modernist bread

After the international success of Modernist Cuisine, followed a few years later by the equally impressive Modernist Bread, author/publisher Nathan Myhrvold and his talented team of food geniuses are back with the eye-popping, four-volume boxed set, Modernist Pizza. It has everything you could possibly want to know about pizza and more, accompanied by the always spectacular in-your-face photography for which the Modernist books are known. In this lively conversation, Nathan tells us all about his early days as an assistant to Stephen Hawking, his role as chief technology officer at Microsoft, his work as technical advisor to Steven Spielberg for the Jurassic Park films, founder of Intellectual Ventures where he invests in world changing inventions, and how all of this intersects with his lifelong passion for food, cooking and, now, pizza. It’s quite a journey, and we’ll hear all about it on Pizza Quest with Peter Reinhart, on HRN.

Click here for the video versions of Pizza Quest. 

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Nathan Myhrvold is no ordinary chef. With two master’s degrees (one in mathematical economics, the other in geophysics and space physics) and a Ph.D. in theoretical and mathematical physics, he is also a technologist who did postdoctoral research with Stephen Hawking. From 1986 to 1999, Myhrvold was the chief strategist and chief technology officer at Microsoft, where he worked closely with Bill Gates on future planning and developing the company’s software. (During this time, he also co-authored Gates’s 1995 best-seller, The Road Ahead; in 1999, at age 40, he retired from the company.) Now, as the CEO of the firm Intellectual Ventures, which he co-founded in 2000, he develops and licenses intellectual property. The company owns upwards of 30,000 assets, nearly 900 of which were invented by Myrhvold himself. So where does cooking come in? Long a gastronomer and foodie (before the latter term was even a thing), Myhrvold began to pursue his passion for cuisine early on. During his Microsoft years (with Gates’s blessing), he took time off to attend the La Varenne cooking school in Burgundy, and later even apprenticed part-time at Rover's restaurant in Seattle. For a time, he was the “chief gastronomic officer” of the Zagat Survey.

It wasn’t until about a decade ago, though, that things really took off for Myhrvold on the food front. In 2011, he established a full-fledged publishing platform with the release of his six-volume Modernist Cuisine, an encyclopedic whirlwind into the science of contemporary cooking. A behemoth of a book, at 2,438 pages, it took about three years to produce, with several dozen people involved. Subsequent iterations have followed: Modernist Cuisine at Home (2012), The Photography of Modernist Cuisine (2013), and Modernist Bread (2017). A Modernist Pizza book is currently in the works. The series has become a cult favorite, highly respected by many of the world’s top chefs, including Thomas Keller and Heston Blumenthal. Especially remarkable about the project—aside from the inventive recipes—is the hyperrealist, meticulously executed photography. Many of the pictures are made through a “cutaway” technique involving machinery to that slices pots, pans, and ovens in half to offer a literal inside look into the processes behind the dishes—a pork roast atop embers, say, or broccoli steaming in a pot. It is through these images that Myhrvold's many talents and interests in science, food, and art collide, and to potent effect.

On this episode of Time Sensitive, Spencer speaks with Myhrvold about his journey into sous vide cooking, the problems he sees with the Slow Food movement, why food photography has never been considered a high art, and more.

While in New York City to attend the 2nd anniversary celebration of Andrew Talks to Chefs, Modernist Cuisine's head chef Francisco Migoya made time to sit down with Andrew and discuss his singular career.

Longtime listeners might remember that Francisco joined us for a short but fascinating conversation last year from Chef's Roll's Anti Convention in San Diego. On this visit, he and Andrew dive deep into his childhood in Mexico City, his original desire to be an artist, his first kitchen jobs and culinary training in France, and cooking in such traditional kitchens as Brooklyn's River Cafe. They also get into questions of food as art, work ethic, and what his day-to-day life is like at Modernist Cuisine.

If you like what you hear, please tell your chef-fascinated friends, subscribe to Andrew Talks to Chefs (it’s free) on iTunes, Spotify, or Stitcher, follow us on your favorite social media platforms @ChefPodcast, and/or rate or review us on Apple’s podcast store.

Please also subscribe to email updates from Andrew Talks to Chefs to receive new episode alerts and Andrew’s blog posts.

Reminder: Andrew Talks to Chefs is now an INDEPENDENT podcast; please visit our official site for new episodes, Andrew's blog, our catalog of past shows, and to contact us by voicemail or email.

Thanks for listening!

LINKS

Andrew Talks to Chefs official website

Francisco Migoya Chef's Roll Anti Convention interview (referenced in this episode, begins at 2:10:30)

Daniel Uditi and Dan Richer on Andrew Talks to Chefs (referenced in this episode)

Francisco MIgoya bio on Modernist Cuisine

Benno restaurant (graciously hosted us for this interview)

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:

Andrew is a writer by trade. If you'd like to support him, there's no better way than by purchasing his most recent book, The Dish: The Lives and Labor Behind One Plate of Food (October 2023), about all the key people (in the restaurant, on farms, in delivery trucks, etc.) whose stories and work come together in a single restaurant dish.

