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University of California Press

Food Chemistry in Small Bites

The Alchemist in the Kitchen

by Patricia B O'Hara (Author)
Price: $29.95 / £25.00
Publication Date: Apr 2025
Edition: 1st Edition
Title Details:
Rights: World
Pages: 348
ISBN: 9780520397644
Trim Size: 7.5 x 9.25
Illustrations: 70 color illustrations, 13 tables, 5 boxes

About the Book

Food Chemistry in Small Bites takes readers on an up-close scientific journey through the transformation of food when meals are prepared. Organized in bite-size, digestible units, this innovative text introduces students to food's molecular makeup as well as the perception of food by the five senses. Using familiar foods as examples, it explores what happens to ingredients when heated, cooled, or treated and also considers what happens when materials that don’t naturally mix are forced to do so.
 
With informative, full-color renderings and a hands-on lab section, the book encourages students to think like scientists while preparing delicious dishes. Readers will formulate hypotheses as to why certain foods taste hot despite being at room temperature, why milk separates into curds and whey when lemon is added, and other ordinary but chemically complex phenomena. This book also importantly challenges readers to think critically about the future of food in the face of a warming planet.

About the Author

Patricia B. O’Hara is Professor of Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Biophysics at Amherst College, coauthor of the book The Chemical Story of Olive Oil, and author of numerous scholarly research publications.