The Flavor Bible

It is about food, not recipies.

I love that this isn't a recipe book that tells me what to do moment by moment. Instead, it's a reference book that helps me to add flavor to my own dishes, flavor that differs from my own tried and trues. I love to cook and have been doing so for more years than I care to admit to. I don't always want a recipe to tell me what to do. Sometimes I just want to make something of my own creation. This book really helps with that. I've only had it a few days but it's already been quite useful. It lists flavors that different "experts" (doesn't say who the experts are unless I've missed it) use for particular ingredients. And it lists them in different type according to how many experts recommend that particular flavor combination. Bold type, all capitals, with an asterisk is use for the tried and true flavor combos. Small type, regular print (not bold) is for the least recommended but still mentioned by one or more. Those are the extremes, there are others in between. For instance, there are two pages on Asparagus, covering both regular and white. It begins with the season it's generally available (spring), the weight of the flavor (light-medium), the volume of the flavor (moderate) and the techniques (blanch, boil, deep-fry, pan roast, stir fry). Then it offers a list of the nuts, herbs and spices, other vegetables, cheeses, eggs, sauces, oils, salts, creams, stocks, etc. that work well with Asparagus. It then gives you Flavor Affinities, which are groups of flavorings that work well together such as asparagus + ham + morel mushrooms + Parmesan Cheese. It then offers some dishes from chefs in which Asparagus is featured such as Ricotta Gnocchi with Asparagus, Morels and Pine nuts from Dan Barber, Blue Hill at Stone Barns (Pocantico Hills, NY). Last, it gives a recommendation on how to make asparagus soup from Daniel Humm of NYs Eleven Madison Park: You need a lot of asparagus flavor. You need acidity. You need sweetness that will come from the asparagus. You need the right amount of salt. You need just the right amount of spice, so that it doesn't actually taste spicy. We use a lot of cayenne, but you would never know it is there; it is just an accent. You need fresh lime juice to finish. Then he discusses the balance of flavors in soup and how to manage that with this soup (sweat the asparagus). Instead of a recipe, you get a how to on making your own soup your way. The whole book has tips from chefs just like that. I'm going to love this part on "Chocolate/Cocoa-in general" Stuff that works well with chocolate! Experimenting time!! I hope I've given you an idea of what this excellent book can do for you.

What a great , book to understand how flavor pairing works and fundamentals of cooking. I am a professional bartender and I find this book very useful for not just home use but for bar use as well.

Every time I have an ingredient I want to mix with something, I open this book. It's so simple to consult. I get ideas about what to make in five minutes and the food is just delicious. Five stars! This is probably not for beginners. Real beginners, like folks who struggle to cook rice of fry eggs. For the rest -- an absolute recommendation.

Tout est dans le titre. à ma connaissance c'est le seul livre au monde à traiter du sujet du goût et des saveurs. toute les combinaisons possibles et imaginables. des infos inédites et incroyables. c'est pointu et fouillé. avec ce livre vous allez oser des mélanges rares et subtils