What Einstein Told His Cook

Kitchen Science Explained

By: Robert L. Wolke

Narrated by: Sean Runnette

Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

Why is red meat red? How do they decaffeinate coffee? Do you wish you understood the science of food but don't want to plow through dry, technical books? In What Einstein Told His Cook, University of Pittsburgh chemistry professor emeritus and award-winning Washington Post food columnist Robert L. Wolke provides reliable and witty explanations for your most burning food questions, while debunking misconceptions and helping you interpret confusing advertising and labeling. A finalist for both the James Beard Foundation and IACP Awards for best food reference, What Einstein Told His Cook engages cooks and chemists alike.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2002 Robert L. Wolke (P)2012 Tantor

Critic reviews

"With its zest for the truth, this book will help cooks learn how to make more intelligent choices." ( Publishers Weekly)

For the kitchen nerd with a sense of humor. An absorbing read. ( Food & Wine)

Wolke...is one of the great demystifiers of scientific information. ( BusinessWeek)

great culinary science book!

culinary science explained in an easy-to-understand way through every day real life examples and Concepts.

Perfect balance

As a bit of a foodie and a bit of a scientist, this book was at a perfect level for me. There was enough techie talk without being boring and enough practical information to be useful with a good dash of humor throughout. I liked the variety of topics. I enjoyed this book very much and will view my cooking with a more informed eye - or perhaps I should say taste my cooking with a more informed tongue.

Read if you like to cook. Download PDF recipes

I loved this book since I like to cook. It is a great science book for someone who might not like science or science books. From description of the difference between salt and types of butter this book is a must if you think yourself an aspiring chef.

Also you can download the recipes as a PDF version from audible. I have tried a few and they are quite interesting. A hard copy of this book would make a great gift as well.

Not for listening

I think it is a nice book, but as a reference. Or to apply it while you read it. So it doesn't work as an audio book.
However, if you are an expert cook, I believe you can imagine the process he is talking about and then you can apply it in your next activity.

Sharpen your BS detector in the kitchen

If you are like me, a person who loves to cook and loves science, then this book is for you. What happens, at the molecular level, when you make caramelized onions? What is the difference between mineral salt and sea salt really (there is none), and does it matter which one I chose (no)? What is the fastest way to thaw something? Can you fry an egg on the sidewalk?

Read this book and you shall find answers to these, and many other questions. You will also gain a much better understanding of what it is you are doing when you are cooking. What is a carbohydrate and what is the difference between carbohydrates and sugars? How can you measure the calories in food? Does it matter when you put the salt in the water when you boil pasta? Acquiring this knowledge comes at the expense of being called a nerd, but there is nothing wrong with being a nerd.

The author deserves special praise for his fearless criticism of some BS products that are being aggressively advertised. For example, salt is salt wherever it may come from. If you want to pay a hundred times more for Himalayan salt that has some dirt in it, then be my guest, but know that you will only get a negligible amount of minerals (or perhaps pollutants is more correct term). To ingest a significant amount of minerals by eating salt you would have to eat several kilos which, needless to say, would not be very healthy.

Overall a good and funny book with a good mix of anecdotes and science to back up the different points made. Recommend it.

Delicious tidbits of information

Would you listen to What Einstein Told His Cook again? Why?

What Einstein Told His Cook serves up a smorgasbord of kitchen science in bite-sized, easily digestible pieces. The author explains the workings of everyday ingredients and equipment used in food preparation and WHY they work the way they do. It is not only an entertaining read, it is a great reference book! A compendium of culinary information, it can be consumed as a meal or simply nibbled upon from time to time with no loss of flavor.

What was one of the most memorable moments of What Einstein Told His Cook?

Not only is it good information, it's a great resource in resolving kitchen arguments! Most memorable for me was the moment of victory I enjoyed when I read the official word of a scientist why it's not good to put my Calphalon pot in the dishwasher...even if that means my husband won't wash it...

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Alton Brown's alter ego

Any additional comments?

This book is enjoyable even for the non-cook; it gives concise, understandable information about the foods we eat every day.

