ON FOOD AND COOKING

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Summary: An excellent source for the science behind kitchen lore.
Review: This book is without peer in the descriptions of what happens on the chemical level as food cooks and is stored. The discussions include useful sections on beer, wine and coffee. There are also discussions of nutritional effects of food processing, cooking, and storage, as well as the mysteries of flatulence associated with certain foods, and other medical effects of greater consequence. The approach is lighthearted but has a surprising amount of scientific detail.

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Summary: Recommended reading for physicians
Review: This book should sit next to Stedman's Medical Dictionary on every physician's shelf. Mr. McGee has done an excellent job of researching and reporting diet related maladies. No hype, no "new age" bravo sierra. Cooking is chemistry. And so is diet.

Of course, it's also an excellent book for those of us who love to cook... especially those of us who prefer the pinch o' this and a dab o' that method.

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Summary: Gives you the "whys" for the "hows" you learned in school.
Review: This book won't teach you how to cook, but if you are like me and want to know *why* you shouldn't over knead your biscuit dough or use a copper bowl when making meringue this book is perfect for you. It has helped me a number of times to figure out what went wrong...

Rating:
Summary: On food chemistry
Review: This is a remarkable book on why and how foods react the way they do. Though chemistry plays a large part in the understanding of food that McGee imparts (it has to), it is very basic and a short primer in the appendix tells you all you'll need to know. Because cooking and food underlie our very existence, and also because they are great sources of pleasure, the topic cannot but be fascinating. However, the mystification of food abounds, and the facts are hard for most people to verify. ON FOOD AND COOKING is a book that can be read straight through or as a reference, but will always increase your knowledge of how foods work.

It is comprehensive, historical, and scientific, and McGee's aim is to inform the reader enough so that s/he can cook, and also so that s/he can make decisions about food that are intelligent. Not only does he discuss pretty much any type of food you can think of, he also discusses artificial additives, nutrition, and digestion. And although the book was written in 1984, the advice he gives is always sound and cautious. Food is understandable. If you love watching PBS cooking shows, this book will enhance your knowledge of what the cooks are doing. If you love watching the food network... well, there is probably less to understand, but it will still enhance your viewing. In any case, if you love cooking and food, it is difficult to overlook a book of this magnitude.

Rating:
Summary: Buy This Boook
Review: This is an absolute must read for anybody who enjoys food and cooking. Covering a range of information, this book is so well written that it's hard to put down.

After reading this book, you will possess a gamut of information about things culinary, and will always have something interesting to contribute to the conversation. From the history of cheese making to the chemistry of color compounds, this tome has it all.

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Summary: Nothing else like it
Review: This is an essential book for anyone who cooks. McGee explains in detail how and why cooking works; if you know what's in here, you can do anything in the kitchen without ever needing another cookbook, because you'll understand how ingredients interact. As a biochemist and physician, I find his science impeccable; as a cook, I find his appreciation of food inspiring.

Rating:
Summary: A textbook on cooking
Review: This is an excellent book on the science of cooking, for those interested in learning the reason behind cooking. If you want to a reference book for your cooking and baking, get this book. I am sure this is in Alton Brown's library. It is fascinating just to thumb through it and read various sections just for the trivia value.

Rating:
Summary: A textbook on cooking
Review: This is an excellent book on the science of cooking, for those interested in learning the reason behind cooking. If you want to a reference book for your cooking and baking, get this book. I am sure this is in Alton Brown's library. It is fascinating just to thumb through it and read various sections just for the trivia value.

Rating:
Summary: No better reference in food science
Review: This is not a cookbook, but it IS a remarkably accessible guide to the history of cooking, the chemistry of cooking and the literature and lore of food. If you are at all curious about why things happen when you cook or bake, you will be delighted with this magnificent work.

Mr. McGee is a fine writer who makes the science understandable and the lore entertaining.

At nearly 700 pages, the book contains a good index, a bibliography and about 200 illustrations; it is organized into three parts: foods, food and the body, and the principles of cooking.

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Summary: On Food And Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen
Review: This is really a wonderful book. It can be appreciated as both straight reading (it from cover to cover) or as a reference. One does not need a background in chemistry but if one has a chemistry background and even a basic understanding the appreciation for the book is taken to a new level.