Preface
  Much has happened in the culinary world since Kitchen Science was published two decades ago. The New Kitchen Science updates and enlarges the earlier volume, and offers many new tips and insights.
   As a quick thumbing through its pages will show you, the book is written for cooks, not scientists. It explains scientific principles in nonacademic language. And the Q&A format makes it quick and easy for you to absorb the many tips and insights. You’ll have more fun cooking after reading The New Kitchen Science because you’ll be a more creative cook.You’ll be able to improvise with greater flair, and you’ll be less dependent on recipes because you’ll know what can and cannot be done—and why. Like me and my many readers, you’ll love becoming a mad scientist in the kitchen.
  The New Kitchen Science takes the mystery out of cooking.You’ll learn why baking powder leavens, why freezing ruins the texture of meat, why some pots are superior to others, why some people can eat more hot chili than other people, why sauces thicken, why new potatoes are best for making potato salad, why a “bloody rare” steak is not really bloody,why a soufflé rises, and hundreds of gutsy answers to other practical questions.
   The “whys” have been well researched.With help from my staff, I conducted countless experiments in the kitchen in order to separate food facts from myths. I interviewed food scientists and devoured weighty tomes and academic articles that explore the world of food science. Supplementing that information is my knowledge, which comes from having written other food books and from having a lifelong interest in discovering the “whys” of cooking.
   An ancient Chinese philosopher once advised his assembled followers, “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” There is a parallel in cooking: Find yourself a recipe, and you can cook one dish. Teach yourself the science of cooking, and you can cook creatively forever.
   I hope you enjoy reading The New Kitchen Science as much as I enjoyed researching and writing it.

- Howard Hillman