Modernist Cuisine: A Photo Tour

Photo © Ryan Matthew Smith / The Cooking Lab LLC

Nathan Myhrvold's culinary team used state-of-the-art photography equipment to document the science of food and cooking for his six-volume cookbook, Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking. Here, some of his book's striking images.

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Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking

Photo © The Cooking Lab, LLC

"I outdid myself," says Nathan Myhrvold, the author of Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking, his exhaustive 2,438-page, six-volume cookbook. That's quite a statement coming from Microsoft's former chief technology officer, who researched cosmology with Stephen Hawking and writes scholarly paleontology articles almost as a hobby. $377; amazon.com

Inside Nathan Myhrvold's Culinary Food Lab

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Pad Thai

Photo © Ryan Matthew Smith / The Cooking Lab LLC

Myhrvold's team bisected a wok to examine what happens to pad thai as it cooks.

Delicious Thai Dishes

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Sous Vide Egg Yolks

Photo © Ryan Matthew Smith / The Cooking Lab LLC

Egg yolks cooked sous vide to different temperatures result in a range of textures.

How to Cook Sous Vide at Home

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Golden Enoki Mushrooms

Photo © Ryan Matthew Smith / The Cooking Lab LLC

Golden enoki mushrooms are one of many ingredients pictured in their natural state.

Cooking with Mushrooms

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Beef Short Rib with Crispy Beef Salad

Sous vide beef short rib pairs with crispy beef salad and a sweet-pungent glaze.

Short Rib Recipes

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The Perfect Hamburger

Myhrvold considered every component to come up with his modernist version:

Tender hamburgerbun, made from scratch and toasted in beef suet.
Hamburgerglaze of suet, pureed tomato confit, beef stock and smoked salt.
Maitakemushroom, sautéed in beef suet.
Romainelettuce infused sous vide with liquid hickory smoke.
Vacuum-compressed heirloomtomato.
Cheese slice made from aged Emmental, Comté and wheat ale.
Short ribpatty ground to vertically align the grain.
Cremini mushroomketchup with honey, horseradish, fish sauce, ginger and allspice.

Amazing Burger Recipes

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Modernist Cuisine: A Photo Tour

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Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking

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