Cooking for Geeks: Real Science, Great Hacks, and Good Food

For most cooks, food is a question of how. How many teaspoons? How many pounds? How many degrees? For geeks, food is fundamentally a question of why. Instead of "How do I brine a turkey?" it's "Why does osmosis push moisture back into the bird?" Instead of "How should I brown these potatoes?" it's "Why does a Maillard reaction make food tasty?" Food geek Jeff Porter delves into these questions and more in his book "Cooking for Geeks" (O'Reilly, $34.99), an excellent walk through the science of food and the basic techniques to turn that knowledge into flavor. Now, to be sure, Harold McGee (who appears in an interview in the book) traveled down the science portion of this path already in his seminal "On Food and Cooking." But Porter taps into the trend of food experimentation and gadgetry that has invaded our kitchens. "Overly intellectual. Obsessed with details. Going beyond the point where a mainstream user would stop," Porter writes. "A geek is anyone who dwells with some obsession on why something works and how to make that something better. And it's become a badge of honor to be a geek."

That's out of The Herald, in Monterey, California. You can find the rest of that article here.

Egyptian Food from Lopate - Underreported by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio)

Egyptian food is a tempting array of spiced meats, fresh vegetables simmered in exotic herbs, and sweet, delicate pastries. But thanks to social and cultural influences in that country, the cuisine has remained a well-kept secret. Claudia Roden, author of The New Book of Middle Eastern Food, and Chef Ali El Sayed of the Kabab Café in Queens, join us to shed light on Egyptian food traditions.

Download the podcast here. See also: The New Book of Middle Eastern Food, The Book of Jewish Food: An Odyssey from Samarkand to New York, Arabesque: A Taste of Morocco, Turkey, and Lebanon, Claudia Roden's the Food of Italy: Region by Region, Foolproof Mediterranean Cookery

Charlie Rose's Wednesday, July 14, 2010 conversation with Chef Rick Bayless

CHARLIE ROSE: Rick Bayless is here. In 1987 after six years of
research in kitchens across Mexico he published his first cookbook. It was
called "Authentic Mexican." "New York Times" food critic Craig Claiborne
called it at that time "The greatest contribution to the Mexican table
imaginable."

That same year Bayless opened his first restaurant that has become one
of America’s most famous Mexican eateries. Today he commands a food empire
that includes three Chicago restaurants, a television series, seven cook
books, a line of food products, and now a new radio series. Here is a look
at his PBS program, "Mexico, One Plate at a Time."

Read the full transcript here. See the full conversation, interview here. See also: Mexican Everyday (Recipes Featured on Season 4 of the PBS-TV series "Mexico One Plate at a Time"), Fiesta at Rick's: Fabulous Food for Great Times with Friends, Mexico One Plate At A Time