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

McGee, Harold

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 004306003X ISBN 13: 9780043060032

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 1986

Synopsis

A unique blend of culinary loreand scientific explanation that examines food, its history and its cooking. 684pp.

About this title

Synopsis

This fully illustrated book, which includes photographs of food taken through an electron microscope, is a blend of culinary lore and scientific explanation that examines the history of food, its make-up and its behaviour when it is prepared and cooked. Containing historical and literary anecdotes, it covers all the major food categories, from meat and potatoes to sauce bernaise and champagne. Simple scientific explanations throw light on such mysteries as how to tell stale eggs from fresh, whether searing really seals in flavour and what happens when a cook kneads dough. A chapter on nutrition exposes the fallacies behind food fads, past and present. There is also a section on additives and one on the sensations of taste and smell.

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.

Edition details

• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
• Publication date: 1986
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 004306003X
• ISBN 13: 9780043060032
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 712