Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #85676 in Books
• Published on: 2004-11-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 896 pages

Evening Standard 13th December 2004
McGee on Food and Cooking carries off the 2004 Standard award. Read this wondrous tome.

Mail on Sunday 21st November 2004
Gripping prose. The business - more than you want to know about anything edible.

Spectator 18th November 2004
It answers every culinary question. This is the definitive, heavyweight reference book for the keen cook.

Customer Reviews

I honestly wish I could rate this as 6 stars!
I've had this book for quite a few years now and I still find it as suprising, fascinating, and wonderful as when I first bought it.

What do the origins of the word sycophant, hangover cures, the botany of the daisy family, the chemical structure of alkaloids and Maclolm X have in common? Yup, they all appear in this book!

As well as being a treasure trove of information on the history and science behind food, cooking techniques, ingredients, physiology and diet, it has also given me a greater apreciation of what I'm doing in the kitchen and why, e.g. now I apreciate what is going on on a molecular level when a sauce is being made, I've really improved the techniques that I use and as a result, make better sauces. This book may only have a few recipies included, and they are only there to show how cooking has changed through the ages, but this has been the most useful book on cooking that I've ever owned.

I think that this book has made me a better cook at the same time as being an interesting and entertaining read. It is to cooking as Brewers Dictonary of Phrase and Fable is to the English language.

Wonderful!

Unveils culinary questions to a new minutia... Great!!!
This book encompasses three of my great passions: History, Science & Food/Cooking. With a very scientific voice explaining the interactions of cooking at a molecular level, the author easily draws you in to any topic from pickeling to fermentation. You can open this book to any page and learn about the foods you enjoy and where they come from -- both historically and chemically. I love this book!!!!

Absolutely essential for the serious cook!
I found Mr Mcgee's book to be a thoroughly entertaining and enlightening read. As a professional chef I was fascinated by the scientific explanations of processes I come across every day. I now use the book almost daily for reference and enjoy sharing the anecdotes with my staff. An excellent book!!!