''On Food And Cooking: The Science And Lore Of The Kitchen'' is a book by
Harold McGee, published by
Scribner in the United States in 1984 and revised extensively for a 2004 second edition. It is published by
Hodder & Stoughton
Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hachette.
History
Early history
The firm has its origins in the 1840s, with Matthew Hodder's employment, aged 14, with Messrs Jackson and Walford, the official publishe ...
in Britain under the title ''McGee on Food and Cooking: An Encyclopedia of Kitchen Science, History and Culture''.
The book provides a reference to the scientific understanding and preparation of
food
Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is in ...
. It has been described by
Alton Brown
Alton Crawford Brown Jr. (born July 30, 1962) is an American television personality, food show presenter, chef, author, voice actor, and cinematographer. He is the creator and host of the Food Network television show '' Good Eats'' that ran for ...
as "the
Rosetta stone
The Rosetta Stone is a stele composed of granodiorite inscribed with three versions of a decree issued in Memphis, Egypt, in 196 BC during the Ptolemaic dynasty on behalf of King Ptolemy V Epiphanes. The top and middle texts are in Anci ...
of the culinary world",
has called the book a "must for every cook who possesses an inquiring mind", while
Heston Blumenthal
Heston Marc Blumenthal (; born 27 May 1966) is a British celebrity chef, TV personality and food writer. Blumenthal is regarded as a pioneer of multi-sensory cooking, food pairing and flavour encapsulation. He came to public attention with u ...
has stated it is "the book that has had the greatest single impact on my cooking".
[Hirst, Christopher, ''The Independent''. (November 13, 2004]
Snail porridge? It's a matter of taste
/ref>
The work is separated into sections that focus on the ingredients, providing the structure for the author to speculate on the history of foodstuffs and cookery, and the molecular characteristics of food flavors, while the text is illustrated by charts, graphs, pictures, and sidebar boxes with quotes from sources such as Brillat-Savarin
Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (; 1 April 1755, Belley, Ain – 2 February 1826, Paris) was a French lawyer and politician, who, as the author of ''The Physiology of Taste'' (''Physiologie du Goût''), gained fame as an epicure and gastronome: " ...
and Plutarch
Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...
.[Stafford, Matthew, ''SF Weekly'' (November 24, 2004)]
On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen
/ref> The book advises on how to cook many things (e.g., for pasta use abundant water, with reasons and the science behind everythingrecipe
A recipe is a set of instructions that describes how to prepare or make something, especially a dish of prepared food. A sub-recipe or subrecipe is a recipe for an ingredient that will be called for in the instructions for the main recipe.
His ...
s (e.g., Fish or Meat Jelly, by Taillevent in 1375[Hirst, Christopher, ''The Independent''. (December 3, 2004]
The best of 2004: food books reviewed
/ref>
See also
* Food science
References
{{reflist
External links
''On Food and Cooking''
on McGee's site "Curious Cook"
1984 non-fiction books
Cookbooks
Specialized encyclopedias