食物與廚藝：麵食、醬料、甜點、飲料

by Harold McGee, 哈洛德·馬基, 蔡承志 (Translator)

你知道嗎……
泡芙的法文為何是「甘藍菜」？又為何被稱為「修女的屁」？
美乃滋和油醋醬，都是由1:3的水液與油液所組成，但成品的表現為何差異那麼大？
高海拔地區的蛋糕烘焙，和在平地的烘焙法有何不同？
為什麼嬌生慣養的葡萄藤蔓，反而產不出最好的葡萄酒？
高濃度葡萄酒和烈酒為何會有「淚珠」或「美腿」這種奇特現象？

不同於滋養人類成長的奶蛋肉魚，也不同於人類最早的蔬果穀物，麵食、醬料、甜點、飲料等等的食材與變化，展現出一項驚人事實：它們以變化萬千的姿態，呈現了人類在歷史演變中，大幅躍進的想像力和創意，不僅僅表現出大自然令人歎為觀止的轉化潛力，也意味著人類能夠根據自己的需要去塑造自然物質，這些美食已超越人類生存的必備，而是更進一步跨到為五感帶來愉悅和驚喜的另一個向度。

這些豐富而多彩的變化，是至今仍讓所有大廚與廚藝愛好者探詢不倦、津津樂道的無窮秘境，就如同人類文明的縮影，從基礎變身進階，從簡單走向繁複華麗，透過文化、歷史、地區特色的調味，變身為人類除了滿足基本生理需求之外，更具魅力的享樂泉源。

328 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Harold James McGee is an American author who writes about the chemistry and history of food science and cooking. He is best known for his seminal book On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen initially published in 1984 and revised in 2004.

McGee is a visiting scholar at Harvard University. His book On Food and Cooking has won numerous awards and is used widely in food science courses at many universities. McGee's scientific approach to cooking has been embraced and popularized by chefs and authors such as Heston Blumenthal, David Chang, Alton Brown, Shirley Corriher, Lynne Rossetto Kasper and Russ Parsons.