Cook, Taste, Learn: How the Evolution of Science Transformed the Art of Cooking

Guy Crosby developed an early fascination with chemistry in high school. With the help of his father he built a small laboratory in the basement of their home where he first experimented with the chemistry of food. Guy went on to obtain a B.S. degree in chemistry from the University of New Hampshire, and Ph. D. degree in organic chemistry from Brown University in 1969, researching the chemistry of cholesterol. Following graduate school he and his wife Christine moved to Palo Alto, California to spend two wonderful years as a postdoctoral research associate at Stanford University, where they met other organic chemists interested in food, wine, and cooking. Soon a position opened at a local Silicon Valley startup company developing new food ingredients, providing Guy with the opportunity to combine his expertise in organic chemistry with food science.

Ten years later he and his family moved to Princeton, New Jersey to work for FMC Corporation, initially in the Agricultural Products Division, and then as Director of R & D for the Food Ingredients Division, establishing a global network of laboratories in North America, Central America, Europe, and Asia. One more move brought them back home to Massachusetts in 1996 where Guy worked as Vice President of R & D for Opta Food Ingredients, Inc. until the end of 2001, culminating more than thirty years in food-related research and development.

Instead of retiring, Guy launched a new career in teaching. He started as a visiting lecturer teaching food science in the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health in 2003, and shortly thereafter with the Department of Chemistry and Food Science at Framingham State University, teaching chemistry and food science as a full-time associate professor beginning in 2005. Guy Crosby - The Cooking Science GuyIn August of 2011 he retired from full-time teaching, but continues teaching as an adjunct associate professor at Harvard. In that time he has taught food science to more than 350 students.

Looking for new avenues to combine science with his enthusiasm for cooking, Guy approached Cook’s Illustrated Magazine in 2004 to see if they needed help with food science. The magazine prides itself in taking a scientific approach to recipe development. In early 2005 he began working with the magazine as a consulting editor, and then as Science Editor a few years later. After 12.5 years with America’s Test Kitchen Guy has recently moved on to become the science editor for Christopher Kimball’s latest venture “Milk Street Kitchen”in August 2017. Guy has co-authored a very popular book “The Science of Good Cooking” published in 2012, and more recently a second book “Cook’s Science” in 2016, both published by America’s Test Kitchen. Guy also lectures widely on topics in food science, food chemistry, and cooking science. He recently organized a symposium on “Trends in Cooking Science” for the 248th meeting of the American Chemical Society in San Francisco. Some of the world’s leading authors in cooking science participated in the symposium.

Guy is an emeritus member of the American Chemical Society (50 years), a professional member of the Institute of Food Technologists, and American Society for Nutrition. He is also an external advisor for the first of its kind EcoGastronomy program at the University of New Hampshire, a member of the Food Task Force for Boston’s Museum of Science, and a Food Science Communicator for the Institute of Food Technologists. He also serves on the Food Science Advisory Board for Framingham State University. Guy has published 45 scientific papers, is the inventor on 17 U. S. patents, as well as co-author of the two books mentioned above, the James Beard award nominated Cook’s Science (published October 4, 2016) and the New York Times bestseller The Science of Good Cooking, published in the fall of 2012, both by America’s Test Kitchen.

On April 1, 2013 Guy was officially included in the first group of Certified Food Scientists (CFS) approved by the Institute of Food Technologists. Guy loves to cook and apply his knowledge of cooking science whenever possible.

Research Interests 

Food chemistry, culinary chemistry, cell wall structure and texture of
plant foods, resistant starch.

Source: cookingscienceguy.com