# Anyone else excited about Modernist Cuisine (book)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 21, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-excited-about-modernist-cuisine-book/572137 "2011-02-21T19:02:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-excited-about-modernist-cuisine-book/572137/41 "2011-07-22T16:19:41Z")
> [@Maeglin](#): > > Mine just arrived last week. My wife and I are working our way through the first book. No recipes to report yet, but it is absolutely glorious. > > I did skip ahead and read a bit about making gel noodles. I loved the remark, “if you happen to have a peristaltic pump, it makes this process a bit easier.” I left mine in my other jeans, sadly. > > But we are reorganizing our cabinets to make room for all of the new gear we are going to buy. Oddly enough American Science and Surplus is a great place for odds and ends of surplus scientific goodies for projects liek this+) ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-excited-about-modernist-cuisine-book/572137/42 "2011-07-22T16:19:49Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > It looked to me that she was just transcribing what was in the book. Absolutely not. I know how recipe copyrights work. There was no copyright infringement - the ingredient list is from the book, more or less (I tweaked it to include some of my findings), the instructions are my own, again, tweaked. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-excited-about-modernist-cuisine-book/572137/43 "2011-07-22T16:28:40Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > Absolutely not. I know how recipe copyrights work. There was no copyright infringement - the ingredient list is from the book, more or less (I tweaked it to include some of my findings), the instructions are my own, again, tweaked. Ah, okay, my bad. Go ahead and post these recipes, then. Sorry to impugn you like that – but as you know, we take copyright pretty seriously around here. Bon appetit, y’all. twicks ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-excited-about-modernist-cuisine-book/572137/44 "2011-07-22T16:34:21Z")
Whoohoo! Take 2: ## Mushroom Ketchup Saute until translucent: 350g yellow onions 53g olive oil Add to onions, cook for 1 min: 32g Garlic thinly sliced 7g Ginger thinly sliced Add the following and cook for about 35 minutes until mushrooms are tender and liquid has evaporated: 650g Crimini mushrooms thinly sliced 155g Malt vinegar 105g Dark Ale 70g Mushroom broth (see below) 40g Barley malt syrup 40g Cane Vinegar 40g Molasses 34g Fish Sauce 30g Freeze dried shiitake mushrooms or dried shitaake powder 15.5 g. sea salt 10g honey 7g freshly grated horseradish 4.2 g mace blades 2.2g Allspice berries .6g Freeze-dried coffee powder After cooking, blend mixture until smooth, and pass through fine sieve. Adjust seasonings to taste. If not thick enough, measure out 800gr of the ketchup and mix in 1.6g Xanthan Gum Mushroom broth: Saute until golden, about 15 min: 37g Shallots 8.5g Olive Oil Pressure cook along with: 250g water 140 g crimini mushrooms, thinly sliced Strain and cool ## Melty Cheese Whisk & simmer - 100g water (about 3.5 oz - a little under a half a cup) - 75g (wheat) beer (about 2.6 oz - about a third of a cup) - 10g sodium citrate (1.5 t.) - 4.5g salt ( 1 teaspoon ) - 1.25g iota carrageenan ( ¼ t. ) (or Kappa Carrageenan, I’ve used both) Grate and combine over low heat: - ~ 10 oz cheese - I used aged cheddar and aged gouda, but just about any cheese works Stir until melted/emulsified. Pour into container; bring to room temp; freeze if it’s not solid enough. ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-excited-about-modernist-cuisine-book/572137/45 "2011-07-22T16:53:09Z")
Shit that sounds good. I can’t do any serious cooking until I move in 2 weeks, but where does one get “barley malt syrup” and “Cane Vinegar”? ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-excited-about-modernist-cuisine-book/572137/46 "2011-07-22T16:56:30Z")
Probably Whole Foods or a similarly “crunchy” place. I needed barley malt syrup for another recipe not long ago, and that’s where I found it. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-excited-about-modernist-cuisine-book/572137/47 "2011-07-22T17:13:35Z")
I couldn’t find the Barley Malt Syrup, so substituted extra honey & molasses. Cane Vinegar, I got a lifetime supply from [Amazon](http://www.amazon.com/Datu-Puti-Vinegar-Sukang-33-81-Ounce/dp/B001FB68S6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1311354608&sr=8-2). You could easily substitute white vinegar mixed about 3:1 with water and not notice the difference. I also skipped the shiitakes, as I had a ton of dried porcinis and didn’t want to spend $10 for a tiny package of shiitakes. Honestly, there’s so many ingredients in the ketchup that it’s hard to make a case that any one ingredient is essential. Even the mushroom broth - next time, I think I’ll just add some extra mushrooms/water to the main recipe. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-excited-about-modernist-cuisine-book/572137/48 "2011-07-29T12:10:26Z")
OK, I’ve put in an order at [WillPowder](http://www.willpowder.com/) for iota carageenan, sodium citrate, xanthan gum, lecithin, and glycerin flakes. I had way too much fun in chem classes, so this could get scary. It’s probably a good thing that I have a teeny-tiny kitchen and no room for much in the way of new equipment. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-excited-about-modernist-cuisine-book/572137/49 "2011-07-29T12:16:06Z")
> [@Waenara](#): > > It’s not an actual glue. It’s [transglutaminase](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transglutaminase) - an enzyme that causes amino acids to bond to each other. So if you have meat A, sprinkle on some “meat glue” and then touch it to meat B, the amino acids in the two pieces of meat will bond to each other. Thus you’ve “glued” the meats together, but there isn’t really an additional glue-like substance between the meats, they are actually bonded together. Sounds like a bad thing to get on your skin, I imagine? ---
**Author:** ![Estilicon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Estilicon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Estilicon)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-excited-about-modernist-cuisine-book/572137/50 "2011-07-29T12:38:21Z")
This is the place to post the latest episode of [This American Life](http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/441/when-patents-attack), “When Patents Attack”. Its about how screwed the patent system is in America. Guess who appears on the show. ---
**Author:** ![Waenara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@Waenara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waenara)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-excited-about-modernist-cuisine-book/572137/51 "2011-07-30T03:24:43Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Sounds like a bad thing to get on your skin, I imagine? From what I’ve read about it (on foodie blogs - IANAExpert), getting on your skin probably isn’t a concern, since your skin is a good barrier and it’s not so much like meat (moist protein). However, it’s probably a good idea to wear a mask while using it, or at least avoid inhaling the powder. I don’t know what it would do to the inside of a lung, but I can imagine that it might not be a good thing to be repeatedly exposed to. Again, IANAExpert, and I’d probably take precautions if I tried using it at home. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-excited-about-modernist-cuisine-book/572137.md?page=2)