On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, by Harold McGee ★★★★★

[mithriltabby]

A really excellent look at the underlying physical phenomena that go on in the process of cooking; this is one of Alton Brown’s top references. McGee covers the physics and chemistry at a level that should be easy for anyone who made it through high school AP Chemistry and accessible to anyone who finds Scientific American readable. In addition to the science, he also includes interesting vignettes of history and etymology, including excerpts from historical cookbooks.

I don’t do a lot of cooking (yet), but in my limited areas of experience, there were some good a-ha moments. This would be a good book to keep on hand to reference any time you work with a particular ingredient or technique to deepen your understanding and suggest new possibilities. It would also be a good book for any high school chemistry teacher to keep on hand to interest a student who knows more about cooking, or to make cooking more interesting for a science type.

Comments

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

I have this book; it is extremely illuminating.

And it has an SFnal connection: don't forget that E.E. "Doc" Smith, Ph.D., had his illustrious degree in food chemistry. (His specialty: donut mixes.)

[codrus.livejournal.com]

I'm imagining Kimball Kinnison with a bunch of donut sprinkles on his uniform now... :)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I think that's what those glittering Lenses were. ;-)

[codrus.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's a great book, particularly with some of the nice little historical sidebars. As a book, it needs to be paired up with practical books on techniques, but it is great for providing some theory and intelligent grounding in specific subjects.