KitchenWise Essential food science for home cooks

James Beard Award--winner Corriher (Bakewise) uses science to help readers "spot bad recipes and know how to fix them" in this strong outing. Chapters focus on different food groups and explain the science behind common cooking problems (proteins sticking to cookware), how to fix them (preheat the skillet before adding ingredients), and why the solutions work ("the metal expands, closing some imperfections and creating a hot surface"). There are more than 30 recipes illustrating her techniques, such as an oven-roasted chicken breast that calls for a buttermilk brine because its calcium activates tenderizing enzymes in chicken. She also debunks common kitchen myths--for instance, she argues that some vegetables become more nutritious after they are cooked, such as carrots, whose carotenes, minerals, and vitamin C are more accessible to the body after cooking. There is also a fascinating chapter devoted to the science of taste and flavor, in which she points out, perhaps surprisingly, that adding a bit of salt to food can decrease bitterness and increase sweetness. Cooks of any experience level will walk away from this sharp guide with some new tricks. (Nov.)

Corriher was a research biochemist before becoming a cook. It was this experience that led her to begin to research why many recipes failed. Ultimately, she became intrigued by the science behind cooking and baking. Her knowledge for solving cooking problems gained the attention of food companies and notable cooks, such as Julia Child, who sought her advice. In her third book, following Cookwise and Bakewise, she writes explainers on why food ingredients behave the way they do in order to help both new and advanced cooks become more comfortable with the science behind the cooking process. While there are a few recipes, this is mostly a helpful how-to guide--among the topics covered are cooking with fruits and vegetables, navigating the times and temperatures of proteins, troubleshooting cake problems, and learning how different types of potatoes react to the process. Each topic is followed by one of her favorite recipes that illustrates the concepts covered. VERDICT A valuable guide for understanding the scientific how's and why's of cooking.--Phillip Oliver, formerly with Univ. of North Alabama, Florence