Such is the irony of “Cooking Basics” — one of the most popular classes at Caltech, in which the final exam-meal is judged by a Nobel laureate, one of the six on the faculty and 30 in the history of the university, located in the Los Angeles suburb of Pasadena.

“We have amazingly gifted people in science and engineering and they are viewed by many people as nerdy,” said Caltech’s French-born president, Jean-Lou Chameau.

“But at the same time, they are still young people, they want to learn about life, they want to do different things,” Chameau said as he observed 20 students tackling this week’s lesson — Southern U.S. cooking.

This being Caltech, there is a great emphasis on the science of cooking.

Course professor Thomas Mannion lectured on the “collagen breakdown” of barbecuing meat and recommended the book “Molecular Gastronomy.” The course textbook, “On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen,” was written by Caltech alumnus Harold McGee.

Mannion, Caltech’s assistant vice-president for campus life, started the course for academic credit last year to polish “some of the brightest kids on earth” before they go out into the highly competitive world of jobs and research grants.

He teaches the course at his home, with a professional kitchen, well-stocked pantries and a golden retriever who patrols for scraps.

“Many of them haven’t had exposure to some of the things that lead to success, like how to open a bottle of wine or cook for someone at their home or host a dinner,” said Mannion.