Shirley Corriher

The Climb

Cooking science, in Shirley Corriher’s case, was built on training at Vanderbilt University and then tested in production: co-founder and cook at a boys' school at Boys' school in Atlanta, Georgia (until 1970). The work moved between kitchen, classroom, page, and screen without changing its central method: explain what is happening in the food so the cook can control it. That method carried into teaching a class on science and cooking at Nathalie Dupree, syndicated column work at Los Angeles Times, and food consulting at Good Eats. The trade position today is plain: Shirley Corriher works as biochemist and author.

Today

Pastry practice often depends on small corrections with large effects; Corriher’s cited example is the standard pinch of salt, used for its ability to suppress bitterness and sharpen perceived sweetness.

Signature

The signature work associated with Shirley Corriher stays close to American home baking and entertaining forms: Touch of Grace Southern Biscuits, tunnel-of-fudge, Deviled Eggs with Caviar, Chocolate Crinkle Cookies, and Dinner-on-the-Grounds Coconut Cake.

In Their Words “My grandmother prepared incredible meals. She made biscuits three times a day and cornbread twice a day. I used to follow her around the kitchen and I would try to make her biscuits. And I would use her bowls, her flour, her shortening.” “Salt has amazing ability to suppress bitterness. Pastry chefs always say, "Be sure to add a pinch of salt. It brings out the sweetness in the dessert." Little secrets uh all through can make big big differences.”

Recognition

The documented recognition is a James Beard Foundation Award for CookWise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Cooking, placing Corriher’s written cooking science inside the professional record rather than outside the kitchen.