Rating: 3 out of 5

I’m not a chemist. I dropped it as a subject when I was 14 so I’m not reading this with a chemist’s outlook. I’m reading it as someone interested in baking and how reactions work. In some ways that makes me the ideal audience. In others not so much.

I found the actual chemistry bits hard to get to grips with, molecular diagrams (if indeed that’s what they were) mean nothing to me. I almost gave up part way through but then found more interesting facts that encouraged me to keep going.

I’m glad I persevered with it. But the fact it took perseverance isn’t a great selling point is it?

Some interesting facts (for me) that I noted down:

“It is interesting to look at recipes that are very careful to weigh out all of the ingredients yet then call for three eggs, without specifying the weight of the eggs. Eggs vary in weight, but most recipes don’t specify the size of the eggs as small, medium, large, extra large, or jumbo. The reason is that it really doesn’t matter too much. Whatever the size, the recipe is going to come out just fine”

“left to itself, the yolk inside will float to the top of the egg and thus be off-center when the egg is cut in half for deviled eggs or sliced into a salad.

To keep the yolk centered, the eggs must be turned frequently while being cooked, keeping the yolk away from the shell. Since the white of the egg cooks on the outside first (where it is closer to the boiling water), the yolk that is turned often will not be able to get past the hardening white and will end up centered.”

“Marshmallows were originally a way of making the cough suppressant in the root of the marshmallow plant palatable.”

“Roquefort cheese contains the highest levels of glutamates of any naturally produced food. Glutamates are what give savory, protein-rich foods their taste, and they are found in other fermented foods, such as soy sauce.”

“Bread becomes stale when the starches crystallize, and warming the bread returns them to their soft gel state, making the bread taste and feel fresh. Stale bread is not dry; it just feels that way because of the crystallized starches.”

Originally posted to my Goodreads account