[.ca] Kitchen Science: A Guide to Knowing the Hows and Whys ... (ISBN 0395480728)

Get Harold McGee:
When I read that Hollandaise sauce shouldn't be made in lightening storms (page 151, 153), I couldn't help wondering how the experiment was run. Perhaps on a golf course. Really unenlightened. Suggest Harold McGee's books for a much more rewarding read.

Removing the mystery.:
Cooking is sometimes a mystery. This book removes some of it. Why do onions make your eyes tear? Why do some fruits and vegetables turn brown when cut? These and more are answered. The chemistry of cooking seemed accurate, although I can't say much for the physics. A great book for curious children or scientifically trained.

One of my three 'Must Have' books in my kitchen:
This is a great book for the kitchen, and there are no recipes. This book explains why you get the results you get (and how to fix them), such as why my steaks toughen as they cool and why I lost color in my parboiled vegetables. I now know whether or not an egg is raw or hard boiled (without cracking it to find out), how to care for my knives, how to check for temp. accuracy in my oven, why the grocery store shouldn't sell green tinged potatoes, and whether or not the chicken I bought has ever been frozen. Simply a great book that'll have you saying "Aha! with every page.

Excellent Kitchen Reference:
Howard Hillman's "Kitchen Science" and Robert Wolke's "What Einstein Told His Cook" are two books of largely similar information. Their titles foreshadow their different writing styles. Both are very informative and worthy of keeping as a reference. Hillman uses a question and answer format and is direct and succinct. Wolke also uses the question/answer format, but he has more lively style, and the lengthier answers are rendered with much wit and humor. For the efficiency-mined reader, Hillman's book gives more bang. Wolke's book gives more reading pleasure. Interestingly, they sometimes disagree. Hillman says that most alcohol added to dishes while cooking is lost due to evaporation, while Wolke maintains, with a more nuanced explanation, that the anywhere from 4 to 49 % of the added alcohol might remain... Take your pick. I enjoyed both.

A great addition to the home kitchen:
This interesting and fun-to-read book really helps the home cook understand the hows and whys behind cooking and food, which is essential if one is to get beyond the stage of simple preparation and slavish adherence to recipies. Even better, this book has inspired me to want to learn more. I personally don't prefer the question and answer format, which is one reason it doesn't get five stars. Illustrations could help make difficult concepts more understandable, and it could stand to go through another revision and expansion. However, I found it a satisfying read, and well worth my money.