"Modernist Cuisine" by Myhrvold, Young & Bilet (Part 2)

[Jose Nieves]

After I get through the "flipping-through" phase, I'll need to come up with a strategy to actually read and try to absorb the whole thing. What approach would work best? Just start on page 1 of volume 1 and work your way through?

My wife always asks if I'm experiencing didactical osmosis when she finds me dozing off with a book covering my face. How much does each of the volumes weigh? Someone somewhere must have an equation that deals with time and weigh of product on a subject's forehead.

[Aotearoan]

I'm on holiday and my books are supposedly waiting for me at home in Zürich, UPS let my neighbours sign for them and left them at the "Front Desk" wherever that is. Gotta love the honesty/trust of the Swiss...

[vengroff]

The New Yorker article is what someone with Ruhlman's abilities should have written...

I completely agree.

[Chris Amirault]

A particularly well-written and humorous excerpt on the food safety and hygiene angle that has taken some heat:

The discussion of poo-eating in “Modernist Cuisine” is exhaustive, convincing, and gag-inducing. According to the microbiologist Philip Tierno, “We’re basically bathed in feces as a society.” “Bathed in feces”—not words you often read in a cookbook, but apparently poo-eating accounts for about eighty per cent of all food-related illness. Also, cat litter in the kitchen? Bad news. Toxoplasma gondii, a species of protozoa present in cat litter, kills three hundred and seventy-five Americans a year, and perpetuates itself through cat feces in a freaky way: when rodents eat toxoplasmii, their brain chemistry is changed so that they develop an attraction to the smell of cats. There’s no happy ending.

[jorach]

Still says it should be delivered by tomorrow, but hasn't shipped yet. No email - Ordered in February.

Amazon don't know shit.

Aaron, you ordered yours 5 or 6 months after I ordered mine and you are getting yours 2 months before me. You should be thankful. They are not being shipped in order.

He probably isn't getting his before you; he just hasn't gotten the delay email yet.

[markmcc]

I'm the writer of the Wired piece discussed a little bit above -- would like to just respond to a couple of things:

The claim that modernism is imploding is more of a leap than the evidence can support.

You'll note that I didn't write "imploding." I wrote "waning." Which I think is the case -- you can argue the point, but please don't put words in my mouth.

El Bulli is not closing as in going out of business. It is closing to retool as part of a nonprofit foundation and the planned reopening is for 2014. It goes into its hiatus as the top restaurant in the world -- not because, for example, the clientele got old and the food got boring.

Achatz and Kokonas are opening an arguably non-modernist restaurant (if anything it is postmodern), Next, but Alinea is still going strong. Alinea and Achatz are currently emphasizing the emotional component of food, and it's true that Achatz in public appearances is saying we're moving beyond modernism, but the Alinea kitchen remains resolutely non-traditional and high-tech.

elBulli as a non-profit foundation and creativity workshop is pretty clearly not the same thing as elBulli, the top restaurant in the world. Again, I don't claim that it's closing for a lack of popularity. And I'm very familiar with the popularity and outlook of Alinea, as I wrote a chapter of the Alinea book. Talking to Grant about this, he's of the opinion that "It’s clear that the tide is turning. I don’t think many chefs will continue to take the wholehearted scientific approach.” I happen to agree.

That 6,000 copies of this $500 book have been snapped up is just amazing. That the current internal debate is whether to order 20,000 or 25,000 more is pretty strong evidence that modernism is not imploding. Rather, it seems to evidence that the trickle down has been profound in its extent. Home cooks using the Sous Vide Supreme, etc.

I totally agree, which is actually the point of the two paragraphs in question -- that modernist techniques are moving beyond being an avant-garde, artistic movement, and simply becoming part of any educated chefs toolkit.

And Modernist Cuisine, the book, will be a huge driver in making that happen.

[AaronM]

Finally got the infamous delay email.

April 25 - May 13th.

[FrogPrincesse]

New multi page Modernist Cuisine article in new yorker

Edit: more accurately it is an article on modernist cuisine in general, not just the book

New Yorker article

Nice to see that egullet is mentioned in the opening sentence of the article!

[karnesky]

I don't think that we have had a lot of orders we can trace to libraries yet. I expect it will take a while for librarians to learn about the book and order through their channels. The web sites above say that a lot depends on whether the librarians see demand, so asking the book at your library would probably help.

I hope that we will get library orders, so people who can't afford the book will get access to it.

I sent a request to our library here in Oakland. I ordered my own copy, but I like the idea of our library having one.

I am not sure how the economics of library acquisitions work. I think Cory Doctorow had some sort of system for sponsors to give copies of one of his books to libraries that asked, but I also think that the SF library ends up selling every book they receive (new or old) at their fund raising sales. Anyone know if some libraries may have a system to allow for directed donations to influence purchasing decisions?

[abadoozy]

Anyone know if some libraries may have a system to allow for directed donations to influence purchasing decisions?

I know my local small-town library takes direct book donations, and even puts your name in the front of the book with a "Donated by..." label.

If I had the extra cash, I'd buy them a copy of Modernist Cuisine, if only to balance out the huge number of vegan-related books (cookbooks, books on health, books on vegan lifestyle) that the local vegan group has purchased and donated. Unfortunately I'm not so wealthy that I can spare the cash to buy them a copy. Maybe someday!

