Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 The best book about cooking I've ever read May 26, 2008
Tomasz Wegrzanowski (London, UK)
This book is a rare gem - instead of just providing a list of recipes like most books about cooking do, it gives you detailed descriptions of how various methods of food preparation work.
The book presents both scientific theory behind the techniques and practical instructions on how to use it in everyday cooking.
Definitely a must have for everybody seriously interested in good food.
An excellent book to find out what is really happening in your kitchen November 14, 2007
R. Young (London, England)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Peter has an obvious analytical passion in this book. He answers a lot of the questions I had about why certain things happen as they do when I'm cooking. A really interesting and good fun read.
 Food from a physycist November 10, 2006
cranmere (Bristol, UK)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
The contents of the book are fascinating, and Peter enlivens thing with his personal narrative on occasion. Unfortunately his style is a little dry but the amount of information packed into this book is well worth the effoprt involved in reading it. Peter is a superb lecturer and if you get the chance go to one of his food science days run occasionally at Bristol University. Not only will Peter make ice cream using liquid nitrogen (beating Heston Blumenthal by many years) but will also freeze and shatter his tie for the amusement of his audience. Then you get to eat the practical.
 Fascinating, but ... August 1, 2006
food4thought (Hampshire, England)
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
I enjoyed reading this book, especially the chapter about chocolate (which I must re-read some time soon), BUT overall it was a bit like nouvelle cuisine: looks good, tastes good, but ultimately not entirely satisfying. It was more like a starter than a main course and because it is a hardback I do not consider it particularly good value for money (as a paperback at half the price it would be an excellent buy).
I was surprised by some omissions - for example there's nothing about the process of caramelisation, which is central to many sweet and savoury dishes. Also, it gets a bit too autobiographical for my taste - especially things like the lutefisk incident which used up several of its all-too-few pages.
If you're only going to buy one book on the science of food, it might be better to go for a more comprehensive tome but if you're assembling a collection of such books, this one should definitely be included.
Some detail missing perhaps... December 28, 2004
Neil Attrell (Holloway, London)
26 out of 26 found this review helpful
In common with all the other reviewers, I found this book to be a revelation. My mother's rules-of-thumb, passed down, are now given a scientific basis, or a better alternative is offered.Although this book has changed many of my cooking practices, I would offer one caveat: if you are seeking specific information when designing new recipes you may find this book lacking. In particular, the index has no entries for either salt or alcohol; the latter rarely needed, admittedly, but the former absolutely basic. These niggles aside, I can thoroughly recommend this book to all but the most pedantic (probably including myself!).
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