Why do recipes call for unsalted butter--and salt? What is a microwave, actually? Are smoked foods raw or cooked? Robert L. Wolke's enlightening and entertaining What Einstein Told His Cook offers answers to these and 127 other questions about everyday kitchen phenomena. Using humor (dubious puns included), Wolke, a bona fide chemistry professor and syndicated Washington Post columnist, has found a way to make his explanations clear and accessible to all: in short, fun. For example, to a query about why cookbooks advise against inserting meat thermometers so that they touch a bone, Wolke says, "I hate warnings without explanations, don't you? Whenever I see an 'open other end' warning on a box, I open the wrong end just to see what will happen. I'm still alive." But he always finally gets down to brass tacks: as most heat transfer in meat is due to its water content, areas around bone remain relatively cool and thus unreliable for gauging overall meat temperature.

Organized into basic categories like "Sweet Talk" (questions involving sugar), "Fire and Ice" (we learn why water boils and freezers burn, among other things), and "Tools and Technology" (the best kind of frying pan, for example), the book also provides illustrative recipes like Black Raspberry Coffee Cake (to demonstrate how metrics work in recipes) and Bob's Mahogany Game Hens (showing what brining can do). With technical illustrations, tips, and more, the book offers abundant evidence that learning the whys and hows of cooking can help us enjoy the culinary process almost as much as its results. --Arthur Boehm


From Publishers Weekly
Wolke, longtime professor of chemistry and author of the Washington Post column Food 101, turns his hand to a Cecil Adams style compendium of questions and answers on food chemistry. Is there really a difference between supermarket and sea salt? How is sugar made? Should cooks avoid aluminum pans? Interspersed throughout Wolke's accessible and humorous answers to these and other mysteries are recipes demonstrating scientific principles. There is gravy that avoids lumps and grease; Portuguese Poached Meringue that demonstrates cream of tartar at work; and juicy Salt-Seared Burgers. Wolke is good at demystifying advertisers' half-truths, showing, for example, that sea salt is not necessarily better than regular salt for those watching sodium intake. While the book isn't encyclopedic, Wolke's topics run the gamut: one chapter tackles Those Mysterious Microwaves; elsewhere readers learn about the burning of alcohol and are privy to a rant on the U.S. measuring system. Sometimes the tone is hokey (The green color [in potatoes] is Mother Nature's Mr. Yuk sticker, warning us of poison) and parenthetical Techspeak explanations may seem condescending to those who remember high school science. However, Wolke tells it like it is. What does clarifying butter do, chemically? Answer: gets rid of everything but that delicious, artery-clogging, highly saturated butterfat. With its zest for the truth, this book will help cooks learn how to make more intelligent choices.Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Those who follow Wolke's "Food 101" newspaper column know him for his thorough scientific answers to questions about everyday food science. What Einstein Told His Cook is a compilation of these popular columns. Wolke covers such basic questions as how cookware conducts heat, how water filters do their job, and how coffee is decaffeinated. He sets up controlled experiments to test how to extract maximum juice from citrus fruits. He addresses controversies such as the irradiation of foods. Recipes supplement and illustrate the scientific principles. Wolke writes about these serious topics with a good sense of humor that doesn't belittle the seriousness of his purpose. Mark Knoblauch
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Book Description
Einstein's cook was lucky. But you, too, can have a scientist in your kitchen: Robert L. Wolke. Does the alcohol really boil off when we cook with wine? Are smoked foods raw or cooked? Are green potatoes poisonous? With the reliability that only a scientist can provide, Robert L. Wolke provides plain-talk explanations of kitchen mysteries with a liberal seasoning of wit. A professor of chemistry and a lifelong gastronome, he has answered hundreds of questions about food and cooking in his syndicated Washington Post column, "Food 101." Organized into basic categories for easy reference, What Einstein Told His Cook contains more than 130 lucid explanations of kitchen phenomena involving starches and sugars, salts, fats, meats and fish, heat and cold, cooking equipment, and more. Along the way, Wolke debunks some widely held myths about foods and cooking. Whether kept in the kitchen or on the reference shelf, What Einstein Told His Cook will be a friendly scientist at your elbow. 20 illustrations.


About the Author
Robert L. Wolke is professor emeritus of chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh and winner of the James Beard Foundation and Bert Greene awards for food journalism.

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
Does it ever really get hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk? What's the best way of preventing soda from going flat? Does belching contribute to global warming? You've got questions; Robert Wolke has answers.

Wolke, a chemistry professor emeritus and winner of several food journalism awards, dishes out funny and scientific answers to common questions in this collection of his best "Food 101" columns in The Washington Post. Who says food science can't be fun?

Here's a sample of Wolke's approach: Do microwaves change the molecular structure of foods? Answer: "Yes, of course they do. The process is called cooking." If corn is a low-fat food, how do they get all that corn oil out of it? Answer: "They use a lot of corn." Why do recipes tell us to marinate dishes overnight? Answer: "I'm with you. Why overnight? Are we to believe that daylight somehow interferes with the marinating process? Generally, 'overnight' is intended to mean eight to ten hours." Wolke tackles many common food mysteries -- why brown sugar hardens (and what to do about it), what's the best way to cook a lobster, and how to boil water the quickest way. He does a great job of debunking common kitchen myths and proves conclusively that you can and should wash mushrooms before cooking them. There's an entire chapter devoted to providing scientific facts about microwaves and other appliances like pressure cookers and induction-heating cooktops. (Ginger Curwen)

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Do you wish you understood the science of food, but don't want to plow through dry, technical books? What Einstein Told His Cook is like having a scientist at your side to answer your questions in plain, nontechnical language. Chemistry professor and syndicated Washington Post food columnist Robert L. Wolke provides over 100 reliable and witty explanations, while debunking misconceptions and helping you interpret confusing advertising and labeling.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly