"Modernist Cuisine" by Myhrvold, Young & Bilet (Part 3)

[curls]

I ordered from Amazon 21 April, got my shipping notice today! The books will be here soon!!!

[jonnycookie]

I ordered my copy from Barnes and Noble July 3rd. When do you think the book would come? B&N.com says September 16th, but this doesn't seem very accurate compared to what I've been hearing. The main reason I want to know is because school starts for me mid August, and I want to know if I'll have time to start reading a lot of it before school starts.

[MrT]

First post here. Just wanted to say that mine has just arrived in Australia. After a 3 month wait since ordering it, it only took 5 days to get here from Amazon (over a weekend - it actually landed Downunder 2 days after it was sent, but I had to wait until Monday for delivery - not bad for $17 postage!!). First impressions - wow! It is sitting in the middle of the living room at the moment like "the Monolith" from 2001 - new knowledge awaits...

[MrT]

Hmmmm. Maybe my excitement was a bit too soon. I think I've ended up with a first printing, not second printing - when I check against some of the errata items on the MC website, the errors are in the copies I have. Is there any definitive way of checking which print run I've got? All I can see on the copyright page is "First edition, 2011". I'd assumed that anything that was shipped last week would have to be second printing - wouldn't it??

[larryroohr]

Received my copy yesterday here in Colorado. I was on the fence over the price, but after a brief flip through and some reading I'm glad I bought it. The kitchen manual is such an excellent idea/thing. It's as though this is just what I was looking for, and I didn't know I was looking for anything.

My copy does not have several errata items I checked corrected either.

Larry

[alanjesq]

I have a thanks too. I have just finished reading all volumes of MC. Just outstanding.

alanjesq

[AlexP]

Apologies if this has been said before, but difficult to figure out...

When I go to MC site and to the retailers that they listed, the book is not available right now. I do not want to pre order it, but buy it when it is available.

Does anybody know when another print will be distributed? Is the demand so high that pre ordering is the only option?

Thanks

[StefanS]

See what nathanm posts above, he is the author. The first printing (6,000 copies) is sold out long time ago. The second printing (25,000 copies) is being printed, and shipped as we speak. All books in second printing is not printed yet. If Nathans prediction is correct the current backlog is very soon to be over and the book should be in stock. So you should only need to wait 1-2 weeks.

Edited July 29, 2011 by StefanS (log)

[AlexP]

Thanks I obviously missed Nathanm post.

Now, if I can figure out a way to hide the purchase from my wife...

[StefanS]

Sorry cannot help you with that, it is a book that is hard to hide :-) both because of size and price, but it is worth it!!!

[dmg]

As you probably know, the MC team has published a PDF with the concordance of the kitchen manual (thank you, thank you MC team)!

One suggestion to those wanting to print it double sided. Print it double sided starting in page 2, not from page 1. The reason is that the PDF assumes that it starts on the left-hand side page (the even page), not the right hand side (the odd page). So you are better off printing page 1 by itself, and then printing the rest double side. That way the big letters at the corner of the page and the page numbers will be on the non-bound side.

--dmg

[lesliec]

Good tip, dmg - thanks.

And definitely thanks to MC for publishing the Kitchen Manual index. It's going to be very useful.

[Robert Jueneman]

I have the first printing, originally ordered June 25, 2010!

And I've now gone through a pad and a half of Post-It notes, updating the book with the errata for Volumes 1 - 5, and about to start on the KM. I only bothered to note the serious errors -- the grammatical and spelling errors would have taken two or perhaps three pads of notes.

I do a lot of technical writing myself, and it is easy to understand how these kinds of errors creep in, sometimes caused by spell checkers automatically "correcting" my dyslexic fingers -- "yoke" for "yolk," for example. However, it is much harder to understand why a decent editor or technical writer wouldn't have caught most of these before they went to press. Similarly, the stupid errors in conversion between Celsius and Fahrenheit, and the scaling percentages, certainly should have been caught. A college freshman could have done it.

I am seriously thinking about buying a second printing, just to clean up these mistakes, and trying to sell the first printing to a collector. Unfortunately, even that printing still doesn't contain a useful index to the Kitchen Manual -- you have to get it on-line. Sigh. Maybe in the third printing?

Of course, the most egregious error in the entire set is the claim that when cooking eggs, only temperature, and not time, is all that matters. That wasn't a typo, but a fundamental lack of understanding and experimentation, as we now know from the "Culinary Biophysics: On the nature of the 6XC Egg," article by César Vega & Ruben Mercadé-Prieto. That hasn't even made it onto the errata list yet, but it certainly should.

There is no question that the MC set is an awesome contribution, eclipsing Escoffier, Julia Child, and most others, and extending our knowledge into areas pioneered by Ferran Adria, Heston Blumenthal, and Grant Achatz. But cleaning up the errors is still a work in progress.

[gdenby]

Of course, the most egregious error in the entire set is the claim that when cooking eggs, only temperature, and not time, is all that matters. That wasn't a typo, but a fundamental lack of understanding and experimentation...

Umm, I took that to mean that 10 hours at 130 F would simply not set the proteins like a minute at 170 F, for example. Obviously, if you have a dozen yolks blended together they won't set as fast as a single one.

So, am I wrong? Can an egg cooked at 120 - 130 for a day give the same result as a few minutes at 150?

[Cola-Bear]

I am seriously thinking about buying a second printing, just to clean up these mistakes, and trying to sell the first printing to a collector. Unfortunately, even that printing still doesn't contain a useful index to the Kitchen Manual -- you have to get it on-line. Sigh. Maybe in the third printing?

