On Food and Cooking

The Science and Lore of the Kitchen

Harold McGee | 4.59 | 15,320 ratings and reviews

Ranked #2 in Food Science, Ranked #3 in Cooking — see more rankings.

Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking is a kitchen classic. Hailed by Time magazine as "a minor masterpiece" when it first appeared in 1984, On Food and Cooking is the bible to which food lovers and professional chefs worldwide turn for an understanding of where our foods come from, what exactly they're made of, and how cooking transforms them into something new and delicious. Now, for its twentieth anniversary, Harold McGee has prepared a new, fully revised and updated edition of On Food and Cooking. He has rewritten the text almost completely, expanded it by... more

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Reviews and Recommendations

We've comprehensively compiled reviews of On Food and Cooking from the world's leading experts.

Rose Levy Beranbaum He explains how cooking works and gives you the freedom to create your own things, to know when things go wrong. (Source)

Yotam Ottolenghi McGee is very clear and to the point. Despite the fact that he is quite technical, it’s never boring. (Source)

Chris Young My career starts with [this book] in many ways. There wouldn’t be any of this modern cooking movement without [this book], I don’t think. (Source)

Henry Dimbleby He looks at the science of making a mayonnaise, and how much egg yolk you need to make a certain amount. (Source)

Rankings by Category

On Food and Cooking is ranked in the following categories:

#20 in Chemistry
#6 in Food
#16 in Reference

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