NerdBaker: Extraordinary Recipes, Stories & Baking Adventures from a True Oven Geek

by Christopher Tan

Shortlisted for Best Book Cover Design, Singapore Book Awards 2016

Food writer and cooking teacher Christopher Tan busts the world of home baking wide open, with unique recipes, stories and detailed knead-to-know advice from the deepest corners of a true oven nerd’s mind. Explore over 60 breads, cakes, cookies and dishes inspired by his life, travels and food obsessions. Geek out with him over ‘intelligent’ black rice cake, homemade Pocky, the tangled histories of puff pastry and a breathtaking luncheon meat extravaganza. Learn how to make Banhmiclairs, smoked cloud cookies, bundt cake with built-in frosting and much more. Follow the NerdBaker through the oven door into a whole new baking dimension.

Praise:
“I hadn’t expected a baking book to make me laugh out loud, but NerdBaker did—often. Filled with devilish wit, dazzling images and lucid recipes, the book is a delightful gallimaufry of culinary inspirations from all over the globe.”
— Fuchsia Dunlop, award-winning author of Every Grain of Rice: Simple Chinese Home Cooking and consultant to London’s Barshu restaurant

“I know few people as passionate as Christopher when it comes to food. Thankfully, he’s chosen to share his knowledge and insights. This book is a beautifully baked gem for eaters and bakers alike.”
— Willin Low, chef-owner of Wild Rocket

“This is Christopher’s most engaging book. His remarkable recipes are filled with solid instructions, historical details and vibrant inspirations. There’s never a dull moment in these pages.”
— Andrea Nguyen, author of Asian Dumplings and The Banh Mi Handbook

“[An] intensely personal, incredibly useful book...[by] one of the most fervent food lovers on any continent.”
— James Oseland, editor-in-chief of Rodale’s Organic Life and author of Cradle of Flavor

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking

272 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2015

About the author

Christopher Tan is an award-winning writer, cooking instructor and photographer. His articles, columns, recipes and photographs have appeared in many international publications, including Singapore's Sunday Times and Straits Times, The Peak Selections: Gourmet & Travel magazine, and America’s Saveur magazine.

A regular cooking and baking teacher at Shermay's Cooking School, Christopher has also presented talks, demos and tasting sessions revolving around cuisine and culture at many venues, among them Singapore's National Museum and Peranakan Museum, the Culinary Institute of America’s Napa Valley campus, Le Musee Quai Branly in Paris and The Sydney International Food Festival. He has authored and co-authored many cookbooks, including: Singapore Cooking, a compendium of local favourites; Inside the Southeast Asian Kitchen: Foodlores and Flavours, an ASEAN-commissioned volume on the foodways of its constituent nations; Ask The Foodie: Kitchen Knowhow Explained, a collection of his newspaper columns; and Chinese Heritage Cooking, a celebration of traditional Singaporean Chinese recipes. NerdBaker is his 10th cookbook.

Reviews

[Epigram Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fans of fine food, delicious desserts and home baking: what is the solution to the equation, (Oven + Nerd) x Geek? Why, an extraordinary cookbook-memoir overflowing with scrumptious stories, knead-to-know advice and in-depth recipes from certified baking nut Christopher Tan! NerdBaker: Extraordinary Recipes, Stories & Baking Adventures from a True Oven Geek is available at all good bookstores from 9 April 2015. Pre-order it today from shop.epigrambooks.sg

From “child of many ovens”—plus, award-winning writer (author of 10 cookbooks!) and culinary instructor—Christopher Tan comes a one-of-a-kind production, his very first memoir-cookbook, filled with his signature ideas, experiences and photographs. NERDBAKER: Extraordinary Recipes, Stories & Baking Adventures from a True Oven Geek busts the world of home baking wide open with its absolutely unique recipes, tips and thoughts from the deepest corners of an obsessive baker’s mind.

Explore over 60 breads, cakes, cookies and dishes inspired by Christopher’s colourful life, travels around the world and endless fixations from his career as a food writer, self-taught baker and cooking instructor. Geek out with him over ‘intelligent’ black rice cake, homemade Pocky, the tangled histories of puff pastry—from Teochew mooncakes to Malay curry puffs—and a breathtaking (if near-lethal) luncheon meat extravaganza—yes, you read that right!

Explore the finer details of baking that you never knew you needed to know, even as Christopher regales you with his tales. From meeting Clint Eastwood’s double in a Lhasa bakery to sourdough traumas, biscuit addictions to Parisian chocolate fancies, every chapter has something old and something new, something trad and something rad. Learn how to bake up items like classic Hainanese-style hot rolls, crispy buttermilk masala chicken, doughnuts as big as your face and the world’s first Banhmiclair. Look through the NERDBAKER's spectacles and you’ll see your oven in a whole new light.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

fascinating flavours and techniques, a must have in any baker's library

[Fran · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourite cookbooks ever!