topics: |  food | science | chemistry | reference

The utterly un-put-downable science bible for food afficionados...  from meat
to egges to vegetables to fruits, from grains to cereals to bread to pasta
to sugars; from milk to wine to sauces, it leaves little uncovered.  From
the overt chemistry that we always suspected lay behind mayonnaise to the
non-obvious chemistry of frying onions or making chocolate, everything is
explained cogently, and in language engaging yet appropriate even for the
non-chemist.  Truly deserves its many honours.  

This review is from the 1984 edition, but I have recently gotten the 2004
edition which seems much expanded and partly corrected.  Will be updating
this slowly.  

Also of interest - the works by Herve This, food science guru of France. 

Excerpts

Milk

"Homogenized" milk: developed in France around 1900 to prevent creaming and
keep the milk fat evenly — homogeneously — dispersed.

It involves pumping hot milk at high pressure through very small nozzles,
where the turbulence tears the fat globules apart into smaller ones; their
average diameter falls from 4 micrometers to about 1. The sudden increase in
globule numbers causes a proportional increase in their surface area, which
the original globule membranes are insufficient to cover. The naked fat
surface attracts casein particles, which stick and create an artificial coat
(nearly a third of the milk’s casein ends up on the globules). The casein
particles both weigh the fat globules down and interfere with their usual
clumping: and so the fat remains evenly dispersed in the milk.  May be
pasteurized before or simultaneously [2004 edn]

old ed: The pasteurized milk is forced under high pressure through a small
   nozzle onto a hard surface where the fat globules are made to break up
   into smaller, more uniform blobs, so that they do not rise to the top.
   Cannot be done with fresh milk for then the fat-splitting enzymes in milk
   will quickly make it rancid; so the enzymes are inactivated by the high
   temperatures first [pasteurizn].

Autoxidation: Milk must be kept in the dark.  Light (UV radiation) causes
oxygen to invade the long regular chains of CH atoms in the fats - releasing
various odorous molecules - oily, fishy, metallic.

Frothing cream: Here the fat is stiff enough to hold up the air bubbles

Condensed and evaporated milk - milk solids and fat.  made by rapidly
evaporating half the water - not by heating, but by putting it in a vacuum.
It is then sterilized and homogenized so it will keep.

Milk powder - without any volatile aroma molecules left, and also no fat, usu
     	not tasty when mixed w water.

The semantics of "fruit"

The word "fruit" long ago meant any plant used as food.  Gradually came to
mean the edible layer surrounding seeds.  With systematization of botany in
the 18th c., was defined as the organ that derives from the ovary and
surrounds the seeds.  The word "vegetable" as a plant eaten for food also
comes from the 18th c.
    [FRUIT: L. fructus "fruit, produce, profit," from frug- "to use, enjoy".
    	Originally in Eng. meaning vegetables as well. Modern narrower sense
    	is from c.1225.
     VEGETABLE :: from M.L. vegetabilis "growing, [700-1500] flourishing,"
	from L.L. vegetabilis "animating, enlivening," [300-600] from
	L. vegetare "enliven," Noun first attested 1582, originally of any
	plant; sense of "plant cultivated for food" is first recorded 1767.
	       - Online Etymology Dictionary ]
Tomatoes, peas, cucumbers, green-peppers, are all technically fruits.

In the late 1800s, a NY importer claimed duty-free status for tomatoes, which
he argued were "fruit" and hence exempt from a 10% tax on vegetables.
The case went to the US Supreme Court:
Constitution and statute offering no guidance on this question, the court
decided on the grounds of linguistic custom.  Tomatoes, held the
majority, are "usually served at dinner in, with, or after the soup,
fish or meat, which constitute the principal part of the repast, and not
like fruits, generally as dessert."  p p. 124-5

Blurb

A classic tome of gastronomic science and lore, On Food and Cooking delivers
an erudite discussion of table ingredients and their interactions with our
bodies. Following the historical, literary, scientific and practical
treatment of foodstuffs from dairy to meat to vegetables, McGee explains the
nature of digestion and hunger before tackling basic ingredient components,
cooking methods and utensils. He explains what happens when food spoils, why
eggs are so nutritious and how alcohol makes us drunk. As fascinating as it
is comprehensive, this is as practical, interesting and necessary for the
cook as for the scholar.