Ingredient – Ali Bouzari

While at the CIA, he helped develop the eleven-course curriculum for their Culinary Science bachelor’s program, the first of its kind in the U.S. For his dissertation, Ali stayed true to his roots as a cook and collaborated with the French Laundry to focus his research on everyday cooking challenges. This interaction jumpstarted his career as a consultant to the culinary industry, allowing him to work closely with some of the most innovative restaurants in the U.S. Before reading his bio, I was totally impressed with myself for checking five things off my to-do list.

 

Bouzari’s book Ingredient, is not a cookbook – there are no recipes – it can be defined as a manual on how food works. Chapters are organized as follows: Water, Sugars, Carbohydrates, Lipids, Proteins, Minerals, Gases and Heat. Each chapter is then broken down further. For example: Water is subdivided into 1) Solid, Liquid or Gas; 2) Dissolving; 3) Flow; 4) Acids + Bases; and 5) Growth.  Every aspect of each component is studied and explained. It truly is a valuable tool in any cook’s arsenal – just as learning everything we can about spices and herbs and their uses, understanding how each building block brings a meal together is essential to furthering our culinary education. 

The book contains many illustrations and flow charts that make learning the science behind food playful and fun. I think of Ali as the new Alton Brown – the food world can definitely use another culinary genius with the initials AB. 

Ali states, “Ingredient works well as a reference book, but it’s meant to be treated like a mini curriculum, a crash course in how food works. Read it beginning to end and you will gain a Sherlock Holmes-like superpower to help you visualize the patterns, connections, and solutions to questions you come across in the kitchen for the rest of your life.”

We are thrilled that Ali’s pubisher, Ecco, is offering a giveaway to our members in the U.S., Canada and U.K. Head to our contest page to enter. Ecco provided the photographs and excerpt illustrations from Ingredient for our use.