Science and Culinary Arts: The Physics of Food. From Everyday to Fine Dining

Every time you step into the kitchen to prepare something, you become not just a cook, a professional, or an amateur, but also an experimenter changing the physicochemical properties of food. After all, all the main processes of culinary food preparation, whether it's boiling, frying, baking, preserving, fermentation, and others, have a scientific explanation behind them, and the notion of "delicious" is not just an expression of emotions, but an assessment of the balance of a dish and how correctly, skillfully, and thoroughly its components are processed at both macro and micro levels. For the most curious practitioners, those who are accustomed to getting to the heart of the matter, there is an excellent opportunity to enhance their theoretical preparation and realize that culinary arts is not just a science, but a precise science. Heating, fermentation, diffusion, phase transitions, emulsification, electrostatics, denaturation, transformations with pH… What exactly happens to what you are cooking in a pot, a pan, an oven, or a fermentation tank is interestingly and accessibly explained in the second edition of the book by renowned Harvard scientists, who pay attention not only to traditional, mass products but also to innovative products and materials present in the modern kitchen (foams, emulsions, gels, and others).
"In this book, we look at food as a science, but food is also history, culture, diplomacy, national security, and so much more… Interesting for everyone, not just for those studying the exact sciences, this book will help readers establish connections and create a systemic picture of the fascinating world of food".
José Andrés, American chef. Winner of the "Chef of the Year 2009" award, "Outstanding Chef" according to the James Beard Foundation, and the "Man of the Year 2009" award from GQ magazine.