Building a meal

Publisher review:
An internationally renowned chemist, popular television personality, and bestselling author, Hervé This heads the first laboratory devoted to molecular gastronomy – the scientific exploration of cooking and eating. By the testing recipes that have guided cooks for centuries, and the various dictums and maxims on which they depend, Hervé This unites the head with the hand in order to defend and transform culinary practice.
With this new book, Hervé This's scientific project enters an exciting new phase. Considering the preparation of six bistro favorites – Hard-boiled egg with mayonnaise, Simple consommé, Leg of lamb with green beans, Steak with French fries, Lemon meringue pie, and Chocolate mousse – he isolates the exact chemical properties that tickle our senses and stimulate our appetites. More important, he connects the mind and the stomach, identifying methods of culinary construction that appeal to our memories, intelligence, and creativity. By showing that the creation of a meal is as satisfying as its consumption, Hervé This recalibrates the balance between food and our imaginations. The result is a revolutionary perspective that will tempt even the most casual cooks to greater flights of experimentation.

Index:
- Preface.
- Introduction. Culinary construction.
- Hard-boiled egg with mayonnaise.
- Simple consommé.
- Leg of lamb with green beans.
- Steak and French fries.
- Lemon meringue pie.
- A new kind of chocolate mousse.

About the author:
Hervé This is a physical chemist on the staff of the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique in Paris. He is the author of several books about food and cooking, and a monthly contributor to Pour la Science, the French-language edition of Scientific American. He is author of:
- Kitchen mysteries (in French Les secrets de la casserole, in Spanish Los secretos de los pucheros).
- Révélations gastronomiques (in Spanish La cocina y sus misterios).
- Los niños en la cocina.
- Traité élémentaire de cuisine (in Spanish Tratado elemental de cocina).
- Molecular gastronomy (in French Casseroles et éprouvettes, in Spanish Cacerolas y tubos de ensayo).
- Cooking. The quintessential art (in French La cuisine, in Spanish La cocina... es amor, arte, técnica).
- Building a meal (in French Construisons un repas).
- Alchimistes aux fourneaux.
- The science of the oven (in French De la science aux fourneaux)
He appears in the DVD:
- Los alquimistas de la cocina.

Book reviews:
“Hervé This’s major contribution is that food is an act of love and is linked to the pursuit of happiness. Building a meal is the book of a “bon vivant” and provides an excellent antidote to despair and depression. Its pages celebrate food and life”. Jeanine P. Plottel, Hunter College.
“Hervé This takes what some might think of as cliché dishes ad tells you what scientific principles go into their successful preparation. His book, while erudite, allusive, precise, and full of cultural insights, also has charm, wit, and brevity”. Albert Sonnonfeld.