Unlocking Culinary Secrets: 4 Must-Read Food Science Books for Curious Cooks

Most home cooks start by following recipes or combining familiar ingredients. However, at some point in their culinary journey, many become curious about the science behind cooking, and perhaps about developing their own recipes.

How much acid is needed to active baking soda? What other dairy products have a milkfat content similar to cream? Can I replace baking soda and baking powder with sourdough starter in a cake recipe?

This curiosity often leads home cooks to food science books.

I'm extremely passionate about understanding where food comes from and how it's made. Whether it's learning about how hojicha was developed, or how culinary citrus oil is produced, I love learning about the food we eat and continues to lead me ever-branching paths of culinary techniques, histories, and chemistry involved in cooking.

As I went from following recipes to thinking more critically about food, I picked up food science books that explore ingredient composition, flavor pairings, and essential cooking techniques. These are 4 of my favorite cooking and food science books that can help fellow curious home cooks enhance their skills.

On Food And Cooking: The Science And Lore Of The Kitchen

by Harold McGee

Perfect for: Anyone interested in the whys and hows of food and cooking looking to up their culinary game.

When I was on the hunt for more scientific food and cooking books, the talk of the town was On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen by Harold McGee.

First published in 1984 and revised in 2004, I decided to try before I buy (I love libraries). The people who claimed that On Food and Cooking is the only food science book you'll need were right. This book is consistently rated highly and is my top choice for anyone developing recipes or simply interested in food science.

On Food and Cooking was a primary resource when developing my silky hōjicha crème brûlée recipe, specifically for advice on the egg yolk-to-cream ratio (and why my attempt to lower the fat content caused the creme brulee to not set).

Before brulee-ing the granulated sugar on top of a custard, McGee advised immersing the dish "in an ice-water bath to protect the custard from a second cooking."—a tip I thought was a bit extra for my recipe, but definitely makes a difference.

The book contains no modern recipes (but it does include recipes from the 16th to 19th centuries, making it a delightful historical resource). It is not a cookbook. Visuals are presented as tables and diagrams akin to those in chemistry and biology textbooks. On Food and Cooking is such a dry read you'll probably never read it cover to cover.

But this book serves as an excellent reference and the only book on my list that curious home cooks should keep on hand. It's perfect for understanding the "how" and "why" behind cooking techniques and food, which can help inform your own recipe development and up your culinary game.

The Flavor Matrix: The Art and Science of Pairing Common Ingredients to Create Extraordinary Dishes

by James Briscione and Brooke Parkhurst

Perfect for: Anyone bored of the flavors they usually cook with looking to wake up their tastebuds and experiment with unconventional flavor pairings.

The crux of The Flavor Matrix: The Art and Science of Pairing Common Ingredients to Create Extraordinary Dishes by James Briscione and Brooke Parkhurst is the following: the percentage of aromatic compounds shared between two different ingredients can predict how well they will taste together when combined in a dish.

The Flavor Matrix contains flavor pairing suggestions for about 120 common ingredients via easy-to-understand, intuitive diagrams. Cucumber share enough aromatic compounds with hazelnuts or persimmons to pair with them? Vanilla and corn?

If you're not sold on these unconventional flavor pairings, The Flavor Matrix includes an accessible (from a technical standpoint, so no crazy equipment or techniques necessary) recipe for each ingredient. These recipes are just a little adventurous, perfect for curious home cooks looking to experiment with surprising flavor combinations.

For example, in the "Berry" section, there's a recipe for a chicken and mushroom burger topped with strawberry "ketchup." The "Caramel" section features a unique spicy fish sauce peanut brittle, which Briscione and Parkhurst recommend as a topping for steamed buns filled with pork or beef. In the "Capsicum" section, you'll find a recipe for green banana and chili hot sauce.

Overall, The Flavor Matrix inspires unusual flavor pairings and culinary experimentation. If you're eager to enhance your cooking with exciting new tastes, give it flip through.

Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat

by Samin Nosrat

Perfect for: Budding home cooks looking to build their cooking intuition while practicing with simple, delicious recipes. Makes a great gift.

Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking by Samin Nosrat is a modern classic that home cooks love to recommend to those wanting to elevate their culinary skills. Filled with delightful illustrations of ingredients and dishes instead of photographs, the book focuses on the four essential elements of good cooking: salt, fat, acid, and heat. The first part of the book explains what each element is, how it works, and how to use it effectively, with subsections on balance, layering, and restraint.

The second part of the book organizes all the recipes together, along with thematic indexes. For example, there's an index grouping recipes by what you'll learn, with headings like "Salt Lessons" and "Acid Lessons," as well as a "Suggested Menu" index and resources for further reading. Recipe include

• Persian-ish Rice ("Heat Lessons: Layering Heat")
• Beer-Battered Fish with Tartar Sauce ("Fat Lessons: Layering Fat")
• Buttermilk Panna Cotta with Wine-Poached Fruit ("Acid Lessons: Layering Acid")
• Tuna Confit ("Heat Lessons: Preserving Tenderness")

to name a few.

I'm unabashedly biased: Not only does Samin Nosrat provide a valuable reference book that home cooks can return to again and again, but she also has a wonderfully engaging personality and lovely cooking philosphy. I've listened to all episodes of her podcast Home Cooking (with Hrishikesh Hirway); watched her focaccia video with Bon Appétit; and vegged out for the Netflix documentary / mini series Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat multiple times.

This book stands out as one of my favorite and most accessible choices among more science and technique oriented food books for the new and curious cooks.

Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking

by Michael Rulman

Perfect for: Anyone new to recipe development looking for a practical guide to basic culinary ratios.

When I began developing my own recipes, I discovered the importance of ratios in cooking and baking. In my search for food science books focused on culinary ratios, I found Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking by Michael Ruhlman at the top of nearly every recommendation.

Ratio teaches that culinary ratios are the foundation of cooking and baking because when you know a culinary ratio, you know thousands of recipes! Think of it as the difference between knowing a single recipe for banana bread versus knowing the culinary ratio for quick breads. Culinary ratios open doors.

Ruhlman knows we came for the ratios, so he lists each culinary ratio at the very beginning of the book. Then, he goes into further detail in sections for doughs, batters, stocks, sausage (and other meat-related ratios), fat-based sauces, and custards. Each section includes very basic recipes to put these ratios to the test, and starting points for those of us developing recipes.

I've used Ratio to advise me while I developed my soon-to-be-published rhubarb orange muffins (the recipe I'm most proud of recently) and sweet cream pancakes.