On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen is a book by Harold McGee, published by Scribner in the United States in 1984 and extensively revised for a second edition in 2004. It was published by Hodder & Stoughton in Great Britain under the title McGee on Food and Cooking: An Encyclopedia of Kitchen Science, History and Culture.
The book provides a reference to scientific understanding and food preparation. It has been described by Alton Brown as “the Rosetta Stone of the culinary world”, Daniel Boulud has described the book as “essential for any cook with an inquisitive mind”, while Heston Blumenthal has declared that it is “the book that has had the biggest impact on my kitchen. “
The work is divided into sections that focus on ingredients, providing the structure for the author to speculate on the history of food and cooking, and the molecular characteristics of food flavors, while the text is illustrated by boxes. , graphics, images, and a sidebar. boxes with quotes from sources such as Brillat-Savarin and Plutarch. The book advises on how to cook many things (for example, for pasta use plenty of water, avoid hard water, add salt and a little oil to the water, use slightly acidic water, with reasons and the science behind it all (p576) ) and includes a few historical recipes (eg Fish or Meat Jelly, by Taillevent in 1375, (p584)), but no modern recipes as such.
| Book DetailsOriginally published: November 1984Author: Harold McGeeGenres: Cookbook, Compendium, Reference workAwards: James Beard Award for Reference, History, and Scholarship, MORE |
Book Summary
Harold McGee’s On Food and Cooking is a kitchen classic. Hailed by Time magazine as “a minor masterpiece” when it first appeared in 1984, On Food and Cooking is the Bible that food lovers and professional chefs around the world turn to understand where our food comes from. foods, what exactly are they made of? and how cooking them transforms them into something new and delicious. Now for its 20th anniversary, Harold McGee has put together a completely revised and updated edition of On Food and Cooking. He has almost completely rewritten the text, enlarged it by two-thirds, and commissioned over 100 new illustrations. As compulsively readable and engaging as ever, the new On Food and Cooking provides countless insightful perspectives on food, its preparation, and its enjoyment.
On Food and Cooking pioneered the translation of the technical science of food into a cook-friendly science of cooking and helped give birth to the inventive culinary movement known as “molecular gastronomy.” Although other cookery science books have now been written, On Food and Cooking remains unmatched in the precision, clarity, and thoroughness of its explanations, and the intriguing way in which it combines science with the historical evolution of food and food. cooking techniques.
Among the main topics covered throughout this new edition are:
Traditional and modern methods of food production and their influence on food quality.
The great diversity of methods with which people in different places and times have prepared the same ingredients.
Tips for selecting the best ingredients and preparing them successfully
The particular substances that flavor food and give us pleasure.
Our ever-evolving knowledge of the health benefits and risks of food.
On Food and Cooking is an invaluable and monumental compendium of basic information on ingredients, cooking methods, and the joys of eating. It will delight and fascinate anyone who has ever cooked, savored, or wondered about food.
Book Review
In 1984, canola oil and mouse and compact disc were firsts … [and] the worlds of science and cooking were perfectly compartmentalized. “A lot has changed in 20 years: magazines and books now discuss the science of cooking, and culinary schools offer” experimental “courses that investigate the whys of cooking. That’s why McGee, a writer who specializes in the chemistry of food and cuisine, has completely rewritten his 1984 classic, expanding it by two-thirds into a book that weighs almost 900 pages. It offers in-depth scientific explanations on countless topics, including why leaving your turkey in brine is not a good idea, why food wrapped in plastic often tastes like plastic, why you should never refrigerate tomatoes, and it continues to show, as one admirer put it off the first edition, “the skill of a scientist and the heart of a cook.
About The Author of The Book Harold McGee
Harold James McGee is an American author who writes about the chemistry and history of food science and cooking. He is best known for his seminal book On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen initially published in 1984 and revised in 2004.
McGee is a visiting scholar at Harvard University. His book On Food and Cooking has won numerous awards and is used widely in food science courses at many universities. McGee’s scientific approach to cooking has been embraced and popularized by chefs and authors such as Heston Blumenthal, David Chang, Alton Brown, Shirley Corriher, Lynne Rossetto Kasper, and Russ Parsons.
