On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen by Harold McGee Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen
Book Review: Excellent book on understanding the science behind cooking
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of the best written scientific books I have come across. This is a very lengthy tome and is not an easy read. However, true to the tagline, Harold McGee not only explains the aspects of the different ingredients used in cooking, but also gives interesting stories behind the ingredients.
I am still reading this book, 4 months after buying this book, but what I have read has just left me wanting to read more. I have also started following Harold's articles on his website, which I find to be equally interesting as well.
In all, this is a great reference book for any amateur or professional cook, or just someone interested in food!
Book Review: Excellent!
Summary: 5 Stars
I actually had to get this textbook for culinary school and the bookstores had this book for over $100.00! I saved a lot of money with only having to pay like not even $30.00 and didn't even have to pay for shipping! The book is very informational on many different sciences about food that really can make you a better cook or like me a better chef in the making. I highly recommend the book for the price and the information!Book Review: Caution! This is truly food SCIENCE.
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is a cover to cover read for someone like me, with a very curious mind. But if words like 'heterocyclic amines' or 'polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons' make you yawn (like I thought I would).......well it's still very informative for the serious cook, but you'll be skipping over alot of facinating stuff.
It answers the plethora of 'what ifs', 'hows' and 'whys' that most cooks have. We've all gotten so much conflicting advice from cookbooks; this one helps us to come to our own conclusions with the confidence that real scientific knowledge is backing us up.
It's the most important book in my food library, hands down!
Book Review: Science and Kitchen in one volume -- What's not to love?
Summary: 5 Stars
My sister knows I adore good cookbooks and kitchen gadgets and my family often giggles at what I pull out of a kitchen drawer or bookshelf. She also knows I love chemistry, having purchased a chemistry set for $5 after I received the money for my 10th birthday. Because our parents gave me money instead of buying me the set I wanted, I not only bought it (adding the sales tax from my savings) but immediately burned sulphur in their clothes closet to see if it really did smell like rotten eggs. It does.
When a package arrived from Amazon and I had no outstanding orders, I assumed it was a birthday present and I was right. What brought me joy that has lasted for three weeks now is the book, "On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen," by Harold McGee. Since my sister had just visited and we'd gone through numerous cookbooks for our baking endeavors, she knew this was a book I did not own, so I am extremely grateful that we'd decided to bake together.
This volume is for a person who loves the kitchen, cooking, food and has an interest in why things do what they do, especially the reactions that occur when ingredients are combined and subjected to manipulation. This is not a cookbook, but rather an encyclopedia of foods, ingredients and implements. It is absolutely perfect for me, the closet chemist who realized at an early age that she loves food science. My copy will not be placed on a bookshelf because I need to have it close at hand for reference and entertainment on a daily basis. It is a food science bible that's perfect for a non-professional, detailed enough to whet the appetite but not overwhelm. I'm sorry to report to all my sisters that this is by far the best present of 2009!
Book Review: Awesome Resource
Summary: 5 Stars
The new version of this classic won both the IACP & James Beard. You can pick up this tome and turn to any section and get an understandable, thorough, and reliable explanation of how food works and why it is good or bad for us. I don't understand the previous review... it was a slam on the vendor, not the book.