Understanding Food: Principles and Preparation [Hardcover]

Amy Christine Brown (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0534506097 | ISBN-13: 978-0534506094 | Publication Date: August 15, 2003 | Edition: 2

This introductory-level text is ideal for a college-level course that covers the basic elements of food preparation, food service, and food science, and provides the information needed by students preparing for careers in one of the many related fields of the food industry. Highly researched and comprehensive in coverage, while also student focused and manageable for any quarter or semester course, UNDERSTANDING FOOD, SECOND EDITION thoroughly explores the science of food through core material on food selection and evaluation, food safety and food chemistry. The many aspects of food service are covered including meal planning, basic food preparation, equipment, food preservation and government regulations. The final sections of the text supply food preparation, classification, composition, selection, purchasing and food storage information for a range of traditional food items. A rich illustration and photo program and unique pedagogical features help to make the information easily understandable and interesting to students.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"I've been very pleased with the book. The students find it easy to read and understand. The schematics developed to explain chemical and physical reactions are great."

"I think that this text book lays a solid foundation for students preparing for some aspect of the food industry, whether it be Hospitality Management, Chef, Dietetics, Catering, etc. this book provides the foundation from which additional layers of knowledge can grow."

"This is a great book! All fourteen students who helped with the review were extremely positive about the text."

"The text is very well written. The scientific information was very accurate and well presented."

"The book is very good. It covers a number of angles well: nutrition, culinary arts, product identification and food science. I think the pictorial summaries at the end of each chapter are a very good feature."

About the Author

Amy Christine Brown, PhD, RD received her PhD from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1986 in the field of Human Nutrition and Foods. She has been a college professor, and a registered dietitian with the American Dietetic Association, since 1986. Dr. Brown currently teaches at the University of Hawaii at Manoa in the Department of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. Her research interests are in the area of Complementary Medicine and Medical Nutrition Therapy. Some of the studies she has conducted include "Potentially Harmful Herbal Supplements," "Kava Beverage Consumption and their effect on liver function tests," and "The effectiveness of kukui nut oil in treating psoriasis." Selected previous research journal publications include: "The Hawaii Diet: Ad libitum high carbohydrate, low fat multi-cultural diet for the reduction of chronic disease risk factors: Obesity, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and hyperglycemia" (Hawaii Medical Journal), "Lupus Erythematosus and Nutrition: A Review." (Journal of Renal Nutrition), "Dietary survey of Hopi elementary school students." (Journal of the American Dietetic Association), "Serum cholesterol levels of nondiabetic and streptozotocin-diabetic rats." (Artery), "Infant feeding practices of migrant farm laborers in Northern Colorado." (Journal of the American Dietetic Association), "Body mass index and perceived weight status in young adults. (Journal of Community Health), "Dietary intake and body composition of Mike Pigg - 1988 Triathlete of the Year." (Clinical Sports Medicine), and numerous newspaper nutrition columns that spanned almost a decade. Dr. Brown's purpose for obtaining her doctoral degree and main professional goal was to become a writer.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 648 pages
• Publisher: Brooks Cole; 2 edition (August 15, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0534506097
• ISBN-13: 978-0534506094
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #575,958 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars What, no color?!, July 8, 2011

By 

Cameron Scholtz (Phoenix, AZ USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Understanding Food: Principles and Preparation (Hardcover)

I was really disappointed (and surprised) to open this $160 textbook and find all the pages are printed in black and white. Give me a break. There is a small insert section of about a dozen pages that has color pictures of some meats and vegetables. That's it. The other other ~700 pages, the actual textbook content, is all grayscale! There is a lot of information in this book, with a lot of diagrams, and photos of a many foods, ingredients and techniques. And it's all in black and white. Moreover, the cheap printing smacks of publisher greed (and we the students get fleeced).

There are few other annoyances with this book, sorry. In some chapters the author includes a "Professional Profile" where she highlights careers in the food industry. Several of these furtive advertisements are for big snack food and processed-food conglomerates, including Kellog, Kraft and Wrigley. For me, it felt like a strange choice for a nutrition textbook. I found myself wondering if the author had been compensated by any of the companies? I would have preferred to read about careers with healthier businesses, or the National Health Service Corps, or even the military; not a snack food company.

One other oddity I can remember. In the section about coffee, the author mentions and describes many ways of brewing (drip, espresso, percolator, vacuum, etc.) -- except French press. Maybe by the fifth edition the author will get around to adding one of the most popular methods of brewing coffee lol

Anyway, I'm nitpicking with that one. My main gripe is that I paid so much $$ for black & white printing. Such a bummer :(

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent and Informative Book, July 8, 2007

By 

Heidi Muller (Wyoming) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Understanding Food: Principles and Preparation (Hardcover)

The second edition of this book was one of my college texts in 2004. While I didn't find the accompanying lab. manual as helpful, the actual text is great. Brown describes food science in simple language, explaining the reasons behind why cakes crash, why chemical elements in foods react as they do, why high altitude cooking rules differ, ingredient substitutions, etc., but also provides more in-depth chemical and physical explanations as well. It is really fascinating to read through just for fun. If you enjoy experimenting with recipes as I do, you will really appreciate Brown's guidelines. I refer to my copy a lot; her charts and guidelines are incredibly useful.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great food, great information, February 1, 2009

By 

Blue Barron "B.B." (Chicago IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Understanding Food: Principles and Preparation (Hardcover)

I like how this book gives you examples that are recent and really up to date. The author makes it easy to understand the construction and properties of food and parts of food. Plus there are little boxes within each page that further explain vocabulary and had to understand concepts. Also there are just fun pictures that show some fun things about food as well. Overall the book is very informative and easy to read.