Books that explain the science of cooking?

Question

I have been cooking for a while now, but its mostly what I picked up watching others cook. I usually experiment with ingredients, try out a few things, and learn from there. In short, there is nothing scientific about what I do.

Now, I am an engineer by profession, and it seems there ought to be a reason for cooking food the way it is done. There are several terms out there that stump me, and I wish I could read up a book to learn more about them.

So, do you recommend any book/website/videos that explains the science behind cooking, as opposed to the art that it actually is?

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Note on answering:

Please don't post poll answers.

If you've got a recommendation, please add it to the Community Wiki answer and explain what the book is about, your general impressions, pros and cons, scientific depth, etc. No need for a full-page review but please explain your suggestion, otherwise it's no better than just looking up the highest-rated cookbooks on Amazon.

Answer 1

IMO, this really would have greater lasting value with a single detailed answer instead of a poll. Here's an annotated list of all the recommendations so far:

• On Food And Cooking (Harold McGee) is all science at a very detailed level, combining food chemistry and biology and explaining the interactions between ingredients and the mechanisms behind various cooking methods. If you're looking for a pure science book, this is it.

• Good Eats: The Early Years and Good Eats 2: The Middle Years by Alton Brown. His books are less technical/scientific than other authors and tend to focus more on application, making them more accessible to less hardcore cooks.

• CookWise (Shirley O. Corriher). Written by a biochemist who has done a lot of consulting in the food industry. This is more practical than McGee and more technical than Alton's books. It also includes a ton of recipes, which can be a good thing or bad thing depending on your personal preferences.

• Molecular Gastronomy (Hervé This, translated by Malcolm DeBevoise). This is more of a niche book (about - surprise - Molecular Gastronomy) and as you might expect is a little French-centric. What's really great about this book is how it debunks a lot of popular cooking myths with actual controlled experiments and hard data. It wouldn't be my first choice to recommend to a Food Science newbie, but nevertheless a good one to add to your collection.

• The Fat Duck Cookbook (Heston Blumenthal). Written by the founder of the Fat Duck Restaurant in the UK. It's about the history of the Fat Duck and has a big recipe collection (from the restaurant, obviously) and a section at the end dedicated to food science. This one's really for the advanced crowd as it involves a lot of molecular gastronomy, sous-vide and other esoterica - complex preparations, hard-to-find ingredients and unusual/expensive equipment.

• Cooking for Geeks (Jeff Potter) is, as the title implies, written to appeal to geeks, and as such has a certain amount of science but tends to be quite a bit more basic as far as actual cooking technique goes. It's more "applied science." Honestly, I wouldn't recommend this for very experienced cooks, but it's great for getting into cooking and gaining an enthusiasm for it (if you're kind of a geek).

• Cooking for Engineers is a web site, not a book, which has the obvious advantage of being free and searchable. It's hard to really define this as its scope is so wide, but I will say that I've found it to be a surprisingly useful and detailed resource whenever I need to find out something quickly.

• What Einstein Told His Cook (Robert L. Wolke) is also mostly on the science itself but is written to be more accessible to the layperson. As one reviewer on Amazon put it, Wolke is like the Bill Nye of Food Science. One part science, two parts entertainment. Another member has criticized it for making unproven claims (particularly on nutrition).

• The Cooks Illustrated annuals (Chris Kimball) are less about the actual chemistry of food but do highlight a very scientific approach to cooking based on up-front research, experimentation and testing. See David LeBauer's Answer for a more detailed explanation.

Answer 2

"On Food and Cooking" by Harold McGee

Answer 3

Two words: Alton Brown.

There are molecular gastronomists that are more technical, but he's the best for meshing the two in a format that others can understand.

Answer 4

What Einstein Told His Cook, by Robert Wolke is pretty interesting, although he makes a lot of unproven nutritional claims.

