ARTS & TRADITIONS OF THE TABLE: Per spec tives on Culinary History Albert ... -- Title Page -- Foreword -- Cooking and Science -- Venial Sins, Mortal Sins -- Canard à la Brillat-Savarin -- Horresco Referens -- Reactions in the Saucepan -- Universal Gastronomy -- The New Physiology of Flavor -- The Prehistory of Tastes -- Soup -- Why Does Soup Cool Down When We Blow on It? -- Milk -- How Do We Keep Milk from Boiling Over? -- Why That Odor? -- Why Is Human Milk More Digestible than Cow's Milk? -- Gels, Jellies, Aspics -- The Principle of the Calf's Hoof -- A Trap for Water -- Why Do Gels Have to Be Made Slowly? -- Mayonnaise -- Mix Oil and Water? -- Why Does Mayonnaise Become Viscous When It Contains So Much Oil? -- Why Does a Dash of Lemon Juice or Vinegar Liquefy Mayonnaise? -- How Much Mayonnaise Can Be Prepared with a Single Egg Yolk? -- Why Must Mayonnaise Be Beaten Vigorously? -- Why Can't the Oil Be Poured In All at Once? -- Why Does Mayonnaise Curdle? -- The Egg's Incarnations -- Essential Accessories -- How Can You Tell a Raw Egg from a Cooked Egg? -- Why Does an Egg Cook? -- Why Does the Egg Yolk Cook More Slowly than the White? -- Why Won't the Egg White Closest to the Yolk Cook? -- Why Add Vinegar to the Water When Poaching an Egg? -- The Odorous Mysteries of the Hard-Cooked Egg -- The Liquids in Eggs -- A Successful Soufflé? -- A Foam Beginning with a Liquid? -- When Are Egg Whites Whipped Enough? -- Why Must We Avoid Getting Yolk in the Whites? -- What About Salt or Acid? -- A Careful Mix -- Why Must the Oven Door Remain Closed While the Soufflé Is Baking? -- At What Temperature Must the Soufflé Bake? -- How Do You Avoid a Fallen Soufflé? -- Three Rules for a Successful Soufflé -- Cooking -- The Secrets of Tenderness -- How Do We Heat Foods? -- What Kind of Cooking for Which Dish? -- Cooking Without Heat?.

The Boiled and the Bouillon -- Fifty Hams! -- A Universal Flavor? -- How Does One Obtain a Flavorful Bouillon? -- Can You Lose Weight by Eating Only Boiled Meat? -- Steaming -- How Does One Tenderize Without Sacrificing Flavor? -- Braising -- Meat for Cooking Meat? -- What Happens During Braising? -- Braised Meat Without Sauce? -- Chicken Stew, Beef Stew, Veal Stew -- How Do We Salt Them? -- Questions of Pressure -- Why Use a Pressure Cooker? -- Cooking in the Mountains? -- Roasting -- First Principle: Succulence -- How Does a Roast Cook? -- One Can Become a Cook, but One Is Born a Roaster -- Deep-Frying -- Why Is It Necessary to Fry in So Much Oil? -- Why Must the Deep-Fry Oil Stay Clean? -- Why Must the Food for Frying Be Dry? -- What to Fry? -- Sautés and Grills -- Braising with Very High Heat -- Good Sense Gone Wrong -- Even More Tender -- Between Tough and Putrid -- By the Neck or by the Beak? -- How Many Days for Marinades? -- Pineapple Power -- Medicine and Cooking -- Salting -- Why Must Infants Not Be Fed Sausages? -- How Do We Dry Meat Using Salt? -- Microwaves -- Cooking with Internal Vapor -- Where Do Microwaves Act? -- A Few Questions and Answers -- Vegetables -- A Matter of Water -- How Do We Avoid the Discoloration of Green Vegetables When Cooking Them? -- How Long Must Vegetables Be Cooked? -- The Mystery of Dried Vegetables -- Do Carrots Risk Losing Their Color in Cooking? -- How Do We Cook Potatoes? -- Can a Dish Containing Vegetables Be Reheated in Butter? -- Why Must Cauliflower Not Be Overcooked? -- Why Do Beans Cause Flatulence? -- Sauerkraut and the Miracles of Fermentation -- The Ripening of Tomatoes -- Sauces -- Neither a Juice nor a Purée -- A Variable Consistency -- Is Béarnaise Sauce Warm Mayonnaise? -- Why Does Hollandaise Sauce Thicken? -- Why Is Béarnaise Sauce Opaque? -- Why Do Some Emulsified Sauces Fail?.

