Suffice to say, there aren’t many books that get me terribly excited; Modernist Cuisine is, however, one of the few. Assembled and written over the course of three years by a team of scientists, photographers, cooks, and geeks, all led by Dr. Nathan Myhrvold, it’s being praised by many, including me, as the definitive cookbook of the 21st century.

The first thing you need to understand about Modernist Cuisine (MC)  is that it isn’t a cookbook. The main focus of this book isn’t to provide you with a set of recipes you can simply follow to produce a meal, but to provide you with the knowledge and fundamental understanding by which to create on your own. In that sense, MC is rather more of a textbook than anything else. Yes, there is a book dedicated to recipes, but as you will come to see, these are meant more as inspiration and platforms than step by step guides.

A scientist by both trade and nature, cooking has always been one of the hardest things for me. It’s one of the few activities in life I feel should be strictly scientific, and yet, is in no way shape or form. While paramaters such as temperature and volumes can be precisely measured, they are often given vague terms such as “a pinch” or similar. Because of this fear and lack of knowledge, most of what comes out of my kitchen came into it in some kind of box. I’ve always wanted to learn more, but it’s not exactly an easy thing to pick up. I’d been on the lookout for a good cookbook to get started with for some time when I first stumbled upon Modernist Cuisine (MC) in a tech blog post. The basis of “modernist cuisine,” the concept the book is centered around, is essentially using science to cook. Recently developed techniques and methods, such things as the use of rotovaps, centrifuges, and most importantly, sous vide (more on that later), are called upon to produce a superior result. Needless to say, it appealed to me. I spent about two months mulling over whether or not I wanted to spend the $500+ on the series before I found it on sale and jumped at the chance. One week and a sore back later, it was sitting on my desk.

Appearance: The series is broken into 6 books, covering the history and fundamentals of food (1), techniques and equipment (2), animals and plants (3), ingredients and preparations (4), plated-dish recipes (5), and finally a laminated kitchen manual (6). The series weighs in at over 50lbs, and is over 2000 pages in length, featuring full color printed on heavy stock. The series comes contained in a plexiglass container, wrapped in two cardboard boxes. The books themselves are massive, not something you can easily throw in a bag or bring around with you. Overall, the books seem well constructed; binding is sturdy, materials well chosen. An attached ribbon pagemarker is a nice touch, although not always that useful. Chapters are logically laid out, and each book begins with a comprehensive table of contents. Pages are referred to by X-YYY, X the book number, YYY the page number within that book. Sitting in bed or at a table reading through a chapter can be somewhat painful, as each book weighs in at almost 8lbs.

Printing is top notch, coffee table quality. Unlike most cookbooks, photography hasn’t taken a back seat. In fact, it was one of the main focuses of the series. A number of items, ranging from simple pans to complex ovens, were bisected in order to reveal a look at the inner workings. This makes for some truly breathtaking and unique photography, worth the price of admission alone. A number of graphics and charts were designed and included both for illustrative and reference purposes, many of which would make excellent reference sheets in any kitchen (cook times / temperatures for example). I actually had to order a replacement for my first set, as it had arrived somewhat damaged. I’m not sure how this happened, since it’s extremely well wrapped and protected, but none the less, it was a relatively quick process.

Content: There really isn’t much I can say about the content of the book that hasn’t been said already. I believe it to be virtually impossible for any one person to fully comprehend the information presented by this series in its entirety. The section on microbiology alone goes into more depth than most college textbooks. There is a section just on how to wash your hands, how to select the correct pan, and even what the various stages of soft and hard boiling eggs look like.

One of the main concepts carried throughout the book is centered around the process of cooking sous vide (translated to “under vacuum”). Simply put, it is the process of vacuum sealing a food in a bag and cooking it in a precisely controlled water bath. This allows for a much greater control over the cooking process, in terms of what is introduced, removed, time cooked, and temperature. Cooking times can be vastly elongated (due to limited energy use and inability to “dry out), allowing for some very interesting possibilities. Rotovaps are another interesting concept touched upon. By eliminating the need for high temperatures in the reduction of liquids, many complex chemicals responsible for taste remain unchanged, allowing for a reduction without altering taste. It’s techniques such as this that are the main focus of MC.

While the book goes into great detail on how to utilize these new technologies, it also goes into depth on how to do it on the cheap, with equipment commonly found on a budget. It covers some of the fundamentals of cooking as well, including the basics of how and why that likely elude many. The fifth book is a series of recipes, including those for individual components (garnishes for example) as well as complete meal. Exact times, temperatures, and amounts (down to the gram) are given, as well as a great outline of how to go about preparing it (start times, etc).

Living with MC: This is not a cheap book, in any sense. Aside from the exceedingly high price of the book itself, one needs a relatively comprehensive selection of tools to complete many of the recipes listed. A sous vide system, available home made for ~$100, pre-made for ~$400, or professional for >$1000, a vacuum system with similar prices, good set of knives, pans, infusers, foamers, and so forth. A lot of the items can be bought second hand or on sale, but a few are likely to cost. I’d imagine it would be difficult to spend less than $500 to equip a kitchen for cooking with MC, although I’m sure it could be done. A handy listing of what MC recommends, and where they can be purchase, can be found here. It’s also not for the faint of heart of novice. A lot of the recipes call for techniques that likely take some time and practice to acquire. While everyone, professional or aspiring, is bound to take something away from the series, it’s likely most useful for those making a living in the field.

Conclusions: In a word: astounding. The amount of information, the effort that went into compiling it, and the attention to detail make this easily one of the most impressive books, culinary or otherwise, that I have ever owned. Minus the hands on training (obviously an invaluable aspect), this series is likely to be more comprehensive than most culinary school educations. Although initially I did have reservations, given the price and level of skill, however, after going through a large portion of the series, it has quickly become an invaluable part of my library. I’d purchase a second copy in a heartbeat should I ever need to.

As I start attempting some of the various recipes, I’ll be posting an outline of the protocol along with a picture and note or two of how they came out (hopefully well).