In “Cooking for Geeks: Real Science, Great Hacks, and Good Food’’ (O’Reilly, about $35), Jeff Potter blends boring recipes, such as those for garlic mashed potatoes and chocolate chip cookies, with punishingly detailed (even for many geeks, I imagine) discussions of the chemistry behind tastes and fragrances, and the importance of cooking things long and hot enough to prevent foodborne illnesses.
But at times the book reads like more than a cookbook whose author is benignly attempting to work-up a new angle.
In a weird tangent, Potter makes a backhanded pitch for foods made with genetically modified organisms.
“What if a strain of rice could be produced that was more resilient in the face of floods and droughts?’’ asks Potter, as if saying “no’’ to such a product would make you heartless to the needs of people in developing nations.
Potter calls the GMO issue “an intensely charged political and social minefield.’’
But as any geek will tell you, the GMO debate is also about science. And scientists have not yet even agreed on standards for assessing the safety of GMO foods.
A geek puts pots and pans next to his beakers – The Boston Globe.
That’s the TED Talk line on GMO too — almost word for word with the same examples. Maybe he heard the same talk…
But I have to tip my hat to this guy, he’s going to sell a great deal of what basically amounts to a cookbook for $35 bucks a pop to a bunch of non-cooking young males who will get it in the hopes they’ll be “hacking” their meals instead of cooking them. Kudos.
@Noble I agree, buddy! I must confess some jealousy at the clever angle for this book.
Back again. I’ve been rolling these GMO statements around a lot in my craw lately.
GMO supporters always say “what if there was” and talk about how GMO can save land, water, and feed poor starving people, and how can you be against that?
Meanwhile, it seems GMO is mainly used to allow veggie manufacturers (can’t call them farmers) to douse their produce with more and more insecticide.
Jeff Potter, TED talk folks, and so on: let me know when this tech is actually used to feed starving people. Don’t give me “what ifs.”