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Geek Food: A Cookbook for the Technologically Inclined

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the alka-seltzer-not-included dept.

thaen writes: "Might want to check out the latest offering from arstechnica.com. Somebody has compiled a 51-page book of recipes written by geeks, for geeks, and originally posted in the arstechnica 'Lounge' forum. Mmmm...the omelette..." I seriously hope that the macaroni and cheese recipe really needs "tabasco sauce", rather than "tobacco sauce", because I can't even imagine... no. Not going to think about it.

4 of 300 comments (clear)

  1. *real* cookbooks for geeks by dghcasp · · Score: 5, Informative
    The best "geeky" magazine about cooking is Cook's Illustrated - Every issue is filled with articles similar to the following (except serious and useful):
    I always wondered what the best way to BBQ a steak was, so I bought 50 Kg. of steak, marinated some with oils, some with non-oils, put seasoning on some, and all possible combinations of the above, then grilled each one at 300,325,350,375,400,425 and 450 degrees for 3-19 minutes per side, either turning once, twice, or 2*N times.

    The results are presented in the following handy table and graph, with results from our 50 food tasters in 54 categories...

    BTW, the magazines are much better than the books that they also publish... The books mostly contain only the final recipe, not the experimental log book that led to it.

    The best "general" cookbook I've found is How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman. Each chapter starts up with several pages of "how to" and "How to do this right" information (such as how to dice tomatoes without making a mushy mess,) then follows up with tons of recipes.

    No pictures but lots of drawings of techniques such as which part of the cow that steak came from... (IIRC, there's also some info on butchering that steak yourself.)

    1. Re:*real* cookbooks for geeks by abischof · · Score: 5, Informative

      For those interested in giving it a try, you can get a free issue of Cook's Illustrated. I just signed up for the free issue, and I figured I'd give it a try.

      --

      Alex Bischoff
      HTML/CSS coder for hire

  2. Cooking? by yzf750 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Don't most slashdot readers just eat whatever mom puts on the table?

  3. Re:alt.gourmand and the USENET Cookbook by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    Well, THAT brings back memories...

    You've got two options:

    1. I found an online version of it here.

    2. If you really want to recapture the "old school" experience, you can get the original troff sources here - but then you have to go to Finland to find the "recipes" macro package that you need to process them successfully.