When an English language translation of Hervé This's Kitchen Mysteries was published in late 2007, I was pretty excited to read what he had to say. This (I think it's pronounced "tees") is famous as one of the founders of molecular gastronomy and for publishing a book by the same name in 2002. In his new book, he dives into some of the science of the kitchen and how it affects the way we cook. I was hoping for a book similar to those written by Harold McGee and Robert Wolke, but, unfortunately, that wasn't what I got.
Kitchen Mysteries is a weird book to read, and I didn't find it easy to get through. Many of the sentences felt oddly constructed and the logical flow of some sections and paragraphs seem weird and disjointed. A lot of the time, This skips entire descriptions and logical steps when discussing a particular kitchen phenomenon (exactly the behavior he laments at the beginning of the book). I don't know if it's how This writes, if the French prefer to have their books written in this style, or if Jody Gladding translated the text poorly, but half the time I don't know what I'm reading about or where he's going until much further in the section and after having made several logical leaps to figure out what he's talking about. This (or Gladding) dives in and out of plain language (the parts that make sense) and esoteric prose that borders on poetry (the parts that require imagination to understand the author).
The language is a big problem. Through much of the book, Gladding chooses to use the word "grill" for "fry". Although, this might not be technically incorrect, it's awfully confusing. When I finally figured it out, I had to go back and reread entire chapters to see if my understanding of what This was trying to say had changed given the completely different cooking method. (In common American English, "grill" usually means to cook over a grill or grate with a heating source from underneath. As I understand British English, "grill" means to cook over a grill with a heating source from above - "broil" is what I'd use for that. Gladding uses "grill" to mean "pan fry". I discovered this when the text talks about grilling in clarified butter. There is an alternative meaning used in conversational American English (and not so much in cookbooks and food texts) where "grilling" means to cook on a griddle or flat-top like those found in restaurants and diners. This is the one closest to the usage of the word "grill" that Gladding uses throughout the translation.)
Another issue I have with the book is that sometimes the information (after I've figured out what he's saying) is just wrong. In a three-page (and these aren't large pages) chapter entitled "Microwaves", This inadequately discusses the concept, science, and use of microwave ovens. He then concludes by remarking that the electromagnetic radiation emitted by microwave ovens are tuned so they affect only water but not oils and fats. He claims, after microwaving two containers, one with water and one with oil, until the water begins to boil, the oil will still be cold. This is, of course, completely false and is really easy to test! (Since my wife makes soap at home and routinely heats oils in the microwave oven, I know oils absorb microwave radiation. But to prove the point, I filled two containers with water and oil and heated them until the water boiled. An increase in about 70 C°. Although the oil did not have the same rise in temperature - about 35 C° - it was in no way cold. In fact, it was significantly hotter than the hot water that's in my water heater!) Perhaps, I reasoned, it might be because French microwave ovens work on a different frequency... but This provides "2400 megahertz" as the frequency which is pretty close to the standard 2.45 GHz used in the United States. Since I don't have a 2.4 GHz microwave oven, I can't tell if that 50 MHz delta will cause oils to not absorb energy. (I should also point out that when This mentions "2400 megahertz", the sentence that follows explaining what that means says "the electromagnetic field oscillates 2400 times a second" which is only a million times away from the truth. That's more of a problem with the editor not catching errors or the translator making a mistake.)
Finally, the last gripe I want to mention is that This constantly introduces topics, talks about them for two or three paragraphs and then moves onto something else without answering the question or even making a real attempt! For example, in the section entitled "How Long Must Vegetables Be Cooked?", he begins by saying there is no global answer (which is a good start). Then he has a paragraph (3 sentences) on how the cell walls become porous (due to pectins and hemicellulose being altered chemically by the heat) allowing water to pass in and out of the cells. Then he moves on without segue to a final paragraph (2 sentences) mentioning how vegetables can swell if a little salt is present or harden when too much salt is present in the water. End of section. Nine sentences. Question unanswered and, in actual fact, only addressed in the first couple lines. The section should have been called "A Couple Things I Noticed About Heating Vegetables". This does this all the time through the book, and I found it infuriatingly frustrating.
And, now, I think I've spent more than enough of my life reading and discussing this book.
Kitchen Mysteries is available in the following formats:
Hardcover