When two people eminent in their fields - in this case Ted Lister, a scientist, scholar and teacher, and Heston Blumenthal, the famously innovative chef-restaurateur - get together to write a book, you'd expect it to be informative and insightful - and Kitchen Chemistry is.
Blumenthal's earlier book, Family Food, was not perhaps as acclaimed in this country as it was in other parts of Europe like Spain, but it provided a good starting point for children to become interested in what they eat. Kitchen Chemistry moves the process one stage further by providing experiments to aid understanding of how chemical principles affect the food that we eat. It poses interesting questions on food, questioning long-held culinary principles and practice.
Though intended as a teaching resource for schools and colleges, this book and its accompanying CD provide invaluable experiments for cooks and chefs of all ages. The video clips of Blumenthal make the experience a thoroughly modern, interactive and personal one.
The area of food science covered in the book and CD is one that traditionally trained chefs may never have experienced, but it nonetheless enhances basic food knowledge and may well have a knock-on effect on kitchen practices.
Knowing why things happen tells you how to get the best out of ingredients. You don't always need to know the intricacies of how things work, but in knowing you become more aware and open to new ideas.
The book's experiments are designed to illustrate each principle that is explained. Having a go at these helps to put food and cooking in context. And having worked your way through it, you are left with an appetite for more knowledge.
Joachim Schafheitle, School of Services Management, Bournemouth University
Kitchen Chemistry
Ted Lister in collaboration with Heston Blumenthal
Royal Society of Chemistry, 19.95
ISBN 0-85404-389-6