The art of modernist cuisine started decades ago…only it wasn’t called modernist cuisine. It’s gone through many renditions from chefs like Thomas Keller experimenting with new levels of precision and complexity, to Heston Blumenthal conducting food science experiments in his own kitchen, to Ferran Adria bringing molecular science into el Bulli. The food was fascinating, the presentation breathtaking, and the technique and ingredients…out of reach to us mere mortals.
Then, Nathan Myhrvold took the world by storm with his 5 volume tome, Modernist Cuisine, and made new thinking and new techniques possible in the home for the first time. But for most of us, simply having the recipes in hand, doesn’t immediately give us the ability to create culinary masterpieces.
The food in these books has been perfected by chef’s performing the same movements hundreds of times a day. The ingredients, like xanthan gum, sodium alginate, and calcium lactate sound more like science projects than something you’d eat. And the numerous steps require a small army of sous chefs and other minions. But for those who are ambitious and have the patience to take on new challenges, this site is for you. My goal is to help you, the home cook, bring modernist cuisine into your kitchen.
Modernist Cooking At Home demystifies the techniques, equipment and ingredients needed for perfecting the recipes found in the greatest modernist restaurants in the world.
I will take the toughest recipes from the likes of Keller, Blumenthal, Myhrvold, Voltaggio, Adria and more, and put them in an easy to understand format with step by step directions and pictures. Each recipe will feature links to explanations of the techniques (ice filtering, spherification, etc) and reviews on which equipment you really need (immersion circulator, whipping sipon, etc).
In this site you’ll find my personal blog which details all the dinners I host and food experiments I conduct. Each entry will feature links to the full recipes along with my personal tips and tricks (including how to pictures and videos) for getting it right the first time.
You’ll be able to ensure your money goes a long way as you purchase Modernist equipment through my reviews of the latest models and recommendations on where you should buy and where you should improvise.
And you’ll be able to ‘try before you buy’ reading reviews of the latest cookbooks and trying the recipes yourself.
Overall I hope this site gives you the knowledge, equipment, ingredients and importantly confidence to tackle what may appear to be a challenging Modernist cooking recipe, but will be sure to impress.
