On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen - Hardcover

McGee, Harold

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0684181320 ISBN 13: 9780684181325

Publisher: Scribner, 1984

Synopsis

On Food and Cooking is a unique blend of culinary lore and scientific explanation that examines food -- its history, its make-up, and its behavior when we cook it, cool it, dice it, age it, or otherwise prepare it for eating. Generously spiced with historical and literary anecdote, it covers all the major food categories, from meat and potatoes to sauce béarnaise and champagne. Easy-to-understand scientific explanations throw light on such mysteries as why you can whip cream but not milk; what makes white meat white; whether searing really seals in flavor; how to tell stale eggs from fresh; why "fruits" ripen and "vegetables" don't; how to save a sauce; what hops do; and what happens when you knead dough. A chapter on nutrition reveals that Americans have been obsessed with their diet since the 1800s and exposes the fallacies behind food fads past and present. There's a section on additives -- a not-so-new addition to food -- and taste and smell, our two pleasure-giving versions of the oldest sense on earth. With more than 200 illustrations, including extraordinary photographs of food taken through the electron microscope, this book will delight and fascinate anyone who has ever cooked, savored, or wondered about food.

About this title

Review:

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.

About the Author:

Harold McGee earned his B.S. from the California Institute of Technology and his doctorate in English Literature from Yale, where he subsequently taught. He now lives in Palo Alto, California, and writes about science.

About this edition

• Publisher: Scribner
• Publication date: 1984
• ISBN 10: 0684181320
• ISBN 13: 9780684181325
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 684