Two CDC Scientists Create A New Cookbook Out Of Their Love For Pie

Summer Evans • Aug 28, 2019

Authors Chris Taylor and Paul Arguin partnered with Dad's Garage artistic director Kevin Gillese to create a new improv show on their pie cookbook.

Credit Summer Evans / WABE

Chris Taylor and Paul Arguin are research scientists. Paul is an M.D. specialist in malaria, now retired from the CDC. Chris still works at the CDC and is an epidemiologist. Their love for baking brought them together as a couple, and that love for baking has won them hundreds of awards.

The authors will present their first cookbook, “THE NEW PIE: Modern Techniques for the Classic American Dessert” at the AJC Decatur Book Festival this Sunday.

But before that, on Friday, the ever nimble actors at Dad’s Garage will improvise their interpretation of the cookbook.

Taylor, Arguin and Dad’s Garage Artistic Director Kevin Gillese joined Lois Reitzes on “City Lights” to discuss the partnership.

These are a few recipes from “The New Pie” by authors Chris Taylor and Paul Arguin. (Summer Evans)

When asked how their science background informed their baking skills in this cookbook, Arguin replied, “It’s commonly said that baking is more of a science and less of an art, so there’s a lot of precision that’s required. If you really want your pie to turn out every single time, there’s some precise steps you have to follow and we’ve outlined them in the book.”

The improvised reading of “The New Pie” will be during Dad’s Garage’s show “Improv Gets Lit” on Friday, Aug. 30 at 8 p.m.

The authors will also be presenting their cookbook on the Culinary Stage at the Decatur Book Festival Sunday, Sept. 1 at 5 p.m.