Modernist Cuisine at Home

For those of you that don't want to read the silly-long review I wrote, scroll down to "BOTTOM LINE" for the important stuff. I'll start with a disclaimer: Do not buy this book until you are familiar with the original "Modernist Cuisine." By that I do not mean you need to own that set first (quite the opposite, this is the stepping stone to the full set), but you should understand that it encompasses a style of cooking that can be crudely summarized as "cooking for scientists" or "how to make dinner in a laboratory." Once you know what you're getting into, decide if it's worth around $140 of your hard-earned cash. Now, on to the good stuff. For those of you who salivated for a year, wishing you could justify buying "Modernist Cuisine" but knowing you wouldn't be able to use it to it's full potential (like me), your prayers have been answered! "Modernist Cuisine" made headlines (in the Food and Travel section) for: 1. Deconstructing the science of cooking rather than just listing recipes 2. Focusing on modern methods of preparing foods using tools such as combi ovens, sous vide setups, emulsifiers, etc 3. Including some rather stunning photography of the equipment and ingredients within I am happy to say that all three are present in the "at Home" version. First, "Modernist Cuisine at Home" (MCAH hereafter) introduces a consolidated set of kitchen tools and gadgets that the home chef can reasonably afford. Don't have the funds for the laboratory-grade centrifuge featured in "Modernist Cuisine?" No problem. Not only does MCAH omit the prohibitively expensive tools from its recipes, but many of them are the same recipes found in the original, redone for the home cook. MCAH even goes as far as offering several options at varying price ranges for the equipment used within. The same goes for the ingredients. MCAH mostly does away with the laundry list of exotic spices and chemicals featured in many "modernist" cookbooks and instead relies on ingredients you can find either at the local grocery store, or in reasonable quantities online. For the ingredients you are probably less familiar with (malic acid? agar agar?) there is a two-page spread detailing what each does, where it comes from, and what it costs. In many cases, the recipes will list alternatives if you choose not to add their recommendations to your shopping list. Much like Modernist Cuisine, MCAH explains some of the science behind the various cooking techniques, but at a beginner's level. Each recipe includes a blurb about what's going on inside the pot (so to speak), and almost all of them include multiple variations at the end, allowing for a wide variety of options. This is especially useful for people new to the idea of sous vide cooking, as MCAH does a great job explaining exactly how it works, and how to make it work for you. How has it taken me this long to get to the photography? Stunning, just as in "Modernist Cuisine". I don't know how they did it, but every picture is suitable for framing. Equipment has been dissected to yield amazing looking cross-sections used in explaining how the various tools function. And get this: included in the back are four prints from MCAH you can frame. I had no idea until they fell out while I was reading, but they are every bit as beautiful as the photos inside, and I dare say will look better on the walls of a kitchen than the usual crap paintings of grapes or farms or cows that people seem obligated to put up these days. If it seem like I'm gushing, it's because I am. Any home cook who has jumped into sous vide cooking has probably experienced the frustration I have with cookbooks dedicated to the style. You have Douglas Baldwin's "Sous Vide for the Home Chef," which, while great for it's temperature charts (and the fact it came out before anything else was available) is