to reach the desired end results—and you’ll find plenty of recipes and instructions that tell you how to get better results (Did you know that you can parcook pasta in roomtemperature tap water? Or that the key to perfect French fries is vinegar?) You’ll probably find that I talk about my wife and my dogs a bit too much, and that I’m an insane fan of both the Beatles and the pun, that lowest form of wit I may rightfully be accused of making abstruse references to any or all of the following topics: The Simpsons Cartoons and movies from the 1980s Star Wars British comedians The Big Lebowski MacGyver To these crimes, I plead guilty, but I will not repent Occasionally you will come across an experiment designed for you to carry out yourself at home All of these experiments are party-friendly, and most of them are kidfriendly too, so make sure you’ve got company around if you’re going to attempt them! Some of you may use this book solely for the recipes, and there’s nothing wrong with that I’ll still like you I’ve done my best to write them as clearly and concisely as possible, and I guarantee each and every one of them will work as advertised (provided you follow the instructions) If they don’t work for you, I want to hear about it! Others may read through the entire book without ever cooking a single thing from it I might even like you guys more than I like the recipe-only guys, for it’s what’s going on behind the scenes, or under that well-browned crust, that really interests me If you’re the armchair-cook type, you’re in luck This book was written to work from front to back Recipes in later chapters build on basic scientific principles discussed in earlier chapters On the other hand, if you like skipping around—say, potato salad doesn’t interest you but roast beef sure does—well, you won’t have much trouble either I’ve done my best to make each lesson self-contained, crossreferencing earlier chapters when necessary One thing I want to make clear here: This book is nowhere near comprehensive Why would I put myself down like that? Well, it’s because the whole point of science is that it’s a never-ending quest for knowledge No matter how much we know about the world around us, the world inside a block of cheese, or the world contained in an eggshell, the amount that we don’t know will always be much greater than what we The moment we think we know all the answers is the moment we stop learning, and I truly hope that time never comes for me In the words of Socrates Johnson: “All we know is that we know nothing.” If there are three rules that I think would make the world a better place if everyone followed them, it’d be these: challenge everything all the time, taste everything at least once, and relax, it’s only pizza SO WHY TRUST ME? When I chime in on online message boards, when I write blog posts that make some pretty bold claims (like, say, that frying in hotter oil actually makes food absorb more grease, not less—see here), I often get the same questions shot back at me: Says who? Why should I trust you? I’ve been cooking my food [X] way since before you were born, who ... me In the words of Socrates Johnson: “All we know is that we know nothing.” If there are three rules that I think would make the world a better place if everyone followed them, it’d be these:... down like that? Well, it’s because the whole point of science is that it’s a never-ending quest for knowledge No matter how much we know about the world around us, the world inside a block of cheese, or the world contained... the world contained in an eggshell, the amount that we don’t know will always be much greater than what we The moment we think we know all the answers is the moment we stop learning, and I truly