This wonderful survey of the physics of cooking was a Christmas gift (thanks nice sister!) that I've been slowly working my way through for a couple of years now. The lento tempo, however, wasn't due to the difficulty of the text. Sure, there's plenty of physics here, with plenty of charts and graphs, and even the odd equation. But all of the concepts they discuss -- diffusion, pH, viscosity, protein folding and unfolding, emulsions, microbes, etc ... -- are very clearly explained and presume no prior knowledge. They also do a great job of illustrating general principles through specific examples that you can try right in your kitchen; in fact, the book began as a Harvard class that included a lab work component. Given the excellent overview here, it would now be a much easier endeavor to tackle Harold McGee's classic, to which the current authors are much indebted. Maybe if I'd read that as well, I wouldn't have screwed up the complicated candy cooking stage of this Cook's Illustrated Banoffee Pie recipe!
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