The Flavour Thesaurus

Product Information

Unique, beautifully written and ceaselessly imaginative, “The Flavor Thesaurus” is a completely new kind of food book–inspired, as author Niki Segnit explains, by her over-reliance on recipes. “Following the instructions in a recipe is like parroting pre-formed sentences from a phrasebook. Forming an understanding of how flavors work together, on the other hand, is like learning the language: it allows you to express yourself freely, to improvise, to cook a dish the way you want to cook it.”“The Flavor Thesaurus “is the inquisitive cook’s guide to acquiring that understanding–to learning the language of flavor. Breaking the vast universe of ingredients down to 99 essential flavors, Segnit suggests classic and less well-known pairings for each, grouping almost 1,000 entries into flavor families like “Green and Grassy,”“Berry and Bush” and “Creamy Fruity.” But “The Flavor Thesaurus” is much more than just a reference book, seasoning the mix of culinary science, culture and expert knowledge with the author’s own insights and opinions, all presented in her witty, engaging and highly readable style. As appealing to the novice cook as to the experienced professional, “The Flavor Thesaurus “will not only immeasurably improve your cooking–it’s the sort of book that might keep you up at night reading.”” Cooking is an art, like writing or painting, and great cooks are artists. And although the ultimate source of creativity remains elusive, all painters have their color wheel, all writers their vocabulary. And now, in the form of this beautiful, entertaining and exhaustively researched book, cooks have their own collection of essential knowledge: “The Flavor Thesaurus.” The Flavour Thesaurus: Pairings, Recipes and Ideas for the Creative Cook by Niki Segnit – eBook Details Shortlist & Winners: 2010 Winners". bookawards.britishprint.com. British Printing Industries Federation, Oxford Brookes University, The Publishers Association . Retrieved 23 February 2017. Peter Smith (14 March 2011). "Good Books: Niki Segnit's Flavour Thesaurus". good.is. GOOD Worldwide Inc . Retrieved 23 February 2017. Certainly, there's room for more exploration of the molecular science of flavors, but this book represents a provocative, visual way to rethink the recipe.

PDF / EPUB File Name: The_Flavor_Thesaurus__A_Compendium_of_Pair_-_Niki_Segnit.pdf, The_Flavor_Thesaurus__A_Compendium_of_Pair_-_Niki_Segnit.epub After all the combinations you think you know, the ones you've never even considered will blow your mind … Eggplants take you to chocolate, which takes you to miso, which takes you to seaweed, which takes you to a recipe in another book or a restaurant dish you have to hunt down straight away. The curiosity is infectious, the possibilities inspiring on this ingredient-led voyage.” --Yotam Ottolenghi in The New York Times Magazine , on how he uses More Flavors for recipe development The most horrific thing about this book is that it does NOT explain why the food pairs work or not. It had one job and it failed miserably.This book is way more entertaining than I expected. I had done a few brief “flip-throughs” before I obtained my own copy noting the lists of flavor pairings and thinking of all the new combinations I’d learn to love. Since I assumed this would be a pretty straightforward reference book (I mean common, thesaurus in the title, a British author, a seemingly complex diagram/color wheel on steroids on the inner front cover, an intro quote with the following words “Sauternes,” “foie gras,” “steak-frites,” rouille”…), I read through the intro before I went exploring. And whatdoyaknow. She’s witty! Funny! She admits to her own misgivings and like me questions, “Had I ever really learned to cook? Or was I just reasonably adept at following instructions?” – Questions I constantly ask myself. The idea of this book is “out-of-the-box” both in its concept and how it leaves you thinking. Sections are organized in “flavor categories” like Meaty, Cheesy, Sulfurous, Citrusy, Fruity, Woodland, etc. Flavor combinations are then listed in short paragraph form which could either contain a simple recipe (more guidance, than literal – see below), a witty anecdote, or an amusing aside. Take the commentary on Chocolate and Strawberry for example:

The Flavour Thesaurus: Pairings, recipes and ideas for the creative cook is a 2010 cookery book by Niki Segnit. It discusses 99 flavours divided into 16 categories and combined into 4851 pairings.Galaxy National Book Awards". readingagency.org.uk. The Reading Agency. 6 February 2011 . Retrieved 23 February 2017.