[OliverB]

well, as I expected, I just got bumped into late April, Early May, but that's fine with me, I'd not mind to get the book on my birthday in May, I kind of prematurely ordered it for that occasion anyway

Maybe I'll actually cook something from my other 250+ book in the mean time

[Chris Hennes]

Different libraries make the decision in different ways, but for most the fundamental question is: do our patrons receive greater value by our putting this book on the shelf, or in our selling it and using the proceeds to buy other books? So no matter what, you should ask for the book at the information desk: if they don't know anyone wants it, it's hard to justify keeping it!

[Rob Babcock]

I apologize if I missed it in buried somewhere in this thread, but will the books be available individually? While I'm sure it's worth the money that's a lot of cash all at once.

[Carlovski]

Wow - when did eGullet turn into a book shipping logistics forum

Joking aside, I won't be buying it, can't afford it at the moment, but then again there are lot's of things I can't afford right now.

The pricing aspect is interesting. If you asked the average man on the street if they would pay that much for a set of books, I imagine the answer is 'Hell no!'

But, I imagine that a large majority of people who are buying it have spent that much (or more) on a meal, correct?

I you then rephrase the question to the average man on the street 'Would you buy a set of books (explaining the research involved, the high quality printing and photography etc) for the cost of a meal out? Then the answer may well be yes (Of course it could equally be, me buy a book?)

I am sure there are plenty of art and photgraphy books with a similar price tag. And not that long ago technical reference manuals definitely were (Before everything moved online).

So no issue for me over the price, that being said is there any chance of these ever being sold as separate volumes (This may have been asked already). More chance of the more financially challenged of us getting involved in the fun then!

Carl

[Chris Amirault]

Somewhere up-topic Nathan said that there are no current plans to sell them as individual volumes. Frustrating though that may sound, it would not compare to the frustration you'd feel if you had only one and tried to dive in! The entire set is so thoroughly cross-referenced that I regularly have at least two, and usually three, volumes open at any given time.

[johnder]

I am still hoping for a iPad/ebook version. Seems the cross referencing and linking would make it ideal for a platform like that. Not to mention reduced printing costs.

[Carlovski]

I thought that might be the case, I could also see more people buying the plated dish recipe volume, not being able to do anything without the other volumes and it disappearing back onto the bookshelf after writing a 1-star review.

P.S Anyone else seen the rather ridiculous and somewhat tasteless 1-star review on Amazon now?

[roygon]

P.S Anyone else seen the rather ridiculous and somewhat tasteless 1-star review on Amazon now?

It's kind of ridiculous that Amazon let's you review something that you have never purchased

[Wholemeal Crank]

What's making me obsessed about delivery times are how often I keep thinking to myself, "I wonder if I'll find a better way to do this when I get my copy of MC" as I'm cooking or thinking about cooking or reading other cookbooks. Just last night, reading the introduction to Dance of Spices, reviewing the role of heating spices in oil and releasing layers of flavor, I'm wondering about release vs loss of flavor, when is the gain of more accessible flavor elements balanced out by the loss of volatiles in the heating, and what does MC have to say about that? And should I prep some new batches of stock now, as the pantry shelves are nearly empty of it, or wait until I get my copy? Oddly paralyzing, when I consider that a few months ago this was not even on my radar.

[GordonCooks]

The book is lovely to peruse, when does the one on winemaking come out?

[angevin]

The book is lovely to peruse, when does the one on winemaking come out?

OMG...please...no, no NO!!!

[Fat Guy]

There's a healthy amount of wine material in there. I think the one big omission, which was intentional, is pastry. The pastry arts, always the first to embrace modernism, could easily fill an additional volume. Unless you go very esoteric, I can't think of another big area that feels like it could someday need another volume.

[LoftyNotions]

There's a healthy amount of wine material in there. I think the one big omission, which was intentional, is pastry. The pastry arts, always the first to embrace modernism, could easily fill an additional volume. Unless you go very esoteric, I can't think of another big area that feels like it could someday need another volume.

I agree with you, Fat Guy. After Nathan gets done with Pastry if he has any energy left he could do his 3rd opus on fermentative processes, including wine, beer, cheese, dry cured meat products...

Just kidding, Nathan!

[roygon]

There's a healthy amount of wine material in there. I think the one big omission, which was intentional, is pastry. The pastry arts, always the first to embrace modernism, could easily fill an additional volume. Unless you go very esoteric, I can't think of another big area that feels like it could someday need another volume.

I agree with you, Fat Guy. After Nathan gets done with Pastry if he has any energy left he could do his 3rd opus on fermentative processes, including wine, beer, cheese, dry cured meat products...

Just kidding, Nathan!

I for one would love to see a volume on flavor combinations. I think their team, probably better than anyone else, is capable of taking this field and blowing it wide open.

rg

[OliverB]

while I don't have it yet, I'm not sure it would work well on the computer or ipad, I think it would be way too easy to get completely lost by following all the links and cross references, wondering 4hr later what it was you were gonna cook. At least that's what often happens to me on wikipedia, where I'm sometimes not quite sure what it was I looked up to begin with