Cooking: The Quintessential Art

California Studies in Food and Culture #23

by Hervé This, Pierre Gagnaire

From its intriguing opening question—"How can we reasonably judge a meal?"—to its rewarding conclusion, this beautiful book picks up where Brillat-Savarin left off almost two centuries ago. Hervé This, a cofounder (with the late physicist Nicholas Kurti) of the new approach to studying the scientific basis of cooking known as molecular gastronomy, investigates the question of culinary beauty in a series of playful, lively, and erudite dialogues. Considering the place of cuisine in Western culture, This explores an astonishing variety of topics and elaborates a revolutionary method for judging the art of cooking. Many of the ideas he introduces in this culinary romance are illustrated by dishes created by Pierre Gagnaire, whose engaging commentaries provide rare insights into the creative inspiration of one of the world's foremost chefs. The result is an enthralling, sophisticated, freewheeling dinner party of a book that also makes a powerful case for openness and change in the way we think about food.

Genres: Cooking, Food, Cookbooks, Nonfiction, Food Science

366 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Hervé This is is a French physical chemist who works at the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique. His main area of interest is molecular gastronomy, or how our knowledge of chemistry and science in general, can be used as a tool to enhance culinary experiences, rather than the purely empirical knowledge which more often than not dictates the rules in the kitchen. With the late Nicholas Kurti, he coined the scientific term "Molecular and Physical Gastronomy" in 1988, which he shortened to "Molecular Gastronomy" after Kurti's death in 1998[1]. While it is often stated that he has a Ph.D in Molecular Gastronomy, his degree is in "Physico-chimie des matériaux" (Physical Chemistry of Materials), for which he wrote a thesis entitled "La gastronomie moléculaire et physique"[2]. He has written several books on the subject which can be understood even by those who have little or no knowledge of chemistry, but so far only two have been translated into English. He also collaborates with the magazine Pour la Science, the aim of which is to present scientific concepts to the general public. He is also a corresponding member of the Académie d'agriculture de France, and, more recently, the scientific director of the foundation "Food Science & Culture", which he created at the French Academy of Science.

Every month he adds one new "invention" in the Arts and Science section of the website of the three-star chef Pierre Gagnaire.

Although his main focus is on physical chemistry, he also attributes great importance to the emotional aspect of cooking, as the title of one of his books shows: Cooking is love, art, technique.

Reviews

[Xenia Germeni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Πίστεύω ότι δεν έχω διαβάσει κάτι πιο έξυπνο και ευφυές από τότε που ήμουν φοιτήτρια και φανατική του βιβλίου 'Ιστορία των Αισθητικών Θεωριών' του Monroe Beardsley. Η μαγειρική τέχνη μέσα από το πρίσμα των αισθητικών θεωριών των φιλοσοφικών ρευμάτων από την αρχαιότητα έως σήμερα, αλλά με πολύ αγάπη, τέχνη και τεχνική. Ευρηματικοί οι Τις και Γκανιαιρ παίζουν με τα χρώματα, τη γεύση, τις μυρωδιές, τα σχήματα και όλα όσα συνθέτουν τον μαγειρικό κόσμο. Απαραίτητο εγχειρίδιο για φοιτητές φιλοσοφίας, ιστορικούς, κοινωνικούς επιστήμονες, διαιτολόγους και κριτικούς μαγειρικής και μπλογκερς. Εαν δε σου αρεσει η μαγειρική, η φιλοσοφια και οι αισθητικες θεωριες μην το διαβασεις!

[Avis Black · Rating 1 out of 5]

Trying to philosophize about cooking is ridiculous. Only the French would do something this dumb.

Here's a sample:

DENIS Which just goes to show that small mouthfuls are better than big ones, by the way. The passage from Plotinus was indigestible, but cut up into small pieces it’s fine.

CÉCILE When we eat we cut up our food for the same reason, so that we won’t choke. These individual sentences are like appetizers in a way, dainty morsels. Even so, they’re not as simple as you seem to suppose. This concept of emanation, for example—when you stop and think about it, it’s hard to work out what it means.

HÉLÈNE Remember, Plotinus says a material object is beautiful “insofar as it participates in the thought that flows from the divine.”

Oh, brother. The book contains 300-odd pages of this pseudo-intellectual fatuity.

[Callie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wrote a review of this book. It's supremely tasty. It is not a cookbook, though. It's in a genre all its own.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most fascinating books I've ever read on the philosophy of cooking, bringing art, music and theory all together.