W. W. Norton & Company What Einstein Told His Cook: Kitchen Science Explained

A great book. The chocolate mousse has become a holiday staple in my house.

I bought this book as a birthday present and the person was really pleased with it.

The book “What Einstein Told HIs Cook,” by Robert L. Wolke brings a scientific outlook to the normalities of food and the kitchen. The book, assigned to our Chemistry class by the teacher, was a lot of fun to read and held attention despite its educational context. Its fun, understandable subject matter makes rebuking myths fun to read. Wolke himself is quite distinguished in the field of chemistry, and currently is a professor at the University of Pittsburgh. His decision to debunk cooking myths and explain why certain things occur allow for an interesting read due to the easily relatable subject. An example of Wolke’s discussions would be when he speaks of non-stick frying pans, and how they work chemistry-wise. The metal itself of course doesn’t prevent sticking but the spray on coating of PTFE, or polytetrafluoroethylene. PTFE is quite special- on the atomic level it doesn’t want to bond with anything. Of course this means any foreign substance should slide right off, or at least not stick to it. Why does this work? Wolke explains that PTFE is a fluorolymer, meaning the chemical is made up of many smaller structures, in this case containing fluorine and carbon. The way it is arranged fills the outer energy levels of each fluorine, and therefore fluorine wants nothing to do with any other atom, creating the non-stick surface we all know and love. A second myth Wolke adresses is whether or not lemons yield more juice after being rolled and microwaved. He tests this with a large pool of lemons, and finds that simply squeezing holds up pretty well to those that had been rolled and microwaved. Of course the automatic squeezer claimed the best results. However, Wolke finds that rolling and then microwaving the lemon has the best results for hand squeezing. The rolling breaks the cell walls, followed by the microwaves exciting the water molecules creates this. Overall, the book was a fun and understandable read, with well organized evidence. Fun topics, such as the mysterious non-stick frying pan, and how to properly juice lemons. Wolke does a good job making a book that is relatable to the audience, yet at the same time is fun to read. I would easily recommend this book to anyone- an interest in chemistry is not required to enjoy this book.

Some parts are better than others (the scientific analysis combined with recipes is quite peculiar), but for people interested in food it is quite interesting.

Speedy delivery, copies of a fascinating book