Rating: 
Summary: Kitchen Secrets -- for people who like cooking
Review: This is a book for anyone who cooks. As the title hints, there is a lot to know about french fries... and other foods... and why they taste the way they taste. Have you ever wondered why two recipes, using the same ingredients, end up tasting different? Why does heat ruin Vidalia onions? What ingredients substitute well for others, and why? What's the frothy stuff around the pasta pot after it boils, and why should I care? It's not about getting a hard-boiled egg into a bottle using a match -- although that's a pretty good trick. This is a book about cooking, that explains the Whys of cooking methods. Enjoy.
Rating: 
Summary: The how and why of cooking.
Review: This is a cookbook, with an explanation of what is going on before it tells you what to do. What happens when you fry something? First it tells you, then it tells you how to do it, then the recipes. (And the first section explains why fries never come out right when you've just changed the oil, and what to do about it: add a little of the used oil to the new). How do we use eggs to make emulsions (mayonaisse, etc.) How to make Hollandaise sauce (tricky, but much easier once the science that determines proper temperature is explained). What happens as fruit ripens. And how to know when to buy it. What happens when you cook rice or beans or potatoes. And using that information what is the best way to cook them.
Rating: 
Summary: I wanted to love it
Review: This is a recipe book dressed up as "part textbook, part kitchen guide, part recipes." Parsons is too wired to the tastes of an LA Times food critic to notice that he isn't really satisfying any of his target audiences very well. This book *should* simultaneously: (1) serve the gourmet community in providing some recipes grouped along less-than-traditional lines, (2) provide lay-explanations for real kitchen dummies of some interesting science that goes on in the art cooking, and (3) provide an interesting new spin for those people that know a lot about cooking, but really still aren't gourmet chefs. He doesn't quite succeed, except for goal (1). The book people must have loved him when he walked in with this manuscript, since it really only consists of 70 or so pages of real text about "food science" to edit, and can still be marketed in a neat niche that will disguise the kind of book it really is. I agree with the above reviewer who noted that of 100+ recipes, maybe only a dozen make me stand up and listen. The only conclusion I can draw is that just like other haute cuisine/california cuisine books, this one has that special disease which comes from the author living in another world from my own in terms of the time, and expense of gathering ingredients and preparation. I wish he'd had more chapters and more text concerning kitchen science. At least 50% of the information will be old to a seasoned home cook, even if it is written well in many spots. The instructive recipes could have been trimmed to take up 50 pages/recipes, and the Bill Nye science act could have taken up 120-150 pages over 8-10 chapters instead of the 6 themes he stuck with. (As I said: the marketeers probably loved this.)
Rating:
Summary: I wanted to love it
Review: This is a recipe book dressed up as "part textbook, part kitchen guide, part recipes." Parsons is too wired to the tastes of an LA Times food critic to notice that he isn't really satisfying any of his target audiences very well. This book *should* simultaneously: (1) serve the gourmet community in providing some recipes grouped along less-than-traditional lines, (2) provide lay-explanations for real kitchen dummies of some interesting science that goes on in the art cooking, and (3) provide an interesting new spin for those people that know a lot about cooking, but really still aren't gourmet chefs. He doesn't quite succeed, except for goal (1). The book people must have loved him when he walked in with this manuscript, since it really only consists of 70 or so pages of real text about "food science" to edit, and can still be marketed in a neat niche that will disguise the kind of book it really is. I agree with the above reviewer who noted that of 100+ recipes, maybe only a dozen make me stand up and listen. The only conclusion I can draw is that just like other haute cuisine/california cuisine books, this one has that special disease which comes from the author living in another world from my own in terms of the time, and expense of gathering ingredients and preparation. I wish he'd had more chapters and more text concerning kitchen science. At least 50% of the information will be old to a seasoned home cook, even if it is written well in many spots. The instructive recipes could have been trimmed to take up 50 pages/recipes, and the Bill Nye science act could have taken up 120-150 pages over 8-10 chapters instead of the 6 themes he stuck with. (As I said: the marketeers probably loved this.)
Rating:
Summary: Totally fun and informative
Review: This is an intriguing book, a quick read and informative. Great recipes illustrate the points made in the text. It both demystifies and mystifies cooking at the same time. You'll never look at a lowly french fry the same way again, and you'll never be at a loss for cocktail party conversation.
Rating: 
Summary: If you are a major gourmet, forget it!
Review: This is one of the biggest waste of money that I have ever spent on a "foodie" book or really any book. It has very few facts and many recipes that I was not impressed with. Save your money on this one.
Rating:
Summary: For REAL CHEFS/GOURMETS, it's a Must-Have
Review: This one is a "must-have," regardless, for every serious chef, gourmet, or masters in the field of food prep and cooking (or serious about doing business in this field). This specialized information is on a level far above that of the general reading public and amateurs. It's worth it, on that basis alone. Yes, it's true, the science part is NOT the bulk of the book -- and I craved a lot more of that -- but despite that, this is one addition to my personal "expertise library" that I would not part with! I have bought a copy, as a gift, for every one of my closest friends who love this subject as I do!
Rating: 
Summary: Don¿t buy this book if you¿re a Foodie!
Review: Unless you're a complete novice you'll be disappointed with this book, I was. How do you know if you're a foodie? Well if you already knew that 1) lemon juice can be used to keep certain vegetables, such as artichokes from rusting 2) that short grain rice is sticky and long grain rice is fluffy 3) that starches, such as corn starch, can be used for thickening, you're a foodie. I guess I expected more science explained but most of what I discovered was very basic. That's not to say that I didn't learn anything, I did, but most of the info I had already gleaned from other sources such as Food TV. Plus as stated in an earlier review, the book lacks a bibliography so even if you wanted to learn more about a certain subject you can't find it easily.
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