On Food and Cooking

{{Short description|Book by Harold McGee}}

{{Use American English|date=January 2023}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2023}}

{{Infobox book

| name = On Food and Cooking

| image = On Food And Cooking UScover.jpg

| caption = U.S. second edition cover

| author = Harold McGee

| cover_artist =

| country = United States

| language = English

| genre = Food compendium

| publisher = Scribner U.S.
Hodder & Stoughton UK

| release_date = November 1984
November 2004 (second edition)

| media_type = Print (hardcover)

| pages = 704 first edition
896 second edition

| isbn = 978-0-684-80001-1

| isbn_note= (U.S.)
9780340831496 (UK)

| dewey=

| congress=

| oclc=

}}

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.Waxman, Nach, Slate.com (December 12, 2007). [http://www.slate.com/id/2179838/pagenum/all/ The Joy of Cookbooks]Davis, Mandy, Publishers Weekly (November 22, 2004). [http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA481610.html PW Talks with Harold McGee] It is published by Hodder & Stoughton 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. It has been described by Alton Brown as "the Rosetta stone of the culinary world",{{Cite magazine|last= Brown |first= Alton, TIME Magazine |date= April 30, 2009|title= The 2008 TIME 100 |url= http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1733748_1733754_1735352,00.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080505053634/http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1733748_1733754_1735352,00.html |url-status= dead |archive-date= May 5, 2008 | magazine=Time}} Daniel Boulud has called the book a "must for every cook who possesses an inquiring mind",Saekel, Karola, San Francisco Chronicle (December 1, 2004). [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/12/01/FDGF5A0J1P1.DTL Good reads for the cooks on your list] while Heston Blumenthal has stated it is "the book that has had the greatest single impact on my cooking".Hirst, Christopher, The Independent. (November 13, 2004) [https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/news/snail-porridge-its-a-matter-of-taste-533040.html Snail porridge? It's a matter of taste]

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,Jaine, Tom, The Guardian (December 11, 2004). [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2004/dec/11/featuresreviews.guardianreview Taste sensation] while the text is illustrated by charts, graphs, pictures, and sidebar boxes with quotes from sources such as Brillat-Savarin and Plutarch.Stafford, Matthew, SF Weekly (November 24, 2004). [http://www.sfweekly.com/2004-11-24/culture/on-food-and-cooking-the-science-and-lore-of-the-kitchen/ On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen] The book advises on how to cook many things (e.g., for pasta use abundant water, with reasons and the science behind everything{{cite book|last=McGee|first=Harold|author-link=Harold McGee|title=On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen|date=2004|publisher=Scribner|location=New York, New York|isbn=978-0-684-80001-1|lccn=2004058999|oclc=56590708}}{{rp|page=575–6}}) and includes a few historical recipes (e.g., Fish or Meat Jelly, by Taillevent in 1375{{rp|page=584}}), but no modern recipes as such.Hirst, Christopher, The Independent. (December 3, 2004) [https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-best-of-2004-food-books-reviewed-674266.html The best of 2004: food books reviewed]

==See also==

• Food science