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Huberman Lab

The Chemistry of Food & Taste | Dr. Harold McGee

Huberman Lab

Scicomm Media

Science, Health & Fitness, Life Sciences

4.826.2K Ratings

🗓️ 30 June 2025

⏱️ 134 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Dr. Harold McGee, PhD, is a Stanford University professor and renowned author on the topics of food chemistry and culinary science. He explains how cooking methods, types of cookware and temperature can be used to transform food and drink flavors and presents simple but powerful ways to improve nutrient availability. We also discuss how our individual biology, genetic and cultural backgrounds shape our taste preferences. Whether you’re a seasoned cook or someone who simply loves to eat, our conversation will change how you think about food and cooking, give you actionable tools to try and deepen your appreciation of the experience of eating and drinking. Read the episode show notes at hubermanlab.com. Thank you to our sponsors AG1: https://drinkag1.com/huberman Eight Sleep: https://eightsleep.com/huberman Our Place: https://fromourplace.com/huberman Mateina: https://drinkmateina.com/huberman Function: https://functionhealth.com/huberman Timestamps 00:00:00 Harold McGee 00:02:21 Food Chemistry, Using Copper, Modern vs Traditional Techniques 00:09:59 Sponsors: Eight Sleep & Our Place 00:13:33 Cooking, Food & Heat, Taste & Smell 00:22:10 Umami, Savory Tastes, Braising & Meat 00:29:56 Chemistry of Cooking & Eating, Sugars & Conjugates; Slowly Enjoying Food 00:36:14 Savory Meal & Dessert; Food Course Order; Palate Cleansers 00:43:56 Salt, Baseline & Shifting Taste Preferences 00:47:18 Sponsors: AG1 & Mateina 00:50:07 Whole vs Processed Foods, Taste & Enjoyment 00:53:37 Brewing Coffee, Water Temperature, Grind Size 01:00:33 Tea & Tannins, Growing Tea Plants; Tea & Meals, Polyphenols 01:08:16 Food Combinations, Individual Tolerance; Is there an Optimal Diet? 01:11:34 Onions & Garlic, Histamines, Tool: Reduce Crying when Cutting Onions 01:13:55 Gut Sensitivities & Food, Capsaicin & Spicy Foods 01:17:21 Supertasters & Taste Buds, Bitter Taste, Chefs 01:21:57 Sponsor: Function 01:23:45 Salt & Bitter, Salting Fruit, Beer or Coffee, Warming Beer 01:26:11 Human History of Alcohol & Chocolate 01:29:25 Wine Expense vs Taste, Wine Knowledge 01:35:49 Cheese Making, Aged Cheese & Crystals, Tyrosine; Smoke Flavors, Distilling 01:44:30 Fermentation, “Stink Fish”, Caviar, Traditional & New Foods 01:50:42 Personal Journey, Astronomy, Poetry & Food 01:54:55 Beans & Gas, Tool: Soaking Beans 01:57:23 Gut Microbiome, Fermented Foods; Kids & Food Aversions 02:00:47 Cilantro & Divergent Tastes; Microwave Popcorn, Parmesan Cheese 02:04:46 John Keats Poetry, To Autumn; Acknowledgements 02:10:48 Zero-Cost Support, YouTube, Spotify & Apple Follow & Reviews, Sponsors, YouTube Feedback, Protocols Book, Social Media, Neural Network Newsletter Disclaimer & Disclosures Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Welcome to the Huberman Lab podcast, where we discuss science and science-based tools for everyday life.

0:09.0

I'm Andrew Huberman, and I'm a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine.

0:15.6

My guest today is Dr. Harold McGee. Dr. Harold McGee is a professor at Stanford University and world-renowned author

0:22.1

on the topic of science and the chemistry of food and cooking. He has spent more than four decades

0:27.4

researching and writing about this topic. His work is unique because it at once teaches us about

0:32.7

why foods taste the way they do, as well as how to make essentially any food or drink taste

0:37.3

better.

0:38.2

I, like presumably most of you, absolutely love to eat.

0:42.3

And for me, that's an understatement.

0:43.5

I love food and eating.

0:45.8

Today, Harold teaches us about everything from how certain types of cookware, the bowls, the pans you use,

0:51.3

even the utensils you use, can change the taste of those foods, as well

0:55.6

as simple things like adding a pinch of salt to anything bitter tasting, including coffee,

1:00.6

yes, coffee, changes its chemistry and flavor for the better.

1:04.3

And he explains why.

1:05.8

We discussed the preparation of meat and this thing that we call savouriness or the umami

1:10.5

taste and how it's brought about

1:12.4

by heating proteins in very specific ways and how you can bring out more of those flavors

1:16.4

and how to get more of the healthy compounds such as polyphenols found in chocolate and

1:21.2

cacao and we cover the much debated issue of whether more expensive wines are truly better

1:26.4

than less expensive ones in terms of their

1:28.1

taste or whether it's all a function of marketing. So if you're a seasoned cook or perhaps you only

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