The best Gastronomy Essays books: Reddit reviews

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

Harold McGee's book "On Food and Cooking", has great explanations of the science behind foods and cooking techniques.

https://www.amazon.com/Food-Cooking-Science-Lore-Kitchen/dp/0684800012/ref=sr_1_2

On Food and Cooking by Harold McGee is highly regarded as a comprehensive background for history, and science of food. It does not have any recipes though.

I don't think he has a restaurant, but he did release a cookbook and also made a mini series about it.

That was like 10 years ago though, so truthfully I have no idea what he's done since.

I highly suggest you take a look into reading Jonathan Safran Foer's "Eating Animals." It directly addresses this cultural/emotional component you're bringing up.

Brad Thomas Parsons has an awesome book that goes in depth to the process of making homemade bitters. That book will demystify the process of making bitters better than any Reddit comment can.

It’s not hard to follow a recipe, but acquiring ingredients and supplies can get expensive. So I wouldn’t recommend getting into making homemade bitters unless you’re willing to spend a bit of money to get started.

The process itself is easy enough; time does most of the work. The challenge really ramps up when you try to develop your own recipes. I recommend starting with the “BTP House Bitters” in that book and using that as your jumping off point to explore the world of homemade bitters.

As long as you stay focused and patient, you’ll be making bitters you love before you know it!

I recieved this book several years ago and have made 2 or 3 of the recipes.
Love to add a drop or 2 of bitters on an ice cube before I pour a good bourbon over it. And the recipes make a lot so I make labels and give to friends who drink for Christmas or just for the fun of it. Try it, you'll have fun.

https://smile.amazon.com/Bitters-Spirited-Cure-All-Cocktails-Formulas/dp/1580083595/ref=sr\_1\_6?dchild=1&keywords=bitters&qid=1627914479&rnid=2941120011&s=books&sr=1-6

I worked in a very, very good Thai restaurant for a good deal of time, and a chef told me <em>Pok Pok</em> was the best Thai cookbook available in English. Never read it myself, but I had a chance to skim through his copy and it certainly seemed like high-quality, authentic stuff. That said, being authentic, it doesn't shy away from ingredients you'll have trouble finding 10,000 km from Thailand.

For the same reason I know this one exists.

https://www.amazon.com/Cookin-Coolio-Star-Meals-Price/dp/1439117616

I used to cook professionally in a couple of high-end kitchens and would autograph, message, and slip these into the house’s cookbook collection when I moved on and not say anything to anyone.

I didn't go there but most of my culinary instructors went to CIA and two of my friends are currently instructors there. I also worked in a culinary school so can confirm that students are all over the map when it comes to skill level when starting out. Some had a couple years in restaurants, some were newborns. It is a rigorous program but you will make contacts there that will serve you for life. Its a 'you get out of it what you put into it' kind of place.

A lot of chefs are pretty bad at the non-cooking elements of the business- food costing analysis, recipe conversions, purchasing, labour costs, etc. so its great that the program includes these types of lessons. The reason they want to drill you on moving from volumetric to cooking by weight is because thats the biggest difference in working from books meant for the home cook vs. how we operate in professional kitchens. Lean into the non-cooking bits and it will pay off in real life. The public facing restaurants will also give you a chance to experience restaurant cooking with the support of chef instructors- so baby steps before you leap into the real world of hot line cooking.

For summer school, I highly recommend getting yourself a copy of Harold McGee's On Food &amp; Cooking which will give you the science of how cooking works. As well as a decent amount of food history. Read that and work on your knife skills.

As for Hyde Park, its beautiful and has a ton of colleges in the area- Vassar, Marist, SUNY New Paltz, so lots of young people and social life for when you do get time off. But make friends with someone who has a car asap.

You might want to also ask this over in r/chefit [and read thru some of the posts on r/kitchenconfidential] where more pros hang out. Keep in mind, a lot of pros don't put a lot of value into going to culinary school so don't get offended if you get a little push back.

Buy the book ON FOOD AND COOKING the science and lore of the kitchen by Harold McGee. It is fascinating

Came here just to recommend the same book. Harold McGee is great at explaining the science behind all sorts of cooking techniques and food questions. Amazon has it here: https://www.amazon.com/Food-Cooking-Science-Lore-Kitchen/dp/0684800012

I used to think not. I actually always used 15%, but after I bought and read this book my thought totally changed.

Now I only use heavy cream. Everything I cook is measurably better in taste and texture. I don't cook a lot with cream, but when I do, only heavy or crème fraiche when called for.

