Reddit reviews On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen
We found 15 Reddit comments about On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
On Food and Cooking by Harold McGee. This would be a great place to start. It contains discussions on the science of cooking and the natural history of various ingredients and techniques.
And both of them really owe a debt to Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking. It's the next book after the food lab if you really want to get in the weeds.
If you dig the science aspect, have a look at Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking
I read it nearly cover to cover. Very well done. It's also where Alton Brown got the vast majority of his science stuff for Good Eats -- to the point where Brown literally says phrases from the book.
This is going to be the opposite of what you want to hear. But, you asked for it and I respect that. I think that there's no substitute for going about this old school and traditionally. The good news is that you can mostly do this for yourself, by yourself.
If you're disinclined (due to time or for another reason) to enroll in a culinary program get yourself either The Professional Chef or Martha Stewart's Cooking School
I know what you're thinking, "Martha Stewart? What am I? A housewife from Iowa?" Fuck that. I've been fortunate to have met and worked with Martha Stewart she's smart enough to know what she doesn't know and that particular book was actually written by a CIA alum and very closely follows the first year or so that you'd get in a program like that. It starts with knife work and then moves on to stocks and sauces. This particular book has actually been criticized as being too advance for people who have no idea what they're doing so, despite appearances, it may be perfect for you. If you want to feel more pro and go a little deeper, get the CIA text but know that it's more or less the same info and frankly, the pictures in the MSO book are really great. Plus, it looks like Amazon has them used for $6 bucks.
These resources will show you HOW to do what you want and they follow a specific, traditional track for a reason. Each thing that you learn builds on the next. You learn how to use your knife. Then, you practice your knife work while you make stocks. Then, you start to learn sauces in which to use your stocks. Etc. Etc. Etc. Almost like building flavors... It's all part of the discipline and you'll take that attention to detail into the kitchen with you and THAT'S what makes great food.
Then, get either Culinary Artistry or The Flavor Bible (Both by Page and Dornenburg. Also consider Ruhlman's Ratio (a colleague of mine won "Chopped" because she memorized all the dessert ratios in that book) and Segnit's Flavor Thesaurus. These will give you the "where" on building flavors and help you to start to express yourself creatively as you start to get your mechanics and fundamentals down.
Now, I know you want the fancy science stuff so that you can throw around smarty pants things about pH and phase transitions and heat transfer. So...go get Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking THAT is the bible. When the people who run the Ferran Adria class at Harvard have a question, it's not Myhrvold that they call up, it's Harold McGee. While Modernist Cuisine always has a long, exciting complicated solution to a problem I didn't even know I had, when I really want to know what the fuck is going on, I consult McGee and you will too, once you dig in.
Another one to consider which does a great job is the America's Test Kitchen Science of Good Cooking this will give you the fundamental "why's" or what's happening in practical situations and provides useful examples to see it for yourself.
Honestly, if someone came to me and asked if they should get MC or McGee and The Science of Good Cooking and could only pick one and never have the other, I'd recommend the McGee / ATK combo everyday of the week and twice on Tuesdays.
Good luck, dude. Go tear it up!
Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking - This is a fascinating popsci book on how the different pieces of food are cooked and work together. It's very understandable, and teaches you not only the stuff you need to "understand" cooking, but understand eating.
It's written for a audience of kitchen folks, cooks, etc, so it's very understandable.
I agree that "How To Cook Everything" is a good reference guide for complete beginners and those with gaps in cooking knowledge.
It might be a bit over your head at this point, but if you truly want to understand cooking and what's happening when you do it try "On Food And Cooking" by Harold McGee.
For Asian you might like...
"Every Grain Of Rice" by Fuchsia Dunlop (or any of her books)
"Japanese Soul Cooking" by Tadashi Ono
"Ivan Ramen..." by Ivan Orkin (Good for ramen and other japanese-ish food.)
"Momofuku" by David Chang (Really good mix of general Asian flavors)
Other books that might interest you:
"Irish Pantry" by Noel McMeel
"The Lee Bros. Simple Fresh Southern" - Matt Lee and Ted Lee
"Real Cajun" by Donald Link
"Authentic Mexican" by Rick Bayless
"Fabio's Italian Kitchen" by Fabio Viviani
For Vegetarian try anything by Alice Waters or David Tanis.
On Food and Cooking by Harold McGee.
I also like Michael Pollan's writing on the natural history of food, notably The Omnivore's Dilemma.
Second the nomination of Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen.
Good Eats fans with an interest in the science might like Shirley O. Corriher's Cookwise, The Secrets of Cooking Revealed. She was The Science Lady on the Good Eats show.
On Food and Cooking by McGee is the standard and was one of the earliest cookbooks to apply science to cooking. The latest version is excellent. It reads at times like a textbook but I swear that I've learned something useful from every single chapter in that book. I mostly use this as a reference now but well worth skimming if you enjoy science + cooking.
Not all cheese curds squeak. That's a function of the water content, the way it's made (rennet or acid), the kind of cheese that will ultimately end up being made (soft, hard, bullshit processed, etc.), the kind of animal that made the milk, the temperature used to make the cheese, etc.
Source: am chef + the book of McGee (actual source)
As many people have observed, there's a lot of science in cooking. If you really want to understand it, though, I suggest Harold McGee's master tome: On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen. If you think Alton Brown is a nerd, or even more Shirley Corriher, then you'll love Harold McGee. He's the god of food science.
I agree with JoC and would go further to recommend haunting used book stores and estate sales to find an edition from the late 40s and early 50s - much more technique, no prepared foods, and less hardware.
Also On Food and Cooking by Harold McGee https://www.amazon.com/Food-Cooking-Science-Lore-Kitchen-ebook/dp/B000PAAH1W/ref=pd_sim_351_3/147-8869483-3702847?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B000PAAH1W&pd_rd_r=2daf29d1-5605-11e9-a162-3f617eb13ec8&pd_rd_w=4kHF0&pd_rd_wg=W6Our&pf_rd_p=90485860-83e9-4fd9-b838-b28a9b7fda30&pf_rd_r=V2VT6H04D5VJAJXTNWFJ&psc=1&refRID=V2VT6H04D5VJAJXTNWFJ
Definitely. If you are interested in the science of cooking:
I thought though the saline level was much higher for salted lemons.
Edit: Well Harold McGee says 5-10% similar to olive brine: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000PAAH1W
Tools: another knife, or a end-grain cutting board. Digital scales are always handy. Pressure cookers can be had for under $100 and a water circulator (sous vide machine) will fall slightly above that price range.
Ingredients: Foie gras makes a good gift. I would be delighted to get some high-end pork product. for a gift.
Books: Modernist Cuisine at Home is as much a book as it is a reference guide and set of projects. On Food and Cooking is an essential book for food nerds.