Cooking for geeks

Jeff Potter is kicking off his Cooking for Geeks book tour tonight in DC! We geeks are fascinated by how things work, and most of us eat, too. If you’re the innovative type who asks why just as often as what­, his book, “Cooking for Geeks: Real Science, Great Hacks, and Good Food” will show you a new way to approach the kitchen.

Potter’s book has been featured on NPR and BBC. His presentations have wowed audiences of hackers & foodies alike. HacDC will be hosting  a hands on demonstration as well as book signing.

The way Potter sees it, many a great cook comes from the same place as “hackers, makers, geeks and nerds—people that obsess about the details, “ he says. “There’s that whole mental toolbox of hacks and tricks. The set of skills that a geek uses in front of the keyboard is the same set of skills that a geek can use in the kitchen to produce a meal.”

What some call “foodhacking” is actually at least as old as Escoffier’s 1903 Le Guide Culinare. The science has always been there; it’s our understanding of the science, and the accompanying technology, that continues to improve. But it takes a certain hacker (or Mt. Everest climber) mindset to experiment around the kitchen counter simply because you can.

“There’s this whole Mythbusters extreme style, where one starts with reasonable, and then takes it as far as possible, just to see what would happen,” Potter. “So, what would happen if we took our oven to 900 degrees? Can we make a pizza in 45 seconds? Yeah, actually you can. And what would happen if you took some liquid nitrogen and mixed it with chocolate, cream and sugar? Will you get ice cream? Yeah, actually you do.”

I’m tempted to go home and play with an acetylene torch.

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Artist, satirist, and occasional blogger, Andrew has been drawing since he could hold a crayon. He started with squiggles, but they were darned good squiggles if he says so himself. And he will, just ask.
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