I know that same feeling, however I remember someone wondering on the MC website if they'd be willing to print just a run of the Kitchen Manuals with the corrections for those people who bought the first printing as it would most likely be the document used for reference when in the kitchen. I don't know if it would be something we could recommend to the MC team but would anyone else be interested in that?

[jonnycookie]

I ordered my copy on July 3rd (from Barnes and Noble) and it arrived yesterday. Wow. It is a truly beautiful, and amazing book. I'm only on page 44, but already I've learned so much about this history of food, much more than any other cookbook. This is a must have.

[curls]

Nathan Myhrvold was on the Kojo Nnamdi show yesterday. Here is the link to hear the radio interview. Kojo Nnamdi has a show on WAMU.org, American University Radio.

[&roid]

Any news on the arrival of the second edition in the UK? I have one on order from Amazon but not heard a peep from them yet.

I'm amusing myself with the excellent Ideas in Food right now (can't believe I haven't bought this book sooner!).

[Keith_W]

Received my copy yesterday. I paid a deposit for the second print run soon after the first run sold out back in February. I received an email notifying me that it had arrived on the docks on the 11th, but was finally released from customs on the 18th. Reason - it arrived in a wood pallet from China, and any imported wood has to be fumigated and quarantined!

I was pretty shocked by the size of the box, especially since I went to the bookshop in my small car:

It only juuuuust fits in the boot. I was up late reading this thing - a truly exceptional book. I have never encountered anything of this scope, with such high production values before.

[ajnicholls]

I'm sure that the owners of the 1st edition would love to get hold of the 10x8 photos that are included with the second edition. Is there any way this could be done?

Adam

[OliverB]

I had the same thought! We early supporters of the project (by preordering etc) should get the same bonbons! And a fixed manual w/o errors too IMO, I'd even pay (a reasonable amount) for it....

[nickrey]

I know the MC team are reticent to have kitchen manuals circulating by themselves, and for good reason. How about giving us the option of forwarding our old ones to you to swap for the new one? That way you know there are no errant manuals floating around independent of the sets.

Edited August 30, 2011 by nickrey (log)

[OliverB]

I'd be more than happy with Nick's idea! I can't afford to buy a 2nd set and I HATE making notes in my books or sticking postit notes all over, particularly if the book(s) are expensive. But having to double check on some pdf before attempting something is not practical either, and quite frankly, at this price, not what I think I should be doing...

I'd be delighted if I could return my manual and get a corrected one instead!

Yes, it would cost them money, but IMO there should not have been any major errors in such an expensive book. Posting the errors online is nice and commendable, but not by any means the perfect or satisfying solution. And they should add those nice prints to the package as well, I'd LOVE to put those up in my kitchen!

[chris-s]

Are there any other potential UK customers for this book, who have orders with Amazon.co.uk?

Did any of you get an email yesterday stating

"We regret to inform you that your order will take longer to fulfill than originally estimated. Our supplier has notified us that there is a delay obtaining stock for the following items you ordered on June 08 2011.

Nathan Myhrvold, Chris Young "Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking"

Or is it just me?

Given that they've already cancelled my order once, I wondering what you have to do to buy a copy of this book in the UK.

[Robert Jueneman]

I have the first printing, originally ordered June 25, 2010!

And I've now gone through a pad and a half of Post-It notes, updating the book with the errata for Volumes 1 - 5, and about to start on the KM. I only bothered to note the serious errors -- the grammatical and spelling errors would have taken two or perhaps three pads of notes.

I do a lot of technical writing myself, and it is easy to understand how these kinds of errors creep in, sometimes caused by spell checkers automatically "correcting" my dyslexic fingers -- "yoke" for "yolk," for example. However, it is much harder to understand why a decent editor or technical writer wouldn't have caught most of these before they went to press. Similarly, the stupid errors in conversion between Celsius and Fahrenheit, and the scaling percentages, certainly should have been caught. A college freshman could have done it.

I am seriously thinking about buying a second printing, just to clean up these mistakes, and trying to sell the first printing to a collector. Unfortunately, even that printing still doesn't contain a useful index to the Kitchen Manual -- you have to get it on-line. Sigh. Maybe in the third printing?

Of course, the most egregious error in the entire set is the claim that when cooking eggs, only temperature, and not time, is all that matters. That wasn't a typo, but a fundamental lack of understanding and experimentation, as we now know from the "Culinary Biophysics: On the nature of the 6XC Egg," article by César Vega & Ruben Mercadé-Prieto. That hasn't even made it onto the errata list yet, but it certainly should.

There is no question that the MC set is an awesome contribution, eclipsing Escoffier, Julia Child, and most others, and extending our knowledge into areas pioneered by Ferran Adria, Heston Blumenthal, and Grant Achatz. But cleaning up the errors is still a work in progress.

I gave up and ordered the second printing from Amazon. It was back-ordered for a few days, then shipped, leaving me nervously wondering whether it would be the first or second printing. Fortunately, it was the second. The UPS delivery lady said I had to stop buying such heavy kitchen things! Amazon initially charged me the list price of $639, but once the books became available again, they lowered the price to $461. I complained, and they promised to issue me a refund -- otherwise I was going to return the books and then buy them again!

I was able to sell the first printing to a worthy chef in Santa Fe for $400, which I thought was fair. Of course some people are offering them for prices near $2000 -- good luck!

There are still some of the non-typographical, factual errors that will probably survive until the second edition, if and when we ever see that. I can forgive that -- time marches on, and no one knows everything. But the first printing was simply egregious in terms of stupid spelling, grammatical, and conversion errors.

If you have one, buy the second printing, and sell or donate your first printing to a worthy cause.

Bob