Previously on Frekenomics Radio.

So then you cook it to perfect medium rare, then you dunk it in liquid nitrogen, which

freezes the outside.

Then, we deep fry it, we pop it in a deep fryer, or you use a torch on it.

And either one will give you this incredible crusty outside, but because you put it in liquid

nitrogen, that prevents it from overcooking, so you get perfect medium rare hamburger.

I am so hungry for the taste of the real, that I am just not able to get into that, which

doesn't feel real to me.

It's a kind of scientific experiment, and I think there are good scientists and you know,

crazy old scientists that can be very amusing.

But it's more like a museum to me.

Alice Waters is the owner of the legendary Shepenys restaurant in Berkeley, California, and

she's a champion of simple, slow, organic food.

The guy who wants to build a perfect hamburger, one tank of liquid nitrogen at a time, that's

Nathan Mirvold.

He runs an invention company called Intellectual Ventures.

He trained as a physicist and also as a chef.

He is about to publish a cookbook, a six volume 2400 page, $625 cookbook called Modernist

Quizine.

It's a celebration of molecular gastronomy, the high end practice of turning ordinary food

into works of art.

The book is also a serious effort to bring the scientific method into the kitchen.

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