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Please also follow Andrew's real-time journal of the travel, research, writing, and production of/for his next book The Opening (working title), which will track four restaurants in different parts of the U.S. from inception to launch.

For Andrew's writing, dining, and personal adventures, follow along at his personal feed.

Thank you for listening—please don't hesitate to reach out with any feedback and/or suggestions!

In this episode, we’re exploring the intersection of bread and art, and the idea of bread as art. From Renaissance paintings of The Last Supper (complete with pretzels) and still lifes from the Dutch Golden Age to scoring videos on Instagram—the aesthetics of bread, and all that it symbolizes, have long been on display.

We'll look for bread in art history with Maite Gomez-Rejon (founder of Art Bites), consider the influence of art on baking with an interview from HRN Happy Hour featuring head chef of Modernist Cuisine Francisco Migoya and author Daniel Isengart, talk about craft with baker (and former ceramic artist) Sarah Owens, weigh bread's artistic value with Guy Frenkel of Ceor Bread, and find out how co-authors Nathan Myhrvold and Francisco Migoya, tackled bread's beige aesthetics when writing Modernist Bread.

Photo Credit: Nathan Myhrvold/ The Cooking Lab, LLC.

Theme Music: Thomas Hughes & Gretchen Lohse (@carolclevelandsings)

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We're going down the rabbit hole of breads with holes! From the New York vs Montreal bagel debate—and the power of water and lye—to the twists and turns of pretzel history, focusing on the presence of negative space is a positive thing.

We'll explore the power of lye with Harold McGee, check out NYC bagel culture with Dianna Daoheung of Black Seed Bagels, learn about the Simit with Zoe Kanan, and head to Pennsylvania's classic Julius Sturgis Pretzel Bakery. Along the way, Nathan Myhrvold and Francisco Migoya, co-authors of Modernist Bread, will address "the water myth," and their findings may surprise NYC bagel purists.

Photo credit: The Cooking Lab, LLC.

Theme Music: Thomas Huges & Gretchen Lohse (@carolclevelandsings).

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Flatbreads and quick breads may seem like strange oven-fellows, but hear us out. In the Venn Diagram of bread baking, they both fall in the overlap of “speed” and “differently leavened.” So we're firing up the tonir, the tandoor, the griddle, the bastible, the wok, and even a rock, to travel around the world through bread.

We'll chat flatbreads with chef Mike Solomonov of Zahav, head baker Peiwen Lee of Hot Bread Kitchen, and author Kate Leahy of the forthcoming Lavash. Then, producer-at-large Conor O'Donovan will dive deep into Irish Soda Bread with Darina Allen of The Ballymaloe Cookery School and cookbook historian Dorothy Cashman. And, as always, we'll hear insights from co-authors of Modernist Bread Nathan Myhrvold and Francisco Migoya.

Photo Credit: Nathan Myhrvold / The Cooking Lab, LLC.

Theme Music: Thomas Huges & Gretchen Lohse (@carolclevelandsings).

Modernist BreadCrumbs is powered by Simplecast.

Bread has been paired with other fermentations for millennia—with beer in Russian literature, wine in religious texts, and cheese in sandwiches around the world every day. What is it about bread that makes it a natural ally to these fermented products? Well, bread itself is a fermented product.

In this episode, we’ll look at co-fermentations and variations on the process of yeast eating sugar and releasing carbon dioxide. We'll hear from Keith Cohen of Orwasher's Bakery, Nina White of Bobolink Dairy and Bakehouse, Tracy Chang of PAGU, Marika Josephson of Scratch Brewing, and, of course, co-authors of Modernist Bread, Nathan Myhrvold and Francisco Migoya.

Photo Credit: The Cooking Lab, LLC.

Theme Music: Thomas Huges & Gretchen Lohse (@carolclevelandsings)

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Industrialization, and the semi-dwarf wheat developed during the Green Revolution, created a disconnect between farming and flour. But now, consumers are rejecting these commodities and rediscovering the foods, flavors, and farmers around us.

This episode is about the growing movement to bring back heritage grains and strengthen local and regional food systems. In direct opposition of the Green Revolution, we’re going to the front lines of the “Grain Revolution."

We'll hear from author William Alexander, baker Ellen King of Hewn, Henry Blair of the Greenmarket Regional Grains Project, "The Grain Lady" Mona Esposito, miller Jennifer Lapidus of Carolina Ground, and, of course, co-authors of "Modernist Bread," Nathan Myhrvold and Francsico Migoya.

Photo credit: The Cooking Lab, LLC.

Theme music: Thomas Hughes and Gretchen Lohse (@carolclevelandsings)

Modernist BreadCrumbs is powered by Simplecast.

Welcome to Season Two of Modernist BreadCrumbs!

