Whenever we cook we become practical chemists, drawing on the accumulated knowledge of generations, and transforming what the Earth offers us into more concentrated forms of pleasure and nourishment.

Banana skins turn black in the refrigerator; avocados darken and fail to soften further; citrus fruits develop spotted skins. Foods of tropical and subtropical origin keep best at the relatively high temperature of 50°F/10°C, and are often better off at room temperature than in the refrigerator. Among them are melons, eggplants, squash, tomatoes, c... See more

Good fries can be made by starting the potato strips in relatively cool oil, 250–325°F/120–163°C, cooking for 8–10 minutes, then raising the oil temperature to 350–375°F/175–190°C and cooking for 3–4 minutes to brown and crisp the outside. The most efficient production method is to pre-fry all the potato strips at the lower temperature ahead of tim... See more

If plants are so well endowed with their own natural pesticides, then why isn’t the world littered with the corpses of their victims? Because animals have learned to recognize and avoid potentially harmful plants with the help of their senses of smell and taste, which can detect chemical compounds in very small concentrations.

There are two basic facts to keep in mind when thinking about the aroma of any food. First, the distinctive aromas of particular foods are created by specific volatile chemicals that are characteristic of those foods. And second, nearly all food aromas are composites of many different volatile molecules. In the case of vegetables, herbs, and spices... See more

Fruits are plant organs that actually invite animals to eat them, so that the animals will carry their seeds away, and often pass them through their digestive system and deposit them in a nourishing pile of manure.

Each plant part, each fruit and vegetable, has its own characteristic cluster of antioxidants. And each kind of antioxidant generally protects against a certain kind of molecular damage, or helps regenerate certain other protective molecules. No single molecule can protect against all kinds of damage. Unusually high concentrations of single types c... See more

In the United States, an estimated 75% of all processed foods now contain genetically modified ingredients. But this remarkable figure is due to just three agricultural commodities—soybean, canola, and corn—all of them modified for improved resistance to insect pests or herbicides.

Unlike most of the objects that we sense around us, which we see or touch or hear, aromas are an invisible, intangible presence. To cultures that knew nothing of molecules and odor receptors, this ethereal, penetrating quality suggested a realm of invisible beings and powers.