too simple for anyone looking to expand their horizons into restaurant-quality preparations (French Laundry, anyone?). And on the other end of the spectrum is Thomas Keller's "Under Pressure," which, while exquisite in creativity and detail, is geared completely towards the restaurant chef (which he warns in the forward), both in scale and complexity. Even the original "Modernist Cuisine", while featuring more accessible recipes than "Under Pressure", still excluded the home cook from about half of it's contents due to equipment or ingredient limitations. MCAH is the first book that features sous vide in a way that the home cook can learn and excel at, while also creating dishes that will blow the guests away. Seriously, the stuff you can make from this book looks like it belongs on the set of Iron Chef. BOTTOM LINE: This is a "modern" (or Modernist) cookbook, so the recipes inside are going to be closer to what you'd find in a restaurant that uses an obscure adjective for it's title rather than what you'd see in your grandmother's kitchen. If the idea of cooking a beautiful cut of salmon in a Ziploc bag seems blasphemous, or using a digital scale instead of an elephant-shaped measuring cup is akin to high treason, you may not be ready to make the jump. But if you want to learn how modern cooking styles can produce amazing taste and presentation in your kitchen (while removing much of the uncertainty and variation that traditional high-heat methods entail), this is the book for you. PROS: - Currently the best book available for home sous vide setups - Delicious recipes using accessible ingredients for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert. Meat, Poultry, Fish and Veggies. Even has a few vegan options inside. - Teaches the "why" of cooking, not just the "how" - Stunning photography, and great step-by-step images for most of the recipes - Comes with a separate water-resistant "kitchen manual" with every recipe inside so you can keep the gorgeous main-book away from the messiness of the kitchen. - Comes with 4 prints you can frame in your home. Or not. - Even though the recipes are designed using ingredient weights, approximate volume measurements are included - Well constructed. You could easily beat an intruder to death with this book if you caught him stealing your sous vide setup - Even has the bookmark ribbon you see in bibles, which fits, since this has become my new kitchen bible. CONS: - Though it says "at Home" in the title, your average kitchen will most likely lack some of the basic tools used in many of the recipes. At a minimum, you will need a digital scale, Sous Vide setup, a pressure cooker, and a whipped cream siphon. MCAH will help you in your quest to acquire those tools, but you should commit to expanding your kitchen arsenal if you plan to use this book to it's full potential. - There are no calorie counts on these recipes, and in some cases if there were, it would take scientific notation to fit on the page. This is not a diet book, this is a book dedicated purely to creating the most delicious food possible at home. When you get to the page about deep-frying a hamburger, you'll understand what I mean. - $140 (or whatever they charge now) isn't chump change, and for most people the new equipment will add to the cost. - The sandwich on the cover does not actually levitate when you make it at home. - Does not mow the lawn while you aren't using it. Feel free to ask any questions in the comments. I am in no way affiliated with the producers of this book, though I would consider trading my first-born for a chance to work in their kitchen. Your Mileage May Vary. EDIT - 6 Oct 2015: Three years later and I still love this book. I not own the full-fledged Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking , but I'm always going back to this one. Take the leap!

