Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Culinary World

Ethan Skirvin: This book is excellent and a great resource for any aspiring cook, but my copy was billed as new and showed up with 31 pages misprinted. Instead of the intended pages, I got 31 pages copied from earlier in the book pasted over what should have been there. I recommend this book highly, but this is a glaring error. Be careful with this purchase and check your copy thoroughly in case a refund/exchange is necessary.

United States on Sep 11, 2023

J Murray: If you cook, you need this.

United States on Aug 13, 2023

Drewster413: If you enjoy cooking, you know who A.B. is, and you know he invariably talks about the science behind the food he creates on his show.

I owned a copy of this book over 40 years ago (please don't ask my age!), but it was lost in a fire a couple of years ago. I am overjoyed to be able to replace it with an updated edition.

All the science stuff Mr Brown talks about is the type of stuff McGee also deals with, but you can read it at your own pace and refer to it as needed.

If you like to cook, AND you are interested in learning more about the chemistry of the kitchen, this is a great book.

But remember, this is a SCIENCE book, so caveat emptor!

United States on Jul 26, 2023

Ian From Barrie: The how and why of food preparation at the scientific level. In the world of cooking deep dives, this is the Marianna Trench. Just what you need to add to your 100-cookbook collection, no, seriously.

Canada on Jun 25, 2023

jake-a-zon: You want science? This book will give it to you. Very thorough, and precise. Excellent book. You might not read it cover to cover, but if you like cookbooks and the like, then this will make a great addition to your culinary library. It'll also make you look smarter in front of your houseguests next time you host a dinner party when you tell them about the maillard effect.

United States on May 22, 2023

Millie: Purchased for a friend who adores it!!

Australia on Feb 03, 2023

Amazon Customer: An amazing book. Exactly what I was looking for because it talks about why we do certain things to certain ingredients, in a technical but easy to access manner.

Singapore on Jan 10, 2023

Adriano Maria Gomez: Già la prima edizione era magistrale. La seconda (radicalmente rinnovata) edizione è monumentale. Libro assolutamente necessario per chiunque abbia un minimo interesse in ciò che mangia o che vede mangiare (o bere).

Italy on Jul 23, 2022

MalH: A tremendous book, chock full of the most amazing culinary information. If it isn't in there, I doubt you can cook it. Many many hours of reading to be had and an absolute must have for the kitchen reference library.

United Kingdom on May 26, 2022

B. Marold: This red `On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen' by Harold McGee is a new edition of what is the most widely quoted culinary work in English. It may be almost as influential on the thinking of culinary professionals as Julia Child's `Mastering the Art of French Cooking' was on attitudes of American home cooking. The testimonials from the likes of Thomas Keller, Paula Wolfert, Jacques Pepin, and Rose Levy Beranbaum just begins to tell you how important McGee's volume has become. I was immensely pleased to see the exchange of acknowledgments between McGee and Keller to see how much the academic can learn from the professional chef.

I can devote my thousand words on how good this book has been to the culinary world, but most of you already know that. What I will do is to list all the reasons one may wish to read this book.

First, the book is simply interesting to amateur foodies and culinary professionals. This is the serendipity principle. If you prospect in a rich land, you will invariably find something of value. The `lore' in the subtitle is not an afterthought. The book includes history, linguistics and cooking practice in addition to simple...

United States on Dec 03, 2004