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On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen
Manufacturer: Scribner
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Product Description
A classic tome of gastronomic science and lore, On Food and Cooking delivers an erudite discussion of table ingredients and their interactions with our bodies. Following the historical, literary, scientific and practical treatment of foodstuffs from dairy to meat to vegetables, McGee explains the nature of digestion and hunger before tackling basic ingredient components, cooking methods and utensils. He explains what happens when food spoils, why eggs are so nutritious and how alcohol makes us drunk. As fascinating as it is comprehensive, this is as practical, interesting and necessary for the cook as for the scholar.

Product Details
  • ISBN13: 9780684800011
  • Condition: New
  • Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed

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Customer Reviews
absolute requirement
 
Review Date: September 5, 2010
Reviewer: aussiechef,
i've been a chef for 30 years, studied food science and technology and worked in the food manufacturing industry....this book is a must for any chef or food technologist. not a cookbook but an explanation of cooking science and reason.
Amazing
 
Review Date: September 1, 2010
Reviewer: Dan Borton, Phoenix, AZ
This book is the definitive collection of answers to the question "why?" I can't recommend it highly enough.
A physicists's cookbook
 
Review Date: August 23, 2010
Reviewer: Dragi Raos, Zagreb, Croatia
I have little to add to all raving reviews, but to say that this physicist and food lover concurs. I like "whys", not only "hows" in cooking, and this work perfectly satisfies my curiosity.

However: the efforts to adjust formatting to Kindle are considerable, but they stopped halfway: TOC and index are live, sidebars are transformed into inserts, illustrations are in appropriate gray scale. But, there is no way to navigate *within* the very detailed index, rendering it rather useless; internal links are missing ("see p.nnn" are not active links and are therefore not only useless but annoying), and here and there garbled remains of page footers appear.

So, for content this book deserves clean 5 stars, but unfinished Kindle formatting lowers it to four.
Food and cooking
 
Review Date: August 22, 2010
Reviewer: rayonavich,
This book is the best book on ANY kind of cooking. It's not a cook book but a book on why foods do what they do when they are cooked. It gets more into the science of cooking over just a recipe book. If you're the type of person who wants to know how the chefs come up with these awesome recipes this will explain the theory behind the cooking. This will give you insight on building winning recipes. I highly recommend this book for ANYBODY who has aspirations of becoming a great cook.
Simply a "Must Have"
 
Review Date: August 13, 2010
Reviewer: Jeff Grundman, Georgia
If you are serious about cooking, actually making food and not just following a recipe, then you must have this book.