The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science

J. Kenji López-Alt

Book cover for The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science
Book cover for The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science

The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science

The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science

J. Kenji López-Alt

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Description

Ever wondered how to pan-fry a steak with a charred crust and an interior that's perfectly medium-rare from edge to edge when you cut into it? How to make homemade mac 'n' cheese that is as satisfyingly gooey and velvety-smooth as the blue box stuff, but far tastier? How to roast a succulent, moist turkey (forget about brining!)--and use a foolproof method that works every time?

As Serious Eats's culinary nerd-in-residence, J. Kenji López-Alt has pondered all these questions and more. In The Food Lab, Kenji focuses on the science behind beloved American dishes, delving into the interactions between heat, energy, and molecules that create great food. Kenji shows that often, conventional methods don't work that well, and home cooks can achieve far better results using new--but simple--techniques. In hundreds of easy-to-make recipes with over 1,000 full-color images, you will find out how to make foolproof Hollandaise sauce in just two minutes, how to transform one simple tomato sauce into a half dozen dishes, how to make the crispiest, creamiest potato casserole ever conceived, and much more.

Critical Reviews

You need The Food Lab, as J. Kenji Lopez-Alt's magnum opus is 2015's most indispensable cookbook.-- "The Chicago Tribune"

[The Food Lab] promises tried-and-tested accuracy, groundbreaking technique and inarguable results. All that, plus humor.-- "Washington Post"

The ultimate book for science nerds who cook.-- "Wired"

Loaded with fascinating information...López-Alt gives you enough science for the explanations to make sense, but everything is still firmly rooted in practical home cooking.--Russ Parsons "Los Angeles Times"

Five years in the making, [The Food Lab is] a culmination of the wunderkind's unlikely ascent into a cultish figure--and the face of a new kind of home cooking.-- "San Francisco Chronicle"

An authoritative, instant-classic reference book that's also an engaging read.-- "Seattle Times"

The Food Lab is a keeper.--Chris Kimball "Wall Street Journal"

The Food Lab is The Joy of Cooking for the modern cook, and it has something to teach even the most experienced chefs.-- "USA Today"

A beautiful behemoth. . . . The Food Lab's vision of "better home cooking through science"--and, I would add, through the internet--is a convincing one.-- "New Republic"

Publishing Information

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Pub date: 2015-09-21
Length: 960 pages

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