A "Pot Boiler" of information

Chemistry intimidates me, cooking comforts me, and information fascinates me...and every chapter explains in easy listening terminology the myths and myth-takes about things we prepare to feed ourselves and our families. There are many good tips on what's fact and what's fiction in products, as well as resources for further information.
An included PDF provides the details you might want to write down if you hear them on the Southbound 405 heading toward Orange County, CA on the day before the 4th of July.

A great book for commuters

Would you consider the audio edition of What Einstein Told His Cook to be better than the print version?

No. I don't mind listening to the book because I'm not willing to spend my limited print reading time on it, but I think that being able to refer back to certain parts and facts would be quite useful.

What was one of the most memorable moments of What Einstein Told His Cook?

The explanations about different types of sugars was quite interesting. Scientific and detailed enough, but not boring and PhD Chemist level...

What aspect of Sean Runnette’s performance would you have changed?

Sean Runnette is a competent reader who enunciates well, but I find his voice to lack character and inflection. I couldn't listen to this performance for hours on end, but snippets here and there are fine.

Any additional comments?

This book lends itself to short, bursts of listening rather than long hours all at once. It would be a great commute book for a half hour a day or so. Probably not so great for a long roadtrip.

A Treat for Science Lover and Cook Alike

Would you consider the audio edition of What Einstein Told His Cook to be better than the print version?

This was a delightful Audible listen that answered many of those cooking questions that many of us have always wanted to ask, but knew no one with more than a folklore rationale. Wolke offers not only scientific explanations to why good cooking requires so many mystical steps, but explains them in terms that anyone can understand. At the same time, he does not trivialize the science or use explanations that make those of us with science backgrounds shudder at his analogies and metaphors because of banality. His prose is filled with clever repartee. Finally, Wolke is comprehensive and well organized in answering all kinds of questions related to foods, cooking, and kitchen craft.

A basic overview based on gaspingly dumb questions

The book takes a hard chemist perspective to answer questions that are, for the most part, unfathomably stupid. Although the book was written in the early 2000s, when people were generally much less informed about food science: the days when McGee's On Food and Cooking had yet to penetrate the chef circuit and most home cooks had much less access to affordable semi-professional cooking tools, the book gravitates around answering questions that would typically be asked by someone who probably believes the world is flat. For the most part, it feels like a wasted opportunity to expound on food areas that would allow for a deeper understanding of the topic, instead, focusing on quid bits of information that have little relevance to anyone with a brain. For example, the discussion on tea simply said there is only one kind of tea, and rather than discussing how fermentation affects tea leaves or how there are so many variations of that one type of tea, he spent much of the section discussing why heating water in a microwave is a bad idea. The author also makes the occasional sweeping "answer" to complex problems of "don't bother." For example, when discussing the complexities of accounting for altitude in baking, he simply makes the comment along the lines of "it's far too complicated, just leave it to the bakers," which again demonstrates the assumed intelligence of the reader.

Another thing that grated me was the fact that this is obviously written exclusively for an American audience. As a non-American, I struggle to relate to the brands mentioned and the obviously American social ideas and constructs regarding food, most of which gravitate around processed food. I realise I'm probably in the minority of people in the world that generally just eat fruit, vegetables and meat, purchased from local farmers and butchers, as opposed to processed goods from supermarkets, so I would take it with a pinch of salt (which, for the record, he did dedicate a fair amount of time discussing) that I don't relate to processed food points.

Overall, I won't be requesting a refund for the book as it was interesting to listen to some of the topics he discussed in-depth, and it was well performed by the reader. There is also a dry whit embedded in the reading that's enjoyable when you're not feeling frustrated at how stupid some of the questions are. I would recommend this for someone that a) has little understanding of the science of food, b) is in the United States and eats mostly processed food, and c) has a knowledge of food and cooking mostly based on urban myths and social hand-me-downs. That person would likely benefit a lot from dedicating the 8 hours or so this book takes to listen to. If, however, you already have a reasonably healthy knowledge of the basics of food science and you're looking to expand on that knowledge, you're seeking more specific and in-depth understanding of certain concepts, or you're trying to gain a more explicit/objective/scientific understanding of the X-factor of cooking, then you will likely walk away from this book feeling frustrated.