Massimo Marcone, on the hunt for the elusive Kopi Luwak coffee.

I finally got around to reading Massimo Marcone’s book, In Bad Taste?, awarded last year’s Honourable Mention for Special Interest Books at the Canada Culinary Book Awards. Massimo is a friend and colleague of mine, so he has been cajoling me to read the book since it came out. Browsing through the public library, it finally got the best of me, and I read it this past long weekend.

What fun! It’s a whirlwind tour of weird food, fascinating places, and the futuristic world of the scientific lab. And it is equally a portrait of an interesting scientist, who perfectly fits the description of “Mr. Magoo meets Indiana Jones”. If I may, I’ll also add “walking-talking encyclopedia” to the description.

But beyond the book, what I find interesting is the real desire to read and understand the science behind food. Certainly we’ve all heard Michael Pollan’s diatribes against the food science industrial complex. But everyone who lights a stove, whips eggs in a copper bowl, makes jam, or kneads bread is somehow interacting with that science. Food science isn’t all  about ingredients that no one can pronounce. It should be about understanding, preserving and enhancing the goodness of food that is already within.

For me, it was intriguing to see two other 2008 Cuisine Canada award winning books with science at the core of their messages. The gold winning French language book, La chimie des desserts: tout comprendre pour mieux les réussir by Christina Blais and Ricardo is a wonderful primer on how to enhance the quality of desserts. The chemistry behind the cooking lets you make the best of each new recipe, and improve on your old favorites.  Blais, a professor of food science at l’Université de Montréal is a common face in the French-Canadian media, sharing her wealth of scientific knowledge to help people cook better.  Ricardo puts his sense of style in the recipes, and completes this winning combination.

Another gold winner, Ultimate Foods for Ultimate Health by Liz Pearson and Mairlyn Smith, used the most up-to-date knowledge in nutrition science, paired with delicious recipes, to help make healthy cooking delicious.  Pearson brings her expertise in nutrition and dietetics to interpret the myriad of nutrition theories and facts, while Smith, a professional home economist, packs the nutrition into dishes we can enjoy guilt free.

Food science, when brought into the public eye by skilled authors, can make our lives healthier, safer, tastier, and more interesting. Whether you are a fan or not, food science touches everything we eat. It’s important to become informed, and our authoritative Canadian authors are helping greatly in this regard.

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Written by Dr. Amy Proulx, who just happens to be the “laughing”, yet “level headed” Amy in Massimo’s book.  I still remember vividly the Moroccan Police chasing me around the airport.

Photo © Massimo Marcone, used with permission.