love this exploration! in my experience as a pastry chef who works for chefs this can sometimes be used to devalue sweet vs savory in restaurants by labeling cooking as art/pastry as science, which also includes gender bias as a main feature. ironic because another belief is that pastry is somehow easier and soft, best for people who can't hack the line!
I've always found that the "stricter" side of baking makes it much vibey-er than cooking! Like when I make biscuits, I know which are the parts/ingredients that I have to be very careful not to mess up, but the rest I know well enough that I can eyeball or switch up based on the oven or how long I have to chill them etc. With cooking so many of the choices are arbitrary, in a sense, and I find that overwhelming... I need some factors to be immovable in order to vibe truly...
Oh, that’s super interesting! I guess with cooking it’s harder to see through lines that you could then rely on when improvising. I’ve always wanted to take a cooking class that would teach me that sort of thing, like essential principles of some sort
Loved this. Some of the best cakes I've ever had come from family members who can never tell me the exactness of what they're doing (or maybe they dont want to lol). They never talk about the science, but of the joy and the feeling and the way you become one with what you're doing after so long. I'm sure there was a lot of trial and error in between, but I'm more willing to try for myself because of the way they're so connected the actual practice and not the technicality of it all.
I loved this so much. I kept highlighting sections to quote in my comment and couldn't decide on just one so I will simply say that this was a thoroughly good read, I loved the tangent that illustrated how dangerous it can be to put too much weight on the exactitudes of science in socio political contexts, and you have definitely gained a new subscriber!
« Baking does not have to be perfectly exact every single time, and science is also often not perfectly exact. »
I loved this sentence, as it does reflect my vision of pastry. I’m a R&D pastry chef, so almost all I do is tweaking recipes, trying to make them more like this or more like that. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. I still think that science is involved in baking (chemistry, mathematics…) but Yes, if you are not trying to achieve exactly the same results every time, it doesn’t have to be seen as “an exact science” ! —Shout out to the pancakes recipes I eyeball in the morning lol.
It’s like saying that we NEED a stand mixer and other fancy tools to make french pastry… That’s not true at all ! But sadly a lot of people think like this = they’re afraid to start baking. And as someone who loves baking; that’s quite sad.
Btw the fact that you’re a scientist and a baker is so cool ! Do you think your background helps you with you baking?
Thank you! It means a lot that this resonated with someone who works in pastry. And I appreciate the perspective of when baking does and does not have to be exact. As for my baking and science, I think being able to think about process in an analytic way and also to spot patterns across recipes, both things I learned as a physics theorist, has been really helpful. And I do think I am less intimidate by things like chemistry so if I know I want something very specific I can try and look up what the science-y nitty gritty is, like with why it's recommended to add acid to aquafaba or how baking with oil is different than with butter etc.
This was great and expressed a lot of my feelings about cooking AND science. I recently read Prescod-Weinstein’s The Disordered Cosmos which helped me process my dropping physics to major (and eventually become a teacher of) poetry. Seeing the inside of science in this more real, inclusive, artful way is cool! Thank you for writing!
Thank you Michael! Prescod-Weinstein's book is a great influence on me (I cite it a few times in my upcoming book, which is not dissimilar) and the clarity she has in breaking down how social forces intertwine with science is so needed. I wish more scientists took to the kind of interdisciplinary work that she does. Also: physics to poetry is an amazing transition! I think in an ideal world practicing science and poetry would have a lot more in common, the two are sorta kindred ways of searching for truth. Do you know June Jordan's poem on the Bell theorem, for instance? I just learned about it recently and it sorta knocked me over.
As someone who has been known to “wing” a batch of chocolate chip cookies, I reeeealllly appreciated this!!!!
love this exploration! in my experience as a pastry chef who works for chefs this can sometimes be used to devalue sweet vs savory in restaurants by labeling cooking as art/pastry as science, which also includes gender bias as a main feature. ironic because another belief is that pastry is somehow easier and soft, best for people who can't hack the line!
Thank you sharing your experience! I was wondering how this works in a professional setting.
I've always found that the "stricter" side of baking makes it much vibey-er than cooking! Like when I make biscuits, I know which are the parts/ingredients that I have to be very careful not to mess up, but the rest I know well enough that I can eyeball or switch up based on the oven or how long I have to chill them etc. With cooking so many of the choices are arbitrary, in a sense, and I find that overwhelming... I need some factors to be immovable in order to vibe truly...
Oh, that’s super interesting! I guess with cooking it’s harder to see through lines that you could then rely on when improvising. I’ve always wanted to take a cooking class that would teach me that sort of thing, like essential principles of some sort
Loved this. Some of the best cakes I've ever had come from family members who can never tell me the exactness of what they're doing (or maybe they dont want to lol). They never talk about the science, but of the joy and the feeling and the way you become one with what you're doing after so long. I'm sure there was a lot of trial and error in between, but I'm more willing to try for myself because of the way they're so connected the actual practice and not the technicality of it all.
I loved this so much. I kept highlighting sections to quote in my comment and couldn't decide on just one so I will simply say that this was a thoroughly good read, I loved the tangent that illustrated how dangerous it can be to put too much weight on the exactitudes of science in socio political contexts, and you have definitely gained a new subscriber!
Thanks so much Mildred, I appreciate you reading and subscribing!
« Baking does not have to be perfectly exact every single time, and science is also often not perfectly exact. »
I loved this sentence, as it does reflect my vision of pastry. I’m a R&D pastry chef, so almost all I do is tweaking recipes, trying to make them more like this or more like that. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. I still think that science is involved in baking (chemistry, mathematics…) but Yes, if you are not trying to achieve exactly the same results every time, it doesn’t have to be seen as “an exact science” ! —Shout out to the pancakes recipes I eyeball in the morning lol.
It’s like saying that we NEED a stand mixer and other fancy tools to make french pastry… That’s not true at all ! But sadly a lot of people think like this = they’re afraid to start baking. And as someone who loves baking; that’s quite sad.
Btw the fact that you’re a scientist and a baker is so cool ! Do you think your background helps you with you baking?
Thank you! It means a lot that this resonated with someone who works in pastry. And I appreciate the perspective of when baking does and does not have to be exact. As for my baking and science, I think being able to think about process in an analytic way and also to spot patterns across recipes, both things I learned as a physics theorist, has been really helpful. And I do think I am less intimidate by things like chemistry so if I know I want something very specific I can try and look up what the science-y nitty gritty is, like with why it's recommended to add acid to aquafaba or how baking with oil is different than with butter etc.
Amazing ! I find this point of view so interesting. Thank you for sharing! ✨
Really enjoyed this! Good to remember that science is also a creative enterprise
This was great and expressed a lot of my feelings about cooking AND science. I recently read Prescod-Weinstein’s The Disordered Cosmos which helped me process my dropping physics to major (and eventually become a teacher of) poetry. Seeing the inside of science in this more real, inclusive, artful way is cool! Thank you for writing!
Thank you Michael! Prescod-Weinstein's book is a great influence on me (I cite it a few times in my upcoming book, which is not dissimilar) and the clarity she has in breaking down how social forces intertwine with science is so needed. I wish more scientists took to the kind of interdisciplinary work that she does. Also: physics to poetry is an amazing transition! I think in an ideal world practicing science and poetry would have a lot more in common, the two are sorta kindred ways of searching for truth. Do you know June Jordan's poem on the Bell theorem, for instance? I just learned about it recently and it sorta knocked me over.
Thanks so much for the poem recommendation, that’s a real stunner!!!!