When comparing On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen vs How to Cook Everything, the Slant community recommends How to Cook Everything for most people. In the question“What are the best books for learning how to cook?” How to Cook Everything is ranked 1st while On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen is ranked 6th. The most important reason people chose How to Cook Everything is:
Each chapter starts with "Essential recipes", which are the building blocks for the more complicated foods that follow.
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Detailed information about where food comes from
The book describes anything from how a chicken egg is formed to the history of beer. You will find a lot of interesting knowledge in this book.
Pro Well organized
Each chapter starts with "Essential recipes", which are the building blocks for the more complicated foods that follow.
Pro Pragmatic recipes allow for learning by doing
As a beginner book, it functions like a food dictionary or thesaurus.
Pro Organized by Ingredient
Start with the ingredient you want to eat and explore from there.
Pro Very widely read and used book
The book was published in 1998 and has become very well known. This is a revised edition though, so you will find more up to date content.
Pro Includes over 2000 recipes
Cons
Con Not a light read
The book is 900 pages, with a small font. You will be going through this one for a while.