Skip to Main Content
The course is designed to illustrate how chemical knowledge helps demystify common practices and beliefs (many of which are erroneous) in food processing, cooking and cleaning. Emphasis is given to observable changes in color, odor, taste and texture. Some newer technologies in cooking, cleaning and utensil materials will be discussed. The impact of cooking and cleaning methods on the environment will be examined. The health aspect of herbs and spices encountered in the kitchen will be discussed.
Wolke provides no-nonsense explanations for the chemical and physical principles that govern the behavior of selected foods and ingredients and describes the science behind certain culinary tools and equipment in this book, in hopes of bridging the gap between the chemist and the cook. The 9 chapters are arranged around broad subjects-“Sweet Talk”, “The Salt of the Earth”, “The Fat of the Land”, “Chemicals in the kitchen”, “Turf and Surf”, “Fire and Ice”, “Liquid Refreshment”, "Those Mysterious Microwaves", and "Tools and Technology".
Using the same plain language as the first volume does, this second volume answers new questions and debunks myths the first book didn't address. In this book, he answers more than 150 questions, disbursed in 10 chapters- “Something to Drink”, “Down on the Farm”, “Whatsoever a Man Soweth”, “Above the Fruited Plain” “For Amber Waves of Grain”, “From Sea to Shining Sea”, “A Carnival for Carnivores”, “Spice is the Variety of Life”, “Gallery Gear”, “A Few Lagniappes for the Insatiable Inquiring Mind”.
