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What Einstein Kept Under His Hat: Secrets of Science in the Kitchen by Robert L Wolke and Marlene Parrish (view source)
Revision as of 06:42, 8 August 2012
, 06:42, 8 August 2012no edit summary
If you're thinking ''SCIENCE! no, no - not for me'', calm down and think again. All the questions are given an answer which will be easily understood by anyone who has a basic command of the English language. Some subjects might benefit from a little more explanation - should you be inclined to lift the leaves to look for the fruit - and these are given ''Sidebar Science''. These sections are clearly marked and they can be read, skimmed or skipped altogether - but even they are pretty readable. Wolke has a talent for communication.
He also has a wife - Marlene Parrish - who is a noted cook and she supplies recipes where they're appropriate. Some of them are pretty tasty and I can vouch for the Sherry-browned Chicken with Garlic. Unfortunately my paperback version of the book has a very flimsy cover and it's not going to wear well if you give it a lot of use in the kitchen.
Back to Wolke himself though. The book is written with humour and you might be amused by his ''Foodie's Fictionary'' which appears at the end of some sections. These are humorous definitions of foodie words. Some have fairly universal appeal - ''Custard - the last stand in a food court'', or ''Baked Alaska - the end result of global warming'', but others (''Harvard beets - part of an unlikely sports headline'') will mean more if you are American.