Answer 5

Cookwise by Shirley O. Corriher

Answer 6

A decent website: http://www.cookingforengineers.com/

I really like his style and his explanations are detailed and is overall fairly clear. He has a limited recipe collection, but he talks a lot about a number of other things including techniques and he also has numerous resources linked (including all of the other ones mentioned here). I like especially his section "Kitchen Notes".

Answer 7

Molecular Gastronomy: Exploring the Science of Flavor (Arts and Traditions of the Table: Perspectives on Culinary History) by Malcolm DeBevoise is a great book that details flavor and seasoning science among other things.

It can be had on the cheap and is concise read.

Answer 8

Cooking for Geeks by Jeff Potter from O'Reilly has gotten very good reviews.

Answer 9

The Big Fat Duck Cookbook This is one book from one of the best chef's in the world, his process is more scientific than intuitive. The book itself is very griping, (book is also an autobiography of Blumenthal) You have to make reservations 2 months in advance to eat at The Fat Duct

The book contains two types of recipes, some that everyone can make and the other are for scientists and engineers. The book is huge and a work of art :)

Answer 10

Kinda like the movie Julie & Julia, I'd recommend taking the approach of just cooking everything, or most everything from any favorite cookbook of your choice. In this process, the general wisdom of cooking will settle in on your soul. This is something like the advice in Wizard of Earthsea by Ogion to Ged about spending time collecting herbs and learning their names in preparation to becoming a master sorcerer.

This may not be the fast approach, but it will grant you a complete set of knowledge through the experience. I've had fun doing that for Mexican style foods this past decade. This may work best focusing on one genre at a time, then branching out into others. You'll achieve mastery at each step quicker than the last, as similarities become apparent. Cooking desserts may come last for me, as it's apparently an intensely delicate art :)

Answer 11

The "Cooks Illustrated" annually bound set of issues, all years, with comprehensive index.

We have the set at home and it is the first place that I turn when I want to find a recipe. The reason I find them so valuable is that each recipe is developed using the scientific method.

The author, Chris Kimball (always ?), presents a hypothesis, usually to make recipe x. He clearly states the particular outcome sought (flavors, textures, ease, ingredients, etc).

His methods are to first research available recipes, then to explain the range of ingredients, tools, and steps used in the recipes. He chooses a few key variables to explore in the recipe and then performs a series of experiments in which these are varied. The finished products are taste-tested by in-house experts.

Results include descriptions of the effects of the different variables on the finished product and a detailed recipe, often with alternate options. I don't think that I have ever been disappointed or surprised by the final result because of the thoroughness of the explanation and testing.

Thanks to Aaronut's comment for requesting this explanation.

Answer 12

I thought The Science Of Cooking was excellent.

Answer 13

Luckily, much of the science in food science has already been covered for most of us.

Here are a few good books: Complete Technique, Cook's Illustrated and How to Cook Everything.

It also helps to develop an understanding of the cuisine we're working with. Oregano in Latin dishes has a dramatically different meaning than oregano in Italian.

There's really no easy answer other than to read recipes and to cook!

Answer 14

On Food and Cooking is what, how, and why book with some history.

Answer 15

A site I can recommend is http://www.khymos.org (no affiliation except satisfied visitor). The site is on the surface about molecular gastronomy, but you'll find much of the science of cooking (e.g. the chemistry behind "working" flavour pairings etc) on there too.

Answer 16

Try some of the following:

• Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking by Michael Ruhlman to learn about essential ratios in doughs, batters, stocks, sauces, and many more that allow you to innovate your own recipes
• The Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg to learn about how to combine flavors
• On Food and Cooking by Harold McGee to learn the whys behind many things
• Cookwise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Cooking, Secrets Revealed by Shirley O. Corriher for another place to learn the whys
• Bakewise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Baking by Shirley O. Corriher for a place to learn the whys of baking

The below are classic manuals:

• Larousse Gastronomique by Prosper Montagne (ed) and Larousse Gastronomique
• The Escoffier Cookbook by Auguste Escoffier
• Le Repetiore de La Cuisine by Louis Saulnier