Books are always the best gifts. Any bibliophile knows this, but for fancier volumes there is always the risk of gifting a pricey doorstop. The Science of Good Cooking certainly qualifies as a doorstop at 486 pages and almost 11 by 9 inches. I decided to get it for my son’s sixteenth birthday to encourage his known interest in chemistry and a burgeoning interest in cooking. Happily, it has been a rewarding gift on many levels. It was worth every penny to come home one day to a scrumptious meal of fried chicken, creamed corn and salad that my son had cooked. And the book was an even better deal because, besides from my strong self-interest in getting my teenagers in the kitchen, I know I can always improve my own cooking skills.
I was paging through the book one evening looking for something to grab me, and I was instantly snaffled up by the section called “Cocoa Powder Delivers Big Flavor.” Since I am inclined to be smug about cooking from scratch I am embarrassed to admit that I have only ever made something approximating chocolate mousse by the method of empty-powder-from-box-into-milk-and-whisk. So mousse it was! Whilst making the mousse, I discovered (or more accurately confirmed) that I am lazy. I knew that maximum volume in beaten egg whites requires a bowl completely free of oil. I only have one bowl for my stand mixer and I had just made it greasy with the previous ingredients, and making it clean for the egg whites hand involved washing a bowl, that although greasy, was safe to eat from. My first inclination was to put it in the dishwasher, but that would have taken too long, so the only answer was to use a dirty bowl and egg white volume be darned! The resulting mousse, although not at maximum volume, still tasted very good…
After my mousse adventure I still have plenty more to go. As I read in the section on eggs, subheading: “Starches at work – Quiche,” the proteins in raw egg whites and yolks are long chains of amino acids coiled up in balls (p 190). Who knew? When I was a vegetarian for 11 years, quiche was a significant part of my repertoire. Now it is greeted with a great deal less than enthusiasm when I present it to my unrepentantly carnivorous family. It did seem to get tougher and drier over the years, so I am looking forward to finding out the scientific secret to superb quiche.
I recommend this book for any cookbook fan. It has a variety of great recipes, although I found the organisation idiosyncratic. And it is a great book for sneaky people like me who want to feel noble that I am doing something “scientific” when I really just want to eat chocolate mousse.
Check the WRL catalog for The Science of Good Cooking.
Blogging for a Good Book 
Your son is lucky, once upon a team I was studying for a degree in chemistry and enjoying cooking for a flat of 6 students and would have loved a book like this!
When I was flatting with big groups of students I learned a lot about cooking from them. I had learned the basics when I lived at home, but my mother thought spaghetti was exotic, so it was exciting to expand my repertoire from The Moosewood Cookbook and the Enchanted Broccoli Forest!
Jan
Wow…This is amazing stuff.Loved it and have shared. Looking forward for more.Alex,Thanks.
Are you seriously telling me that one of your teenage sons MADE YOU DINNER??? Without you standing over him watching every move? I made mine boiled perogies the other day, arguing the entire time with him that he should at least put the water on to boil (too hard), put the perogies in the water (too hot) and put his own butter on (didn’t know how). Didn’t know how to put the butter on!!!!! And I know he knows all these things because for several months this winter he was in charge of cooking all our suppers. So I KNOW he knows how to do it. Maybe I need to buy this book.
Yes, my youngest son, made a delicious dinner for all of us. I wish I could say it happens every week, but so far it has been a one-off event except for the times he’s forced to boil spaghetti and add canned sauce. I live in hope for more!
Jan
Oh, it was Pete. I believe that. Thought you meant one of the twins. There’s hope yet for Pete.
Can’t wait to try the chocolate mousse – I’ve never tried it with cocoa powder before. Sounds like a really interesting books – thanks for the suggestion.
That is a great idea of a present for my sons too. I think they’d love it. It is available in the UK, just checked. Great blog thanks.
torthe
Let us know how it works out with your sons. My son has still only presented us with that one completed meal, but I have seen him reading it, so there is hope yet!
Jan
Best chocolate mousse I’ve ever made – and I’ve made a lot!
Thanks so much for the recommendation.