This book is a very interesting read and while it is not something I would typically read, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I think it is a very unique cookbook. It takes advantage of many elements such as colorful pictures, diagrams, and humor, not typically a part of a technical read like this. It helps pace the read and keep the story going. This cookbook feels more like someone telling a story rather than someone explaining the science of cooking.
Alton Brown does a fantastic job of hiding the science of cooking in his humor. While he explains the fascinating, technical portions of how cooking works and why certain techniques and tools work better for certain jobs, he also inserts small humorous anecdotes that keep the heavy details feel light. As a chemical engineering major, I've noticed conveying technical material in a way that is easy for the general public to understand is very difficult to do well. Brown's anecdotes make the reading relatable and I think it helps you to retain the information easier.
A book with the technical details, such as this one, does not typically have colorful easy to understand diagrams and figures. These little illustrations make the technical content easier to visualize and understand. While it's nice when you can write about technical material that other people educated in the subject matter understand, I think it is more impressive to be able to convey it to an open audience. This means you must think about how different people learn and understand. I think this idea gets missed in many places in life especially formal education. I see this a lot in my engineering classes, various learning styles are not always accommodated for. I think Brown's accommodation works well for his voice and writing style.
The actual content of the book is super fascinating and translates well into a cookbook. Instead of just providing simple recipes, Brown explains the science behind his recipes. This begins with the choice of food down to the choice of metal he's chosen to cook with. The science is fascinating and plays every role in every single one of his choices as he's cooking. His reasoning varies from taste to concern of contaminating food with things such as aluminum. It would be interesting to see if his choices are reflected in the food manufacturing industry.
I think it's crucial to understand why food behaves the way it does in order to be a better cook. It all comes down to its molecules and structure. Brown explains the properties of food in order to attempt to allow the public to improve and try things themselves. Brown just sets the outline and gives examples of things that work well. He really sets the audience up to try it and find successes themselves. His approach had me wanting to experiment with the foods, so I could taste what I was reading about. Brown wants to see readers engage with food and culinary experience and learn for themselves, he just sets the groundwork to get everyone going.
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Don't order this.
I ordered this new.The used versions were 30 bucks less, but I wanted to give my hubby a new version. This Christmas is very tight, I could only afford a few things.This is absolutely, obviously not new. I hope the seller's appendages randomly shrivel and fall off. I've never been disappointed by an Amazon purchase until now. Merry #$#@# Christmas.
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