I loved my At Home Modernist Cuisine so much I got the whole series! The second one I got was At Home Modernist Bread! It came with a beautiful book and companion cook book! Then I got the large set Modernist Pizza/Modernist Cuisine (The Art Of Cooking) then I got Modernist Bread. The books are beautiful reads with plated cuisines. It has science/history/theory behind the JAMES BEARD AWARD WINNING RECIPES! Knowing now I would have gotten the 5 book/recipe book series. They are worth the money! Love the books! There are books and a spiritual bound recipe book that is so beautiful with the series. The books are very high quality, and the information is outstanding! I already read the book and I’m dyslexic. That says alot, great read, clearly written, and really kept my attention to all the information inside! The detail of each book explaining about the topic is next to none! IF YOU ARE GOING TO CULINARY COLLEGE IT IS WORTH THE MONEY! Thank you for such a beautiful, purchase

This just arrived last night. Wow! Am blown away already and can't wait to try all the recipes. Highlights: photography is insane, I almost wish they'd release a "making of" that shows how they created the photos. Many variants of recipes so once you master the basics you can change it up. Cons: I want the full version even more because even though it's so overwhelmingly full of new ideas I still want more. Based on the reviews I think this is a good starting point for a home chef and will buy the full version once I feel I've mastered this one. Edit: To use this cookbook I have bought a few kitchen gadgets, including: temperature probe (really handy anyways for heating stuff up), oven temperature monitor (our oven is terrible so I need this one), a multicooker (pressure cooker + other functions), vitamix (after our blender undid itself during blending, spraying hot soup everywhere. These tools alone make so many more options for cooking. The temp controls are cheap and well worth it. For example I made bechamel (white sauce), and you only need to stir when the milk is getting close to boiling point. So you can set it, leave it then come back rather than being a slave. Recipes I've tried: MC Sauce: definitely upmarket version of the maccas sauce. Fairly easy too and works great with hot dogs. Also made the ketchup, which is great knowing it has no additives (I didn't use their additives) as well as the fact that you can adjust their base sauce to your taste, ie make it spicy. I had a little catastrophie with my pressure cooker (splattered overcooked tomato paste everywhere) but somehow redeemed it by adding extra tomato paste at the end. Pistachio Pesto: Yum! Easy! Coffee Creme Brulee: Was struggling to keep the water bath at the required temp. We've done some experimentation with our slow cooker & a pot on the stove so should be easier next time. still tasted Amazing. Especially coz we roast our own coffee beans. Use fresh beans coz they have more oil. Sous Vide Duck Breast: We cooked this at the med-rare temp. Duck breast is really tricky to cook and for us very expensive so you really don't want to stuff it up. We cooked it sous vide using a pot on the stove at a very low gas setting. We managed to get the right temp and let it cook real slow for ages (over 2 hours). Was really juicy but I wouldn't say tender, perfectly cooked through though. Garlic Confit: Easy, handy. If you put them in the fridge the oil solidifies. Has anyone tried the melty cheese yet? Also I remember reading somewhere about a blog for MCAH someone was writing. I found this one: [...] If there is another, please share!

I can't say enough about how cool this book is. I've only tried a couple recipes, but i love that they are written for maximum reproducibility. I already had most of the tools needed for many of the recipes (pressure cooker, hand blender, sous vide setup) and really enjoyed the gorgeous photos. I also loved that the companion "cookbook" with just the recipes has waterproof pages, totally designed for being in the kitchen with you. There's so much great information in this book, it's definitely become a new favorite.

The first cookbook I ever read head to tail within a week followed by a shopping spree in order to acquire a Jaccard, a pressure cooker and a blowtorch. Used a whipping siphon for the first time in my life. Beautiful 🤩 photos and impressive Cut through of stoves etc . The recipes are easy to scale up or down , which is great and the recipes are printed on user friendly paper washable in an extra ring book.

Il titolo rende l'idea... passare dalla cucina casareccia approssimativa (dove non si sa mai come sarà il risultato) all'approccio ingegneristico dove la cucina diventa una scienza esatta e replicabile se fatta debita attenzione. Purtroppo non economicissimo ma pure bello come oggetto.

That’s a bible for cookers and enthusiasts! An obligatory reading on techniques and modern processes of cooking.

This book has just arrived and already I can't praise it enough. To get some idea of the sheer content and breadth of this book - check out the content list on their site: [...] - I can't even begin to review the detail of the topics covered but will give a couple of lines on who it may suit. I'd describe myself as an enthusiastic home cook with a growing shelf of cooking books and countertop of kitchen gadgets (including a sous vide cooker). I'm happy to take time over recipes but don't possess the skills or resources of a professional kitchen. I have read (or at least dipped into) a large number of cookbooks which have excellent content including the full version of modernist cuisine. The recipes that inspire you in the likes of the Fat Duck Cookbook, Under Pressure and titles of similar calibre are mainly beyond what one can reasonably hope to replicate in the home kitchen due to all the individual parts that go into each dish. This book manages to contain similar dishes but quickly gets to the crux of why something should be cooked in a certain way, explains it simply and gives an interesting recipe that incorporates it (without requiring 8 other parts to be prepared before plating). The stunning photography challenges any coffee table cookbook yet this is not a book that is likely to remain there. There are so many recipes that will inspire you and all are accessible to a (enthusiastic) home cook. It's printed on the highest quality art paper and includes a cooking proof kitchen manual that includes all the recipes on washable, tear resistant paper. If you have a passion for cooking (or know someone that does) just buy the book - it's well worth the cost and there's no way you can be disappointed.