"Mr. McGee might have called this encyclopedic work "The Kitchen Home Companion," since it offers indispensable information on how to make the most of any recipe--a user's manual that enables home cooks to achieve maximum results… the enjoyment it affords will be found on the table." --The Wall Street Journal
"If you want to know virtually anything about the "why" of cooking, read Harold McGee. Along the way, he'll teach you the 'how.'" -- St. Louis Post-Dispatch
"McGee's writing is broad, yet detailed at the same time, scientific, but comprehensible."-- Christian Science Monitor
"A great addition to any cookbook library. It picks up where many cookbooks leave off. The 'How's' and 'Why's' of a dish's success - or failure - are often a mystery, but McGee sheds light on many of those mysteries to make us more informed in the kitchen and ultimately, better cooks."-- Seattle Weekly
"McGee will banish any romantic notions about cooking with his fast-draw expertise… With an eminently pragmatic approach to cooking and a user-friendly précis of a lifetime's devotion to the kitchen, this is an invaluable addition to food literature."-- Publishers Weekly