"Now, for its twentieth anniversary, Harold McGee has prepared a new, fully revised and updated edition of On Food and Cooking. He has rewritten th...
read full description
reviews
Dec 17, 2009
Elizabeth
rated it: 
This book is endlessly fascinating. Interesting tidbits McGee's has taught me: raw pineapple will curdle milk, but cooked pineapple will not. Some of our fellow humans will be repulsed by cheese because of an instinctual reaction to fermented foods. See? Fascinating!
McGee's contains necessary information that you can not get from a recipe on practically every dish and ingredient known to man. This is the kind of book that will sit next to the stove, dog-eared and grease-spattered, et More...
McGee's contains necessary information that you can not get from a recipe on practically every dish and ingredient known to man. This is the kind of book that will sit next to the stove, dog-eared and grease-spattered, et More...
0 comments
like
(8 people liked it)
Dec 17, 2009
David
rated it: 
Once upon a time, I was expressing my frustration with books on cooking to a chemist friend -- primarily that most books on cooking treat cooking as this magical art. They presume lots of knowledge on the part of the reader and they give directions that theoretically make the food what it's supposed to be, rarely explaining WHY you want to cook this meat at temperature x or mince this thing instead of slice, or whatever. I wanted something that answered a bit more of the Why?
This f More...
This f More...
0 comments
like
(5 people liked it)
Sep 07, 2008
BunWat
rated it:
Not a cookbook. Everything you ever might want to know about how food works. How ice cream is made, why bread rises, what kind of molds are in cheese, what are the parts of an egg. And yet, readable. Brill. May however, make you annoy your friends with "well you know, cheese on the Asian steppe in the late Iron Age..."
6 comments
like
(11 people liked it)
Apr 04, 2008
Cynthia
rated it:
Before there was Alton Brown, there was Harold McGee. This is a smart, dazzling, fabulously eclectic collection of information about what we eat. From Plato’s views on cooking to electron micrographs of cheese to a description of how eggs form in a chicken’s body to the history of beer and chocolate, this book offers an intoxicating wealth of food information, trivia, and science. Did you know that the cell walls of mushrooms aren’t made up of cellulose, like plants, but rather of chitin, the ca
More...
0 comments
like
(6 people liked it)
Dec 13, 2007
John
rated it:
This is an invaluable resource when your kids ask "does THIS cheese have mold in it" or "why does it all stick together if you cook it too long" or when you want to know what makes espresso different from coffee. Is is not about cooking, but about why and how cooking works, about where the flavor is in the spices and why the tomato ripens, what makes a sauce a sauce instead of gravy or soup, and what nougat really is. The style is accessible but unafraid of chemistry. A wo
More...
0 comments
like
(4 people liked it)
Feb 01, 2011
Hirondelle
rated it:
I think I am going to be currently reading this for a very very long time. It´s 800 pages, small print, massive index (essential) and bibliography. Human imagination and cultural complexity regarding food being as it is, not even 800 pages will be enough, so I don´t think it has EVERYTHING on food but it does have practically everything of the most common kind, in a wide global way.
First thing - this is not a recipe book and it is a pretty serious book. You can use it as dictionary, More...
First thing - this is not a recipe book and it is a pretty serious book. You can use it as dictionary, More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jan 29, 2012
Lisa
rated it:
It would be a stretch to say that I am a cook or a 'foodie', but I imagine that every culinary master in America must own this book.
This is NOT a cookbook -- it's a guide to food, a dynamic explanation about where your food comes from, the science behind how it cooks/blends/rises and how preparation techniques impact taste.
It's a book that is hard to peg, and not one that you'll read cover-to-cover in one sitting. The writing is succinct but not tedious to follow, and More...
This is NOT a cookbook -- it's a guide to food, a dynamic explanation about where your food comes from, the science behind how it cooks/blends/rises and how preparation techniques impact taste.
It's a book that is hard to peg, and not one that you'll read cover-to-cover in one sitting. The writing is succinct but not tedious to follow, and More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Mar 21, 2011
^
rated it:
Forward by Alan Davidson.
The book is well illustrated with annotated drawings, and photographs.
A very clever and highly readable blend of historical lore and scientific explanation. Enormously helpful, because it indirectly teaches the reader how to analytically read a recipe for coherence and sense; and thus to avoid wasting time, money, and energy attempting poorly written recipes which rarely, or never, work.
There's plenty in this book for both the scientist and More...
The book is well illustrated with annotated drawings, and photographs.
A very clever and highly readable blend of historical lore and scientific explanation. Enormously helpful, because it indirectly teaches the reader how to analytically read a recipe for coherence and sense; and thus to avoid wasting time, money, and energy attempting poorly written recipes which rarely, or never, work.
