Cocktail Party Physics: taster’s choice
With all due respect to Tom, cooking, done properly, is not about blindly following recipes: it involves a lot of prediction and testing by experiment to get a dish just right. The recipes just give you the basic framework.
I think the key phrase here is “done properly,” which I suspect applies to a minority of cooking. As Jennifer had noted
[W]hat he’s really objecting to is not cooking per se, but the blind following of a recipe/instructions, which isn’t any more scientific than rote memorization of scientific facts.
I have absolutely no problem with saying that there can be a whole lot of science in cooking, if you approach it that way. So go read the whole thing, it’s good (as usual), and has the Swedish chef.
I think I’d only disagree with the statement that only a minority of those who cook do so “properly.” I’d say it’s more of a majority. 🙂