Tech: Raspberry Pi

The Rapberry Pi is British engineering at its best - sure a lot of the tech-hype has moved to the US and Silicon Valley, but there are still ground breaking companies making amazing tech products here in the UK (lots of them too!), and Raspberry Pi is one such product. Since it first arrived on the market, at less than £30 for what is essentially a handheld computer it has taken the hobbyist and technology markets by storm. It has gone on to inspire hundreds of kickstarter projects, thousands of hobbyist projects (home webserver to host your own website, TV smart device, home smart hub.. you name it, there is probably a tutorial and some code on the internet to make it happen) and several other commercial products and companies (Kano, for example, is an accessible, child-friendly learn how to code/use computer kit that is basically just a re-branded Pi with some additional hardware & software to make things look a bit prettier).

You can use it to control your home lighting, or to try and control lego robots with your kids (or on your own, which is probably the easier and more enjoyable option!).  It's affordable, easy to use and fun to start a range of projects. Furthermore, at that price point, you can use it for silly projects and just mess around with it as it really doesn't break the bank.

Book: The Foodlab

By some way, my favourite food-science author, chef and general internet personality, Kenji Lopez-Alt, has written what is going to be the first in a series (of at least two, lets hope more!) books The Foodlab (his online moniker writing as himself and on the popular SeriousEats site).

The introduction, although it goes much further, and longer, than a regular introduction, covers a range of topics - heat exchange in cooking, the importance of saucepan material, the importance of experimentation and control - the list goes on, and its a fascinating read. As a nerd/foodie/hobbyist cook this book is one of my favourites to read, you can pick it up and flick to pretty much anywhere and you will find an engrossing long-form discussion on some dish or technique.

It's not all theory, of course, but what makes the book great, is before each recipe, or category of recipes, Kenji breaks down the components, why they are important and how he ended up on the recipe. Take his chilli-con-carne recipe, for example - preceding that, there are several pages of detailed discussion of the why and the how of the recipe, along with explanation as to his journey to get there (how long should you soak the beans? can you use any variety of chillis? what mean should you use? how can I make it more meaty?). That is just one example - but nothing is left un-answered, is there a quicker way to cook risotto? (do I need to keep stirring it? can I add all the liquid up front rather than bit-by-bit), when should I salt the meat for my burgers?

The reason this is all so useful, is not just that it makes for an interesting read whilst lounging on a Sunday morning, but in understanding the building blocks, which parts are important and which parts aren't, where you can make substitutions, then it helps you understand your cooking, other meals you might make or other recipes you might come to interpret. You may find yourself reading other recipes and thinking I don't have that ingredient, but it doesn't batter because I can change it for X, or I don't really need to do that part.

Even if you don't get the book, following him online (his writing on SeriousEats, twitter, instagram, his youtube videos) you will become a better home cook.