There's plenty in this book for both the scientist and More...
Aug 30, 2011
Stephanie
rated it:
Fantastic. Any science or food geek must have a copy of this on their bookshelves. McGee writes in-depth about all the everyday ingredients (and some less common) we use on a molecular level, and explains their bevahoir in the kitchen via exact science. Smaller side bars explain history, and the illustrations show molecular structures and textures/mixtures of ingredients like egg white, terpenes, and more.
I'll admit I use it as a reference book and pull it out on many occasions to More...
I'll admit I use it as a reference book and pull it out on many occasions to More...
Jun 17, 2009
Chrissie
rated it:
This book was at the top of my textbook list for Food Science subjects in first year University. Don´t let that put you off, as I do believe that this book should be on every cookbook shelf. Often when people ask me for advice on food and cooking (usually some ingredient not working as it should, or explanations of ´why is it so...?´); I use this book as one of my references to double check I am dispensing solid information.
Harold McGee is a world renowned fountain of knowledge when i More...
Harold McGee is a world renowned fountain of knowledge when i More...
Nov 28, 2009
pinknantucket
rated it:
OK so I didn't read absolutely every word of this book, but it's over 800 pages and I reckon I read more than enough of them to equal a decently long novel. I'm actually reading it for my thesis, what with McGee being a pre-eminent food scientist and all, and it's so much more pleasurable to read than your average science textbook. Describing the science behind food - why does bread rise? Why should you start stocks with cold water? - McGee takes you not only through the science but also into so
More...
Feb 26, 2010
Michele
rated it:
I LOVE this book! I checked it out from the library from a citation in an article I read, but I think I will end up purchasing a copy because it is a GREAT reference for the kitchen. The "lore" part of it isn't too prominent, which is good because I love it for it's food science component. I've mostly read through the nuts/seeds and the bread/dough sections, but they are a comprehensive and detailed explanation of everything you might ever work with in these areas. For example, it
More...
Jan 26, 2012
^
rated it:
The 2nd edition. Concentrated knowledge; yet NOT written in impenetrable ‘academicalese.’ McGee's ability to amass, sort, analyse, and order an enormous amount of relevant information is awesomely impressive. He makes the average PhD. thesis look sheepish.
This is definitely a reference book to be laid open on a table and lovingly dipped into by an enquiring mind. Not held open in the hands: too heavy. However, I’ll keep my (much smaller) copy of the 1st edition, because I want More...
This is definitely a reference book to be laid open on a table and lovingly dipped into by an enquiring mind. Not held open in the hands: too heavy. However, I’ll keep my (much smaller) copy of the 1st edition, because I want More...
Dec 28, 2010
Brian
rated it:
On Food and Cooking, provides a solid background of information to answer the age old question, "Why didn't this recipe work out?" Its usefulness, however, far exceeds that meager task. I keep it by my bed for nights when I'm having trouble getting to sleep and it is perfectly suited to the task. Each chapter is divided into 1-2 pages sections describing a particular aspect of food (e.g. why fat globules in dairy don't break down when heated or why the milk of different animals resu
More...
Apr 26, 2011
At $25, it's rather more palatable (pun intended!) than Modernist Cuisine's $675, and was referenced in the same New Yorker article. According to GnuCash, I spent more money last year on cigarettes than groceries; changing that seems a noble enough objective. I'll likely start by stocking pepper.
btw, wenger, i dig your taking up of my "*-acquire*" bookshelf semantics! More...
btw, wenger, i dig your taking up of my "*-acquire*" bookshelf semantics! More...
Aug 17, 2010
Kristin
rated it: 
Wow. This is the biggest book of cooking I have ever seen, and it is just on the history of food. Not a recipe book. It was recommended by the author of CakeLove as one of his research pieces used to launch his baking career. I was curious, but will not be reading it. I picture myself reading this in my 60's when I have more time and spend hours in the kitchen exploring. (I also dream of owning a lake house at that age and trying pot for the first time in an adirondack chair at the end of
More...
Dec 01, 2008
Adam
rated it:
This is absolutely necessary in every kitchen in the country. Food nerds everywhere bask in its glory. This is an eight hundred-something page chemistry, biology, and history textbook on food as it relates to cooking. This can help give you the knowledge to take your cooking to the next level. Understanding why food does what it does, when it does, it at the heart of being able to throw an incredible dish together from the sometimes unfortunate scraps laying in the fridge.
Mar 05, 2009
Josh
rated it:
I love food. I love science. The best of both worlds jammed into one seriously dense tome makes for either lovely reading (for the enthusiast) or a lovely paperweight.
