Harold McGee Books

A kitchen classic for nearly 35 years, this book has been hailed as "a minor masterpiece" by Time magazine since its 1984 debut. It serves as the essential resource for food lovers and professional chefs seeking to understand the origins, compositions, and transformative processes of food. For its twentieth anniversary, Harold McGee released a fully revised edition, rewriting the text almost entirely, expanding it by two-thirds, and adding over 100 new illustrations. This new edition remains engaging and readable, offering countless insights into food preparation and enjoyment. It pioneered the translation of technical food science into accessible kitchen science and played a key role in the rise of "molecular gastronomy." While other kitchen science books exist, this one stands out for its unmatched accuracy, clarity, and thoroughness, blending scientific explanations with the historical evolution of foods and cooking techniques. Key themes include traditional and modern food production methods, diverse preparation techniques across cultures, tips for selecting and preparing ingredients, the substances that contribute to flavor, and evolving knowledge about food health benefits and risks. This monumental compendium is invaluable for anyone who has ever cooked, savored, or been curious about food.

When Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking was published in 1984, it proved to be one of the sleepers of the year, eventually going through eight hardcover printings. It was hailed as a minor masterpiece" and reviewers around the world prasied McGee for writing the first book for the home cook that translated into plain English what scientist had discovered about our foods. Like why chefs beat eggs whites in copper bowls and why onions make us cry."

An authoritative guide to taste and our senses from world-renowned foodwriter, Harold McGee.

"Smell is such a powerful and revealing sense because it detects actual little pieces of things in the world. It gives us direct evidence of what those things are made of-unlike the indirectness of vision or hearing, which register light waves and air movements. Those little pieces are volatile molecules, so little that they're able to break away from their source and fly invisibly through the air to reach our nose. To begin to understand a thing's smell, then, is to identify the many volatile molecules it emits. Its overall smell is a composite, created by the component smells or "notes" of its most prominent volatile molecules. When different things seem to echo each other with shared component smells, it's a sign that those things have some volatile molecules in common. And the chemical identities of the molecules are keys to why they're there. They're tokens of the processes that created them. Text and 200 tables cover this topic, in a book by an expert on the chemistry and history of food science and cooking"-- Provided by publisher

"A vital tool for anyone who loves food and cooking" Heston Blumenthal There's no shortage of recipes available today and Keys to Good Cooking will help you make the most of them by telling you what works, and why. Written by award-winning author Harold McGee, this book acts as a companion to your recipe books, providing answers to all your kitchen questions - How do I prevent my sauce from separating? At what point should I salt meat? What are the benefits of cooking 'en papillotte'? - and distils modern scientific understanding of cooking into quick and reliable guidance. Easy-to-use and authoritative, Keys to Good Cooking is a guide to the techniques, ingredients and gadgets with which you turn recipes into delicious meals.

Harold McGees „On Food and Cooking“ ist ein umfassendes Standardwerk zur Küchenwissenschaft, das die Grundlagen der Molekularküche erklärt. Die aktualisierte deutsche Ausgabe bietet Informationen zu Herkunft, Geschichte und chemischem Aufbau von Lebensmitteln, ergänzt durch praktische Tipps und theoretische Erklärungen. Ideal für Profis und Hobby-Köche.