Rating: 2.75/5 
Without too much imagination, the kitchen can be viewed as household chemistry lab where all manner of transformations are taking place. Not many home chefs dig down into the natty details of what sort of molecular shifts are taking place as a steak sizzles away or as dough develops, but Field does. He spends the whole book methodically tracking through every last detail he can think of relating to individual ingredients and the most common approaches to cooking them. He’s even thorough enough to include a bevy of structural formulae in the book, which will surely make this the most immediately prized addition to the kitchen of the scientifically minded and will set the rest to wondering why these strange, already completed connect-the-dots designs are included.
In a way, this is a more formal, studious version of the approach taken by Alton Brown during the run of his Food Network show “Good Eats.” Field tries to convey a deeper understanding of the best ways to prepare food and adjust recipes by unpacking the underlying science. But while Brown leaned towards goofy skits, creative costumes and happily yammering puppets to get his points across—admittedly the kinds of things that are especially necessary in the visually-dependant medium of television—Field winds up with something that reads far more like a somewhat arid and straightforward textbook. The closest he comes to whimsy is the inclusion of a feathered household pet as his “assistant” in the photo essays that accompany a couple of the recipes in the book. It’s a little awkward when the bird is hanging around while he cooks poultry.
The recipes are arguably the strongest part of Culinary Reactions. Besides demonstrating the utility of the knowledge that Field shares elsewhere, these are the passages that are written in the breeziest, most conversational manner. It’s highly appealing and contrasts nicely with the necessarily dry recitation of complicated facts in the most easily understandable manner possible. Field is writing more for the neophyte than the seasoned kitchen scientists and wading through the information requires a deliberate presentation. When he can free himself from that and let some more personality come through, the book best conveys how added background in the underlying science can make time spent in the kitchen that much more effective. More importantly, the fun of it all starts to come through. That’s got to be the most prized reaction of all.
