(Erlenmeyer flasks from the Argonne National Laboratory glass blowing shop. source) Today’s article, “The Essence of Nearly Anything, Drop by Limpid Drop“, by Harold McGee in The New York Times, has me thinking on what what we might call “real food“, authenticity, essentialism, and molecular gastronomy. You likely know that Harold McGee is a food science...

You may have read recently in the New York Times an article, “China’s True Dash of Flavor” by Fuchsia Dunlop, that tries to sooth readers into a laconic gullibility around the use and consumption of MSG or monosodium glutamate. This article is so substatially unfortunate on various levels. It suggests that, as many “good” chinese cooks use...

Today I read the article “He Cooks. She Stews. It’s Love” in the New York Times (online edition) and it had me thinking. The premise of the article is that often times a couple will have an Alpha cook and a Beta cook. We all know what alpha means, its a play off...