McGee Online
December 5, 2007 7:55 AM   Subscribe

For all your culinary information needs, search through Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking for free online. Also, in a more limited capacity, Larousse Gastronomique.
posted by AceRock (17 comments total) 18 users marked this as a favorite
 
McGee's book absolutely rules. Before there was Alton Brown, before there was all this faddish "kitchen science," there was On Food and Cooking.
posted by digaman at 8:01 AM on December 5, 2007


What? WHAT?? How many...when did....why....I better not ask too many questions in case someone wises up.

*mutters thanks, slips AceRock a fiver*
posted by DU at 8:04 AM on December 5, 2007


I must be missing something, because I cannot see at all where On Food and Cooking is available for free. All I see is that I can buy it for $27 on amazon, I can read the cover and index, and Google has some info on the book. I have added it to my Google Library but it doesn't show up there at all and I see no "read" link or anything like that.

You say the Larousse Gastronomique link is more limited but it shows up exactly the same way as On Food and Cooking and is incomplete in a similar manner.
posted by splice at 8:31 AM on December 5, 2007


There are excerpts, but definitely NOT the entire book.
posted by briank at 8:34 AM on December 5, 2007


If you scroll down the right column in the google link, you can search the whole book for whatever topic you're interested in. There are certain parts of the book that google doesn't let you see, in which case you can go to the amazon link to find it there. I haven't exhaustively checked to see if every single page is available, but I've been using it for awhile and have not not been able to find something using a combination of the two sites.
posted by AceRock at 8:38 AM on December 5, 2007


Great linkage. I've had OF&C for about a year and it's fascinating stuff. I just made peanut butter brownies last night and didn't temper the chocolate ganache right; searching the google link for chocolate temper brought up exactly what I was looking for.

BTW - If anyone knows a foodie or food nerd, this book makes an excellent christmas present.
posted by skechada at 8:42 AM on December 5, 2007


I can't figure out how to look inside. What am I missing?
posted by mosessis at 8:49 AM on December 5, 2007


(and that's why we preview)
posted by mosessis at 8:50 AM on December 5, 2007


AceRock I guess I admire your ingenuity, but for the price of a nice bottle of wine that'll be gone tomorrow, why not just buy the damn book and have it - full text, instantly browsable! - on hand forever...?
posted by twsf at 8:54 AM on December 5, 2007


Sweet! On Food and Cooking is high on my Christmas list this year...
posted by slogger at 8:54 AM on December 5, 2007


why not just buy the damn book and have it - full text, instantly browsable! - on hand forever...?

word. I do have it on my shelf, but its more convenient for me to just google what i'm looking for.
posted by AceRock at 10:14 AM on December 5, 2007


It may be more convenient to look up something on google, but to answer a culinary argument by heaving the Larousse from one's bookshelf, hold it before you as you relate how Florida oranges are, indeed, not a specific breed of oranges and that this taxonomy is only to be applied to Valencia and Navel oranges, then to close the tome and drop it on the dinner table with a conclusive thud -- that sort of thing is much more satisfying than pressing a few keys.
posted by bl1nk at 10:38 AM on December 5, 2007 [1 favorite]


yeah... I'm so not all about this. Go out and buy your own copy of this book rather than going through the penny-pinching annoyance of searching through two different web pages for that particular entry on gluten formation.

Support your local gastronomic scientist!
posted by Sam.Burdick at 11:24 AM on December 5, 2007


Actually, McGee put a Google Book Search box on his own site.
posted by AceRock at 11:44 AM on December 5, 2007


See here for McGee's thoughts on the effectiveness of the google book search.
posted by AceRock at 11:47 AM on December 5, 2007


word. I do have it on my shelf, but its more convenient for me to just google what i'm looking for.

It is for me too, but the second edition of OFAC has this great feature called an index. My 1963 Larousse also has one, though it's an earlier form and mostly in French.

McGee's book absolutely rules. Before there was Alton Brown, before there was all this faddish "kitchen science," there was On Food and Cooking.

And I just want to say here that McGee single-handedly launched the food science renaissance, with Shirley Corriher following right behind. Alton Brown's empire, the kitchen science "fad," and molecular gastronomy probably wouldn't exist without OFAC.
posted by dw at 11:48 AM on December 5, 2007


I got a Larousse from '61 and it rocks.
posted by Max Power at 3:24 PM on December 5, 2007


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