DEBRIS.COMgood for a laugh, or possibly an aneurysm

(subtitle: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen)

Universally loved by serious cooks, On Food and Cooking is an immensely valuable resource for anyone interested in the process of cooking. Cooking is largely a chemical process, and McGee explains it clearly, with nifty diagrams and electron-microscope photographs to illustrate the points.

Bread bakers will especially enjoy the section on flours and doughs. McGee answers questions of the nutrition of wholegrain vs. high-extraction flours, gluten development and dough breakdown from overkneading, why bread stales (and how to prevent and reverse it, to some extent). Some of this material may be familiar to readers of Crust & Crumb, because Peter Reinhart is a fan of McGee’s work.

Other sections include: dairy product (cream whipping, egg storage and grading, cheese making, etc.), sauces, beer brewing, wine fermentation, meat storage and cookery.

If you’re a casual cook with no interest in the underlying science, you’ll have no use for this book other than impressing your kitchen-geek friends. But, if you spend your weekends brewing beer or wine, making cheese, barbecueing, or baking, you’ll find many valuable tips here.

Patronize these links, man:

• Amazon (paperback)
• Amazon (hardback)