Learning to love math

Actually, I do love math. I think it's fun. Whatever, I'm weird. I understand most people's feelings about math fall somewhere on the spectrum between their feelings about swine flu and sharks.

And yet, Michael Ruhlman's book "Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking" has been burning up the Amazon charts. It's No. 60 in the Top 100 of all books, and No. 1 in the categories of cooking, food, & wine reference; baking; and culinary arts & techniques. When it came into the office, I instantly snagged it out of the book bin and absconded with it, hoping no one would see me and say, "Wait! I want to look at that!" They didn't. Ha! "Ratio" is mine!

You possibly have not considered ratios since they bedeviled you on your SATs. Why are people now paying money for a book about them? Because the book gives you the building blocks you need to bake or cook just about anything without a recipe. Once you know, for example, that bread is 5 parts flour to 3 parts water, with 1/4 tsp. yeast and 1/2 tsp. salt per cup of flour, you can make just about any kind of bread you can dream up. The book covers doughs, stocks, sausages, sauces, and custards.

Also, Ruhlman's website features this very nifty downloadable ratio chart.

Though I think the book is a great idea, I'm a bit surprised at how popular it's proving. It seems people have moved past simply wanting to know how to make good food, and on to wanting to attain mastery. We want to know the codes, memorize them, and be able to make, say, Meyer lemon, olive oil, and picholine bread without a recipe when those ingredients present themselves. It's that whole "teach a man [or woman!] to fish" thing. We want to learn to fish! Ruhlman's book can help teach us.