Farcical Cuisine

What's more ludicrous than a $12,000 bottle of whiskey, more pretentious then a dinner at Joel Robuchon and weighs more than Mario Batali?

It's Modernist Cuisine, the new five volume, 2,400 page, $650 molecular gastronomy cookbook by Microsoft tycoon Nathan Myhrvold. Yes, you read correctly. It is a $650 cookbook.

The photos, judging from the website and numerous reviews, appear to be stunning, and for some reason, feature lots of things cut in half, but does the world really need this overhyped monstrosity? No less, I suppose, than we need $12,000 bottles of whiskey.