It seems only natural—and appropriately poetic—to start this season talking about starters. They’re the inception of the loaf, the first step. You don’t need a starter to make bread, but the story of cultivating yeast from the environment around us—whether you call it “starter,” “culture,” “levain," or “mother”—is what we’re focusing on in this episode, from microbes to miche.

We'll hear from Executive Producer Michael Harlan Turkell about his "mother," baker Sarah Owens about her "Beast," microbial ecologists Dr. Erin McKenney and Dr. Rob Dunn of The Sourdough Project, and, of course, co-authors of "Modernist Bread," Nathan Myhrvold and Francsico Migoya.

“Sourdough for Science” Link: http://studentsdiscover.org/lesson/sourdough-for-science

“New Year, New Bread” Link: http://studentsdiscover.org/lesson/new-year-new-bread

Puratos Sourdough Library Virtual Tour Link: https://www.poppr.be/virtualtour/puratos/#p=scene_p1.html

Photo credit: Nathan Myhrvold / The Cooking Lab, LLC.

Theme music: Thomas Hughes and Gretchen Lohse (@carolclevelandsings)

Modernist BreadCrumbs is powered by Simplecast.

The guests of the hour are Daniel Isengart and Francisco Migoya! Both men have combined a deep love of art with their culinary aspirations, and have truly unique perspectives on cooking, eating, and creating.

Daniel Isengart is the author of The Art of Gay Cooking, a literary appropriation of The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook, that includes a foreword by Jeremiah Tower, the legendary Godfather of California Cuisine. Isengart was born in Munich, Germany and raised in France. Since his NYC stage debut in 1994 (in Tina Landau’s Stonewall – Night Variations), he has become a specialist in the intimate performance style of the cabaret genre.

Francisco Migoya, head chef of Modernist Cuisine and co-author of Modernist Bread: The Art and Science, grew up in Mexico City surrounded by the cultures of his parents: Italian-American and Spanish. Chef Migoya’s first calling, however, was not culinary school but art school, where he planned on studying painting, drawing and sculpture. Encouraged by a friend, he acquired a staging position in a Mexico City hotel at age 16. Migoya quickly realized that the kitchen was where he belonged.

Our theme song is “Suns Out Guns Out” by Concord America.

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It's the season finale of Meat + Three! A few weeks ago, we presented an episode about youth, so for this week’s theme, we’re flipping the script and focusing on age.

We start with a visit to one of Atlanta's most iconic landmarks, Hotel Clermont, which just re-opened! Meet the team behind the hotel's French brasserie, Tiny Lou's, and discover the fascinating history behind its name.

Hannah Fordin investigates what happens when it’s time for a chef to retire. In other career paths, you can count on your employer to help you plan ahead, but it rarely works that way in the restaurant industry. Helping Hannah tackle this subject matter is Andrew Friedman, who's interviewed hundreds of chefs – in all stages of their careers – for his show, Andrew Talks to Chefs, and book, Chefs, Drugs, and Rock & Roll.

Kat Johnson looks into trends related to the average age of the principal farm operators in the US, which has risen by about eight years (from 50 years old to 58) over the past three decades. To learn more about how this could impact the food supply, we hear from Lisa Held, the new host of The Farm Report.

We also have news about a food that turns out to be much older than we believed, as Jordan Werner Barry asks the question, "Is bread paleo now?"

Love Meat + Three? Subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher, follow us on your favorite social media platforms @Heritage_Radio, rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, or drop us a line at ideas@meatandthree.nyc.

Our theme song is by Breakmaster Cylinder.

additional music:

Kevin MacLeod - "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy"
Kevin MacLeod - "Pippin the Hunchback"
Kevin MacLeod - "Divertimento"
Kevin MacLeod - "The North"
Kevin MacLeod - "Unanswered Questions"

Photo by Heidi Geldhauser
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This week on Cooking Issues, Dave and Nastassia discuss the shortcomings of New York’s subway system, Peter Kim’s nervous habit of eating sandwiches, Dave’s trip to China, and answer questions about rhubarb, getting good lift in sourdough bread, reducing waste when breaking down animals, fat-washing vodka with coconut oil, and more!

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This week on Cooking Issues, Peter Kim is in studio taking punches and talking about upcoming events at the Museum of Food and Drink! Plus, questions about dry-aged beef, making labneh with the Spinzall, end of the world plans, getting more lift from a sourdough bread, and more! And Dave quells rumors about the Searzall being on backorder (it's not, but kind of).

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Nathan Myhrvold is one the most visionary and influential people working in culinary science and publishing today. The former chief technology officer of Microsoft and founder of Intellectual Ventures, opened The Cooking Lab and Modernist Cuisine in Bellevue, Washington to pursue his lifelong passion and curiosity for cooking. He joins us in-studio to talk his newest five-volume, 1500-recipe, 2500-page book Modernist Bread: The Art and Science. Also in this episode, a preview of Modernist BreadCrumbs, a new collaborative podcast between Heritage Radio Network and Modernist Cuisine, featuring Nathan Myhrvold and Michael Harlan Turkell of HRN’s The Food Seen.

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