Homebuildlife: Modernist Cuisine at Home

Wednesday, 24 October 2012

Sous vide steak; photo by Melissa Lehuta/Modernist Cuisine LLC

Home chefs can now master the key techniques of Modernist cooking, thanks to a comprehensive new guide by Nathan Myhrvold, Maxime Bilet, and The Cooking Lab. Launching in the UK on Monday, Modernist Cuisine at Home shows readers how to use professional tools such as sous vide, dehydrators and injectors, as well as how to achieve similar results using more common kitchen tools.

Pressure cooker cutaway; photo by Tyson Stole/Modernist Cuisine LLC

Comfort foods such as mac'n'cheese, breakfast eggs, pizza, cheese burgers and chicken wings are each given their own chapter, explored in different options and using different techniques. More complex dishes are also demystified, with each recipe featuring clearly laid out lists of ingredients and steps.

Egg Variation; photo by Chris Hoover/Modernist Cuisine LLC

Key recipes include the Modernist hamburger, a sous vide burger with pressure-cooked caramelised tomato sauce; and instant chocolate sponge, made with a whipped cream dispenser and a microwave.

Salad cutaway; photo by Chris Hoover/Modernist Cuisine LLC

The book is accompanied by a wipe-down kitchen counter booklet of all 406 recipes, and features striking cut-away shots of both the final meals and of recipes being prepared, as well as close-ups of what to expect at each stage of preparation.

Flavoured oils and fats; photo by Chris Hoover/Modernist Cuisine LLC

Launching in the UK on 29 October, the book follows on from Myhrvold's 2011 introduction to the subject, Modernist Cuisine, a six-volume guide to the movement at its highest level. WGSN-homebuildlife subscribers can see how both books fits into the growing trend for Vegetal design.