I want to learn how to cook. So, in my usual geeky way, I’ve been delving into the science behind cooking and watching every bit of Alton Brown I can. (Thanks, TiVo!)
My exploration of the science of cooking has been greatly aided by Harold McGee’s wonderful tomes On Food and Cooking and The Curious Cook. Both of these mammoth books cover food science, history, and culture in a very accessible way. I’d recommend them as a useful adjunct to Good Eats.
However, they’re tightly packed—684 and 352 pages, respectively—and that means that not that many people are willing to trudge through them. With that in mind, shows like Alton’s and museum’s like the Exploratorium distill them into more edible chunks—pun intended.
The museum’s Science of Cooking exhibit does a good job at the task. Since I’ve read the McGee’s chapter on eggs, I can comment on their egg page. My evaluation: good coverage, lacks some depth that McGee’s 40+ page chapter explored. What did I expect? I mean, come on!