Wow this is an amazing "cookbook" - no recipes... but I find myself referring back to it constantly, to answer the little nagging questions I've had since I first watched an onion brown. This book is about how the alchemy of cooking works, and *why* - did you ever wonder what chemical process happens in carmelization, and how it's different from or similar to toasting coffee or roasting meat? Or what it is in the composition of various fruits and vegetables that make them react to each other in various ways? this book goes into the detail, discusses the chemistry, draws out the molecular changes, and explains it in terms I can understand without a degree in chemistry. If you like experimenting with recipes, making your own recipes, or are just interested in what happens when you're cooking... you MUST own this book. period.
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On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen by Harold Mcgee
stinney, April 8, 2008
Wow this is an amazing "cookbook" - no recipes... but I find myself referring back to it constantly, to answer the little nagging questions I've had since I first watched an onion brown. This book is about how the alchemy of cooking works, and *why* - did you ever wonder what chemical process happens in carmelization, and how it's different from or similar to toasting coffee or roasting meat? Or what it is in the composition of various fruits and vegetables that make them react to each other in various ways? this book goes into the detail, discusses the chemistry, draws out the molecular changes, and explains it in terms I can understand without a degree in chemistry. If you like experimenting with recipes, making your own recipes, or are just interested in what happens when you're cooking... you MUST own this book. period.(3 of 4 readers found this comment helpful)