I don't have the book with me, but I followed the recipe in the Bitters book by Parsons (Bitters: A Spirited History of a Classic Cure-All, with Cocktails, Recipes, and Formulas https://www.amazon.com/dp/1580083595/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_JatNCbNTQRD2V). I can get the ingredients list tonight if people are interested.

I remember it used high proof bourbon as the base, with apple slices, allspice, and chicona root as the bittering agent.

Heh, I bought a copy of https://www.amazon.com/Dishwasher-Quest-Dishes-Fifty-States/dp/0060896426 the second I read about it :)

Sugar always wants to be in its crystalline form. Only when you break the molecular structure down by heating them to the point of breaking (caramelization), will it no longer be able to crystallize. Most people use the wet sand method, many cover the pan, others brush the sides, etc. By using any of these methods, the sugar has to slowly go through the stages from soft ball to hard crack, which is essential for candy making. After the water mostly cooks off through evaporation, you have the caramel stage, from which you cannot return!

While this is the typical method for making most caramel, you do not need to add water to make it. You simply add some sugar to a pan and apply a medium heat, stirring regularly, until the mixture has melted and become caramel. Since there is no water, it will not go through stages, so this will not work for candies. It is very easy to overcook using this method. Think of creme brûlée.

For more on the science, check out Harold McGee : On Food and Cooking It’s a total science/foodies geek dream.

I got it from this cookbook! It's got tonnsss of good looking recipes 🤤

Japanese Soul Cooking: Ramen, Tonkatsu, Tempura, and More from the Streets and Kitchens of Tokyo and Beyond [A Cookbook] https://www.amazon.com/dp/1607743523/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_8whHFb39JN366

Highly recommend the class with Peter Reinhart. Awesome guy and prolific baker. The dude has a whole book dedicated to the subject:

https://www.amazon.com/American-Pie-Search-Perfect-Pizza/dp/1580084222

Kind words mate, I thought I gave it a good crack! you're on point though 10 days before Christmas is a sloppy suggestion

Give em a book

I know the creator personally and he can get you fucking banned bro, maybe if you spent less time shitting in people's faces on Reddit and more time praising the holy lord and spirit you would be a bit more fucking positive. I mean he died for our sins dawg! and you're doing this, may god have mercy on your soul. Pick up a book for once, if I may recommend one; the bible would be a good pickup for someone like yourself.

Sincincerly Jiminy Cricket
Bible

Honestly I don't make a ton of "foreign" stuff, but I bought a premade bulgogi sauce I use fairly often. I did pick up a book called Japanese Soul Cooking.

If you're fermenting, you really just need is salt without iodine. If you're only pickling, adding alum will do and can probably be found at any grocery store and/or CVS-like store.

On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen

Most recipes on the Internet are trash. It's a great resource, but to use it effectively you have to know how food actually works so you can sort the wheat from the chaff. The best way to do that I know is Harold McGhee's On Food and Cooking.

https://www.amazon.com/Food-Cooking-Science-Lore-Kitchen/dp/0684800012

If you are an accomplished home cook in a rut I can think of nothing better than Harold McGhee's On Food and Cooking.

https://www.amazon.com/Food-Cooking-Science-Lore-Kitchen/dp/0684800012

The recipie i got my first loaf out of, and the same recipie I use any time I make plain bread, was from On Food and Cooking by Harold McGee. Basically, its cooking for science and history nerds. There was a chart in there that had ingredient ratios for various baked goods. Aside from not needing to use nearly as much yeast as it told me to, its worked out pretty good. Helped my gravy out nicely, too.

McGee's book On Food and Cooking taught me a ton of things behind the science of cooking and also corrected a number of mistaken beliefs I had.

Harold McGee’s On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen? It was published in the 80s, but has since been revised and updated. It really goes into the science of cooking.

Have you read “Eating animals”? It’s relatable, sad, and funny. Jonathan Safran Foer got a lot of praise for his balanced approach to the issue.

Cookin’ With Coolio has excellent recipes.

What about this shit

The fact that we’ve been doing something wrong for a long time doesn’t mean that we should continue doing it. I don't understand why others continue to do it, how they can not care or not think about how they're eating dead animals. That being said, people are starting to wake up, and there's more non-meat options being offered. Also great strides in production of synthetically grown meat. There is a great book on this subject, https://www.amazon.com/Eating-Animals-Jonathan-Safran-Foer/dp/0316069884