Note-by-note cooking : the future of food / Hervé This ; translated by M.B. DeBevoise.

Cuisine note à note. English

New York : Columbia University Press, [2014]

xii, 255 pages, 8 unnumbered leaves of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 21 cm.

Translation of: La cuisine note à note.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction -- 1. Shape -- Polyhedrons -- Nonpolyhedral solids -- The fable of the man with the golden brain -- 2. Consistency -- A woeful misunderstanding -- The relation between consistency and flavor -- Not everything has to be soft -- Thinking in physical terms -- Additives -- Contrasting consistencies -- 3. Taste -- Misdirection and misperception -- The impossible description of unknown tastes -- Sapid compounds -- Mineral salts -- Organic and mineral acids -- Amino acids and their derivatives -- Sugars -- Alcohols and polyols -- Intense sweeteners -- Flavoring agents -- Bitterants -- Matrix effects -- A new basic taste -- 4. Odor -- Manipulating odorant compounds -- Methods of extraction and processing -- Natural, same as natural, artificial -- Volatility, threshold perception, toxic risk -- A lexicon of basic culinary odors -- Odorant compounds -- On the proper use of odorigenic extracts and compositions -- Trigeminal sensations -- 5. Color -- The eye precedes the palate -- Legally approved coloring agents -- Natural versus artificial redux -- 6. Artistic choice and culinary nomenclature -- Substance and form -- The construction of flavors -- Naming dishes -- The first generation of note-by-note menus -- 7. Nutrition, toxicology, market dynamics, public interest -- The mixed blessings of abundance -- A world of plenty, filled with danger -- Selection and supply of compounds -- Political considerations -- Appendix : A few recipes.