Chris Hennes
Director of Operations
chennes@egullet.org

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tomh

tomh

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Posted

I'm just starting to do some of the recipes from MC now but over the last months or so I have used/applyd stuff from it. I am looking forward to this next "volume". Probably looking at collecting everything that comes out of that organisation/lab

tom

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Sheik

Sheik

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Count me in, enjoyed MC very much but it's a hard sell.

I've been trying to convince other people to buy MC, but there are a few hurdles I hope MCAH will solve those:

- price

- size

- Title of the book. For most people the title is misleading. They think is purely a molecular cooking book(s). So they conclude it's a heafty price for something they will not use.

It's only when they come to my home and have a look into my MC books that they realise there so much more to it than just molecular cooking. And that's when price and size becomes less of a problem.

But when comes MCP (pastery) ? Tommorow? :wink:

Helo

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DanM

DanM

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I'm in too! Does anyone know yet what will be covered in this book?

"Salt is born of the purest of parents: the sun and the sea." --Pythagoras.

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ChrisZ

ChrisZ

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I just had a look at the Cooks Forum over at the Modernist Cuisine website, and it looks like only 79 recipes have been commented on. Out of the 1500+ in the books, this is not many at all suggesting that most of the recipes in the books are not attempted, even by those keen enough to sign up for the website (which demonstrates a certain level of enthusiasm in itself...)

The recipe with the most comments by far is the caramelised carrot soup- this recipe is simple, carrots are cheap, the only piece of equipment needed is a pressure cooker, and it tastes delicious. The comments on the forum about the soup are overwhelmingly positive.

If there are more recipes in MC@home that are as accessible as that one, and that tick the same simple, cheap & tasty boxes, then the book is sure to be a hit.

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avaserfi

avaserfi

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The real purpose of MC isn't the recipes, but the techniques. I use what I've learned from Modernist virtually every time I cook. That said, I've attempted a number of recipes from the series and have not documented all the work which means I haven't posted about my experiences with them.

Andrew Vaserfirer aka avaserfi

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KennethT

KennethT

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Posted

The real purpose of MC isn't the recipes, but the techniques. I use what I've learned from Modernist virtually every time I cook. That said, I've attempted a number of recipes from the series and have not documented all the work which means I haven't posted about my experiences with them.

+1. My sentiments exactly.

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ChrisZ

ChrisZ

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Oh I also agree- I often pick up the volumes and re-read chapters. I've attempted less than 10 recipes in the whole series, yet I read and re-read it more than any other "cookbook" I've ever owned. Volume 1, which doesn't contain any recipes at all, has possibly been the most influential for me with the way it covers hygiene.

There is no doubt that the original 5 volumes have been a huge success - I think they've sold more than 10x the number they thought they would, based on their initial print run of 5000 vs current sales figures close to 50,000. So I would hate to be mis-interpreted as suggesting the books are not successful because not everyone is attempting every recipe.

My point was that the caramelised carrot soup recipe (and the mac & cheese recipe) show a lot of demand and interest in recipes that are more accessible. I can't wait :-)

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Chris Hennes

Chris Hennes

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Nice: here's the main table of contents they list there—

Chapter 1: Countertop Tools

Chapter 2: Conventional Cooking Gear

Chapter 3: Cooking Sous Vide

Chapter 4: Ingredients

Chapter 5: Basics

Chapter 6: Breakfast Eggs

Chapter 7: Salads and Cold Soups

Chapter 8: Pressure-Cooked Vegetable Soups

Chapter 9: Steak

Chapter 10: Cheeseburger

Chapter 11: Carnitas

Chapter 12: Braised Short Ribs

Chapter 13: Roast Chicken

Chapter 14: Chicken Wings

Chapter 15: Chicken Noodle Soup

Chapter 16: Salmon

Chapter 17: Shellfish

Chapter 18: Pizza

Chapter 19: Mac and Cheese

Chapter 20: Risotto and Paella

Chapter 21: Cornmeal

Chapter 22: Dishes for the Microwave

Chapter 23: Custards and Pies

Chris Hennes
Director of Operations
chennes@egullet.org

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