Harold McGee

On Food and Cooking by Harold McGee, if you ever wanted to know what reference book famous chefs and food nerds like Alton Brown refer to for actual facts instead of lore. This is it. The type of things you may not have questioned like “searing meat holds in juices”, lore not fact (Pg 161). Searing helps meat because it carmalizes the outside of a steak or slice of meat, enhancing the flavor. When you hear meat sizzle after browning it is because water is escaping, so that means it isn’t “sealed”. 

I have watched many a chef show and this is the Bible of food facts and research. If you really want to know about spices and flavor down to the molecular level this is the book! Like the reason cooks use vinegar and salt in egg poaching water is that in a large stock pot the poached eggs will rise to the surface after 3 minutes in constantly boilling water (Pg 90).