On Food and Cooking
by Harold McGee
(Click here)
Book Summary Information
Author: Harold McGeeEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 1997-02-01
ISBN: 0684843285
Number of pages: 704
Publisher: Scribner
Book Reviews of On Food and Cooking
Book Review: Geat cooking reference every cook should have!
Summary: 5 Stars
First of all, always buy a great cooking reference book like this in hardcover as you will be turning to it again and again and a hardcover will certaily last longer. I make sure I buy all my good reference and cook books in hardcover so they will last.
Next, the book. I had McGhee's first edition (blue) I bought over 20 years ago and now I have this updated version. Let me say it is indispensable and I LOVE IT. By reading this book you will be able to understand many techniques and not only that why things happen in your kitchen. I can easily believe that it is a required reference book for professional chefs. It helps me understand things b etter in the kitchen so I can answer questions and give thorough answers to my girls as they are learning to cook.
So, yes, this book is great and only compliments a well stocked and referenced kitchen.
Summary of On Food and Cooking
Generously spiced with historical and literary anecdotes, this undisputed classic of great gastronomic writing discusses all the major food categories and has become established as the work that combines culinary lore and scientific explanations in one authoritative book. Line drawings and photographs.What makes white meat white? Does searing really seal in flavor? Why is it that fruits ripen but vegetables don't? These and other food mysteries are conclusively solved in Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen. A unique mix of culinary lore, food history, and scientific investigation, McGee's compellingly readable book explores every aspect of the food we eat: where it comes from, what it's made of, and how and why it behaves as it does when we bake, broil, steam, or otherwise ready it for the table. In addition to chapters on foods such as eggs, fruit, meat, and dairy products, McGee investigates wine, beer, and distilled liquors (the first alcoholic beverage was probably produced 10,000 years ago when some honey was forgotten); food additives (adulterated food has always been with us); and digestion and sensation (most of our food aversions are learned by taste-testing in childhood), among other topics. A section on nutrition reveals, among much else, that Americans have always been prey to food faddism. The book concludes with an easy-to-understand investigation of the basic food molecules--water, carbohydrates, proteins, and fats and oils--and a discussion of cooking methods and utensil materials. There's a lively chemistry primer guaranteed to make clear and enjoyable what was probably less so in the classroom. With more than 200 illustrations, including extraordinary photos of cellular food anatomy, the book will delight anyone who cooks or enjoys food. --Arthur Boehm
Essays Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in My Favorite Cooking Books
Cook's Illustrated 2001 Annual (Cooks Illustrated Annuals)Cook's Illustrated; Published: 2000-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $18.00
Price in other shops:
Cook's Illustrated 2002 Annual (Cook's Illustrated Annuals)Cook's Illustrated; Published: 2002-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $20.00
Price in other shops:
Cook's Illustrated 2003 AnnualBoston Common Press; Published: 2003-11-30; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $20.00
Price in other shops:
Cook's Illustrated 2004 Annual (Cook's Illustrated Annuals)America's Test Kitchen; Published: 2004-11-30; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $20.00
Price in other shops:
Cooks Illustrated 2005 AnnualAmerica's Test Kitchen; Published: 2005-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.00
Price in other shops:
How to Eat: The Pleasures and Principles of Good Foodby Nigella Lawson
Wiley; Published: 2002-08-22; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $18.00
Price in other shops:
Lidia's Italian-American Kitchenby Lidia Matticchio Bastianich
Random House; Knopf; Published: 2001-10-23; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $20.98
Price in other shops:
Crust and Crumb: Master Formulas for Serious Bread Bakersby Peter Reinhart
Ten Speed Press; Published: 2006-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.87
Price in other shops:
Nigella Bites: From Family Meals to Elegant Dinners -- Easy, Delectable Recipes For Any Occasionby Nigella Lawson
Hyperion; Published: 2002-11-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.87
Price in other shops:
On Food and Cookingby Harold McGee
Scribner; Published: 1997-02-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $56.99
Similar Books and other products
Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cookingby Michael Ruhlman
Scribner; Published: 2009-04-07; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.02
Price in other shops:
Building a Meal: From Molecular Gastronomy to Culinary Constructivism (Arts and Traditions of the Table: Perspectives on Culinary History)by Herv? This
Columbia University Press; Published: 2009-02-19; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.21
Price in other shops:
Portrait of a Burger as a Young Calf: The Story of One Man, Two Cows, and the Feeding of a Nationby Peter Lovenheim
Three Rivers Press; Published: 2003-06-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.92
Price in other shops:
The Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, Based on the Wisdom of America's Most Imaginative Chefsby Karen Page, Andrew Dornenburg
Little, Brown and Company; Published: 2008-09-16; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $21.20
Price in other shops:
The Science of Cookingby Peter Barham
Springer; Published: 2001-06-08; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $31.98
Price in other shops:
Kitchen Mysteries: Revealing the Science of Cooking (Arts and Traditions of the Table: Perspectives on Culinary History)by Herv? This
Columbia University Press; Published: 2007-10-23; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.42
Price in other shops:
What Einstein Told His Cook 2: The Sequel: Further Adventures in Kitchen Scienceby Marlene Parrish, Robert L. Wolke
W. W. Norton & Company; Published: 2005-04-18; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.00
Price in other shops:
Molecular Gastronomy: Exploring the Science of Flavor (Arts and Traditions of the Table: Perspectives on Culinary History)by Herv? This
Columbia University Press; Published: 2008-07-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.63
Price in other shops:
Cookwise: The Secrets of Cooking Revealedby Shirley O. Corriher
William Morrow Cookbooks; Published: 1997-09-03; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $21.42
Price in other shops:
What Einstein Told His Cook: Kitchen Science Explainedby Robert L. Wolke
W.W. Norton & Co.; Published: 2008-10-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.87
Price in other shops: