KitchenWise: Essential Food Science for Home Cooks

by Shirley O. Corriher

Overview

The James Beard Award–winning, bestselling author of CookWise and BakeWise delivers kitchen wisdom based on her knowledge of food science so that “cooks of any experience level will walk away from this sharp guide with some new tricks” (Publishers Weekly).

Want to cook fluffier scrambled eggs and more flavorful sauces, keep your greens brilliantly green, and make everything taste more delicious? KitchenWise combines beloved cooking expert Shirley Corriher’s down-to-earth advice with scientific expertise to address everyday cooking issues. Whether you are a beginning cook or a professional chef, Shirley’s guidance will save you time, and let you know exactly what to do behind the stove. A gifted teacher with a degree in chemistry, Shirley takes readers through the hows and whys of what she does in the kitchen, explaining the science behind common problems and offering solutions for how to fix them. (For example, salt has an amazing ability to suppress bitterness and allow other flavors to emerge.) Filled with Shirley’s favorite time-tested recipes, this guide shows you how to cook more successfully, why certain ingredients work well together, and what makes good food great.

Amazingly informative, approachable, and packed with proven techniques, KitchenWise serves up new ways to get the most from your cooking.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781982140700
Publisher:	Scribner
Publication date:	11/16/2021
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	625,473
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.38(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Shirley O. Corriher has a BA in chemistry from Vanderbilt University, where she was also a biochemist at the medical school. She has consulted for Julia Child, Procter & Gamble, Pillsbury, and The Joy of Cooking, and is a noted international speaker and teacher, named by Bon Appetit as Best Cooking Teacher of the Year. Her media appearances include Good Eats, Smart Solutions, Real Simple, and Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and she has written a regular column for the Los Angeles Times and in publications including Cook’s Illustrated and Fine Cooking. Her first book, CookWise, won a James Beard Award for excellence. She is also the author of BakeWise and KitchenWise. She lives in Atlanta.

Table of Contents

Introduction ix

Chapter 1 Flavor 1

Chapter 2 Proteins 23

Chapter 3 Vegetables and Fruits 87

Chapter 4 Beans, Tubers, and Grains 131

Chapter 5 Perfect Sauces 157

Chapter 6 On Freezing 171

Chapter 7 Baking 185

Chapter 8 More Desserts 229

Conclusion 255

Food Safety Basics 257

Acknowledgments 269

Index 271

Editorial Reviews

10/05/2020

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.)

Publishers Weekly

"Cooks of any experience level will walk away from this sharp guide with some new tricks."
—Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

11/01/2020

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

Library Journal