Why Use Very Fresh Eggs? -- What Purpose Does Lemon or Vinegar Serve? -- How Can We Salvage a Béarnaise Sauce? -- Why Will Vinegar Repair Béarnaise Sauce? -- The Mystery of White Butter Sauce -- Emulsions in the Roast? -- The Mysteries of Meat Glaze -- Binding with Egg -- Binding with Blood -- How Do We Salvage a Turned Sauce Bound with Egg? -- Binding with Starch -- Why Does Flour Thicken Sauces? -- Why Must Roux Be Cooked for a Long Time? -- Why Must a Sauce Bound with Flour Not Be Overheated? -- Why Must Sauces Bound with Flour Remain Liquid While They Are Cooking? -- The Skimming -- How Do We Salvage a Sauce that Is Too Thick or Thicken a Sauce that Is Too Thin? -- Why Must Some Fatty Substance Be Used in Sauces Bound with Flour? -- Why Must Lemon Juice and Vinegar Be Avoided in Sauces with a Roux Base? -- A Burning Question -- Let Us Eat Well, We Will Die Fat -- Does Hot Pepper Burn a Hole in the Stomach? -- The Salad -- Should the Salad Be Prepared in Advance? -- Vinaigrette -- The Seasoning -- Yogurt and Cheese -- Acid and Rennet -- Careful Attention -- Why Does Cheese Smell? -- Preparing Yogurt -- Fruits of the Harvest -- Why Do Apples Turn Brown When They Are Cut? -- How Much Sugar for the Syrup for Preserved Fruit? -- Ices and Sorbets -- How Must Ices Be Agitated? -- Must the Preparation Be Placed in the Freezer Hot or Cold? -- Instant Ice Cream -- Cakes -- A Base Both Robust and Light -- Meringue Foam -- When Should the Sugar Be Added? -- Opening the Oven Door -- The Scylla and Charybdis of Meringues: Overbeating and Egg Yolk -- A Soft Base -- Whipped Cream -- Pastry Dough -- Why Must Dough Be Allowed to Rest Before Baking It? -- Limited Kneading -- A Thousand Layers ... -- Sweet Dough -- The Bubbles in Sponge Cake -- Leavened Doughs -- Sugar -- What Happens When Sugar Is Heated? -- Why Are We Advised Against Using Aspartame in Cooking?.

Bread -- How Do We Make Good Bread? -- From Water, Flour, Yeast ... -- To Work! -- Why Must the Flour Be Dry? -- Old Flour Makes Good Bread -- The Fermentation -- Sourdough -- When Is Fermentation Complete? -- Why the Second Kneading? -- The Virtues of Carbon Dioxide -- The Baking -- Why Does Bread Go Stale? -- Wine -- The Mouthfuls Most Discussed Taste Best -- Tasting with the Eye -- Drinking with the Nose -- The Beginning of Ecstasy -- Finally, Drinking the Wine -- Improve a Wine? -- Your Own Fruit Wine -- Why Does Red Wine Darken as It Ages? -- Why Does White Wine Lose Its Green Highlights as It Ages? -- How Should We Keep Wine? -- Why Does Wine Weep? -- Is It Necessary to Let Wine Breathe Before Drinking It? -- The Alcohols -- How Can We Distill Alcohol? -- Improved Whisky? -- Cold Distillation -- Why Does Alcohol Make You Drunk? -- Jams -- Why Does Lemon Juice Make Jams Set? -- How Much Pectin? -- Tea -- How Long Should Tea Steep? -- Tea in Milk or Milk in Tea? -- Change Tea's Color? -- How Can We Not Spill the Tea When Pouring It? -- Cold and Cool -- Cool, but How Cool? -- The Big Chill -- Vinegar -- The Acid of Alcohol -- Must You Have a Mother to Make Vinegar? -- Kitchen Utensils -- How Can We Rejuvenate Silverware? -- Why Beat Egg Whites in Copper Bowls? -- Why Cook in Copper Saucepans? -- Why Use Wooden Spoons? -- Mysteries of the Kitchen -- Unanswered Questions -- Glossary -- Index -- Copyright Page.