Cooking : the quintessential art / Hervé This and Pierre Gagnaire ; translated by M.B. DeBevoise.

ISBN:

9780520252950

Title:

Author:

This, Hervé.

Personal Author:

This, Hervé.

Publication Information:

Berkeley : University of California Press, c2008.

Physical Description:

355 p. ; 21 cm.

Contents:

Two Introductions -- Pt. 1. The Beautiful Is the Good -- 1. The Existence of a Culinary Art -- 2. Artisanal versus Artistic Cuisine -- 3. Tradition and Love -- 4. The Question of Nature -- 5. The Recognition of a Culinary Art -- Pt. 2. Classical Ideas of Beauty -- 6. The Origin of Beauty -- 7. Beauty by Numbers -- 8. The Idea of Flavor -- 9. Aristotle and Subtlety -- Pt. 3. Beauty in the Middle Ages -- 10. The Path to the Mystical Good -- 11. Of Cooking and Cathedrals -- 12. Boethius and the Brain -- 13. Thomas Aquinas and the Green of the Grass -- 14. Drawing Earth Nearer to Heaven -- Pt. 4. Artistic Creativity Unbound -- 15. Medieval Ramifications -- 16. The Occult Influence of Aristotle Lives On -- 17. The Dawn of the Renaissance -- 18. From the Renaissance Onward -- 19. The Enlightenment in the West and the East -- 20. Nature Overcome -- Pt. 5. The Present and Future of Cooking -- 21. The Many Strands of Modernity -- 22. Yesterday -- 23. And Tomorrow?

24. Simplicity and Completeness -- 25. The Illusion of the Perfect Bouillon.

Subject Term:

Gastronomy -- History.

Added Author:

Gagnaire, Pierre, 1950-

Format:

Books

Publication Date:

2008

Publication Information:

Berkeley : University of California Press, c2008.

Available:*

Shelf Number	Material Type	Copy	Shelf Location	Status
641.013 THI	Book	1	Standard shelving location	Searching... Unknown

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On Order

Summary

From its intriguing opening question--"How can we reasonably judge a meal?"--to its rewarding conclusion, this beautiful book picks up where Brillat-Savarin left off almost two centuries ago. Hervé This, a cofounder (with the late physicist Nicholas Kurti) of the new approach to studying the scientific basis of cooking known as molecular gastronomy, investigates the question of culinary beauty in a series of playful, lively, and erudite dialogues. Considering the place of cuisine in Western culture, This explores an astonishing variety of topics and elaborates a revolutionary method for judging the art of cooking. Many of the ideas he introduces in this culinary romance are illustrated by dishes created by Pierre Gagnaire, whose engaging commentaries provide rare insights into the creative inspiration of one of the world's foremost chefs. The result is an enthralling, sophisticated, freewheeling dinner party of a book that also makes a powerful case for openness and change in the way we think about food.

Author Notes

Hervé This is Research Chemist at Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique and the author of Kitchen Mysteries: Revealing the Science of Cooking, among other books. Pierre Gagnaire is chef and owner of many restaurants, including Restaurant Pierre Gagnaire, Paris.

Reviews (1)

Booklist Review

Among the arts, culinary art ranks as one of the least objectively defined, yet it's one universally enjoyed. In recent years, molecular gastronomy's deconstructions have forced some deeper thought about taste and its relationship to other senses of smell, sight, touch, and even hearing. To illustrate his theories of taste in classic style, This invents dialogues among characters representing different schools of philosophical thought. He seeks to develop a scholarly aesthetic of taste that can stand up to the same sort of analysis that the visual arts enjoy. French chef Gagnaire applies This' theory to kitchen practice. The recipes he offers assume command of all the skills required in classical French cooking as well as access to pristinely fresh ingredients, such as foie gras and kidneys. This' work is an intellectual exercise wholly removed from food-entertainment television.--Knoblauch, Mark Copyright 2008 Booklist

Two Introductions

Part One The Beautiful Is the Good

1 The Existence of a Culinary Art

2 Artisanal versus Artistic Cuisine

3 Tradition and Love

4 The Question of Nature

5 The Recognition of a Culinary Art

Part Two Classical Ideas of Beauty

6 The Origin of Beauty

7 Beauty by Numbers

8 The Idea of Flavor

9 Aristotle and Subtlety

Part Three Beauty in the Middle Ages

10 The Path to the Mystical Good

11 Of Cooking and Cathedrals

12 Boethius and the Brain

13 Thomas Aquinas and the Green of the Grass

14 Drawing Earth Nearer to Heaven

Part Four Artistic Creativity Unbound

15 Medieval Ramifications

16 The Occult Influence of Aristotle Lives On

17 The Dawn of the Renaissance

18 From the Renaissance Onward

19 The Enlightenment in the West and the East

20 Nature Overcome

Part Five The Present and Future of Cooking

21 The Many Strands of Modernity

22 Yesterday

23 And Tomorrow?

24 Simplicity and Completeness

25 The Illusion of the Perfect Bouillon

Notes Index

Available:*

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (1)

Booklist Review

Table of Contents