If you want to get yourself immersed in page after page of more data tables about milk density than you thought could possibly exist, pick up McGee's book. He's truly a legend and you I promise you'll find this at least somewhat interesting regardless of your opinions on either topic.
If you want to get yourself immersed in page after page of more data tables about milk density than you thought could possibly exist, pick up McGee's book. He's truly a legend and you I promise you'll find this at least somewhat interesting regardless of your opinions on either topic.
Feb 10, 2010
Greymalkin
rated it:
Such a fun and interesting book. As a foodie and a scientist I appreciate his approach to cooking and food. I also love the sense of joyful curiosity that suffuses the book. I was lucky enough to attend a talk by Harold McGee and he is still just as charming and enthusiastic as he seems in the book. He had so many interesting facts to impart that I wished the talk was three times as long. I'd love to sit down and chat with him.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jan 04, 2009
Terran
rated it:
A brilliant dissertation on the science behind food. A must-read for geek foodies (or gourmet hackers or something). Well written and intriguing, on top of being exhaustively authoritative. And some very serious cooks also take this book as canon: I have seen this book cited in the references sections of at least half a dozen cook books, including ones by Rose Levy Beranbaum and Alton Brown.
Feb 22, 2009
Erin
rated it:
This is a great book to own if you are interested in food, more so than just eating. It covers all kinds of scientific topics, as well as the history of foods (for instance, margarine was invented by request of Napolean!). It is a large book and can be daunting to read, but the author lays the subjects out well. It would make a great gift for a foodie.
Jun 30, 2009
Caroline
rated it:
If you want to be a nerd about food, this is the best book for it. It contains electron micrographs of mayonnaise and molecular diagrams of chlorophyll. If you were ever curious about why red cabbage changes color in vinegar, or why turmeric spills turn red when you spray cleaner on them, this book will tell you why. It's How Stuff Works for food.
May 02, 2009
Beth
rated it:
This book gives the history and scientific background of about any food you can imagine. It is a fascinating read that can help you understand why food is prepared and cooked a certain way. It is not a recipe book, but has answered so many questions I had about cooking. I really recommend this book if you are an avid food preparer, or consumer.
Nov 05, 2011
Terrence
rated it:
The Bible of the Kitchen. Covering all details of food and drink from the biology to the preparations. This book was recommended to me by a chef friend and I have a hard to putting it down its such a fun read. The content is dense, I have a feeling I'll be referencing it for the rest of my life.
Jan 16, 2010
Andrew
rated it:
The absolute must-own for anyone who ever even thought about wondering about food. Everything you can think to question is here. Recipes? Not so much. But those who think Alton Brown is on to something will realize he is just a spouting echo of The Man. Required reading at the CIA.
Sep 14, 2009
Penguinrind
rated it:
The most detailed explanation of the science of food that I've come across. By "science", I mean the physics and chemistry of cooking; for instance, explaining why adding an acid (like vinegar) to an egg makes the mixture set at a lower temperature, resulting in a more tender omelette.
Jan 23, 2009
Rachel
rated it:
Woah. This is a serious book. I got it for Christmas, and when I say I've read it, I mean that I've scanned through it and look forward to reading it in depth for years to come. Admittedly, at the moment it feels a little like I bit off more than I can chew with this thing - it has so much information in it that it's a little unfathomable. Quite the reference book for the kitchen. I think I was expecting it to be like The Joy of Cooking - which is recipes, but tells you a great deal about t
More...
Nov 02, 2011
Brad
rated it:
Basically an 896-page encyclopedia on "the science and lore of the kitchen." Why does milk curdle? Where does white pepper come from? How exactly is chocolate made? How about whiskey? A reference to satisfy all of your food and cooking curiosities. Endless fun.
Jan 29, 2010
Scott
rated it:
this book is huge and so complete! it's a great accompaniment to any kind of cooking. it explains food chemistry and the history and travels of different ingredients/cuisines. it also has some original recipes from hundreds of years ago! definitely a worthy reference!
Sep 29, 2008
Ian
rated it:
This isn't a book I read cover to cover, it's a reference manual for my kitchen.
I'm not yet in the habit of pulling it out before I cook, but I've begun pulling it out to understand what happened in what I just cooked. It's split into sections, each describing an aspect of cooking. Each section (like the one I read last night on starch-based sauces) describes the science (down to the electron-microscope images where appropriate), history and techniques involved.
While it More...
I'm not yet in the habit of pulling it out before I cook, but I've begun pulling it out to understand what happened in what I just cooked. It's split into sections, each describing an aspect of cooking. Each section (like the one I read last night on starch-based sauces) describes the science (down to the electron-microscope images where appropriate), history and techniques involved.
While it More...
