The Curious Cook: More Kitchen Science and Lore (Paperback)

~ (Author) "It's in the best of cookbooks and the worst of cookbooks, the simple and the sophisticated..." (more)
Key Phrases: basil enzymes, searing myth, conduction charts, The Physiology of Taste, Saran Wrap, Madeleine Kamman (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Not a recipe collection but a series of investigations into culinary problems and dogma, this combines McGee's ( On Food and Cooking ) appreciation of the good life with his background in biochemistry and dedication to experimental procedure. In the first section the author reconsiders received truths, such as "sear the meat to seal in the juices," and proceeds to demonstrate, in this case, that it just isn't so. He evolves a means for the home cook to sterilize egg yolks without ruining them for hollandaise or mayonnaise, and discusses the function of sugar in sherbet texture. Explaining the relevant chemistry in accessible terms, McGee appeals to those who savor nuances of method in problem-solving, but in spite of some witty touches and a tone much lightened by etymological and historical asides, his very perseverance can become wearisome. The second section addresses health problems associated with eating habits, including a lengthy and informative, though scarcely comforting, treatment of cholesterol's impact on the circulatory system. In the final, highly readable section, McGee offers a more subjective view of gastronomy in essays paying tribute to Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin and the continuing quest for a science of taste.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Harold McGee plays with his food and encourages everybody else to do the same." -- Mary MacVean, columnist

"The Curious Cook is as explosive as a le Carr yarn, as simple as good bread, as complex as a classic sauce, and as enlightening as only Harold McGee can be." -- George Lang, owner of the Caf des Artistes restaurant in New York City --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 339 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (April 20, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0020098014
• ISBN-13: 978-0020098010
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #236,988 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

75 of 77 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, eclectic, weirdly informative, December 18, 2001

By	Bradford Daniels (Redmond, WA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have been searching for the "ultimate" book on the science of cooking for a while now, and this book is my latest read on the subject. While it's not what I was hoping to find, it is the most interesting of the books I've read so far.

McGee's earlier book, "On Food and Cooking" (ISBN 0684843285), attempted to be encyclopedic in its coverage of food topics, hitting on every ingedient from a historical and scientific perspective. As a result (for me, anyway), it failed to be fully satisfactory on both counts. This book makes no such pretense, and is much the better for it.

From the earliest chapters, discussing the effects of searing and various temperatures on meat (did you know you could kill trichinella by keeping pork below 5 degrees Fahrenheit for 3 weeks?), I knew that I was in for a much more interesting and lively read this time around. There is a lot of interesting, new and useful information in this book, though the information doesn't always necessarily satisfy all 3 criteria at once.

The second chapter, for example, covers the topic of why oil collects on the inside of your glasses when you cook. The actual reason turns out to be fairly pedestrian, but the story of his experimentation (including a rather tongue-in-cheek diagram of several pairs of glasses propped on inverted bowls around a frying pan) was fun to read.

The topics in the book were chosen more-or-less at random, consisting of free-form explorations of topics including how to force persimmons to ripen, just how little egg you can get away with in mayonnaise, the truth (such as it is) about food, cancer, and heart disease, and various thoughts about what makes things taste good. The chapters on sauces were in general very well done, and I like the fact that McGee spent significant time discussing strategies for defeatng salmonella in egg-based sauces.

The only word of warning I have to offer is that McGee's writing style tends toward the sesquipedalian (and if you don't feel comfortable with words like "sesquipedalian", you'll probably find the book a bit hard to read). While I can't fault McGee's knowledge, from a presentation perspective, well, Alton Brown, he ain't.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Kitchen Science and Good Eats, May 25, 2001

By	Mary P. Campbell "math geek" (Flushing, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

McGee really knows his food. Down to the very molecules. There's a good touch of amateur science as well, when he attempts to see how much oil an egg yolk can =really= emulsify (the answer was amazing!) and how one can use butter to emulsify itself! This book has inspired me with its easy-to-understand analyses of chemical and physical processes to do some food experimenting of my own - my husband is a vegetarian, so I can't use the direct knowledge of how butter and eggs work. But McGee =does= indicate which substances in the foods do the work, and I can find vegetable replacements for that.

Also of deep interest is the question "Why does food taste better cooked?" in which one discovers that "All food aspires to the condition of fruit." The topic selection is somewhat hodge-podge, but one comes away with a greater appreciation for the complexity of cooking (and not as impressed with beurre blanc sauces - it's almost impossible to screw those up!)

And for those who like this book, I recommend the T.V. show "Good Eats", hosted by Alton Brown, on the Food Network, which draws on a similar scientific interest in all things eaten.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining for both the professional and amateur "foodie", March 29, 1998

By A Customer

How could McGee follow "On Food and Cooking", a bible to those who live and love to cook? He has written a more conversational and humorous book combining cooking lore and practical chemistry to answer a thoughtful cook's questions to "I wonder why...?" His chapters on ices/sorbets and sauces contain essential info I've never found anywhere else. It was too short! When is the sequel being published?