The Flavor Thesaurus: A Compendium of Pairings, Recipes and Ideas for the Creative Cook by Niki Segnit (PDF)

Description

“A perfect reference for the aspiring foodie.” –Chicago TribuneWinner of the André Simon Award * Observer Best Books of the Year * Guild of Food Writers Best First Book AwardA complete guide to the 99 most essential ingredients and their numerous flavor combinations, offering inspiration for the cook who has everything.Whether a flavor is defined by a “grassy” ingredient like dill, cucumber, or peas, or a “floral fruity” food like figs, roses, or blueberries, flavors can be combined in wildly imaginative ways. In this lively and original book, Niki Segnit identifies the 99 fundamental ingredients of food and examines what goes with what―revealing for the first time just how infinite are the possibilities in an everyday kitchen. Segnit has scoured thousands of recipes in countless recipe books, talked to dozens of food technologists and chefs, and visited hundreds of restaurants―all in her quest to uncover the planet’s essential pairings. Moving from Meaty to Cheesy, Earthy to Mustardy, and more, Segnit celebrates traditional pairings such as pork and apple and cucumber and dill; points us toward contemporary favorites like goat cheese and beet; and introduces us to unlikely but delicious matchings such as blueberry and mushroom. With nearly a thousand entries and 200 recipes, The Flavor Thesaurus is not only a highly useful and covetable reference book, but the sort of book that will keep you reading, laughing, and cooking for years to come.

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: Review “An imaginative but practical matchmaker, [Segnit] has a gift for pairing sometimes lackluster ingredients in a way that brings out the best in them and makes them more appealing as a couple than they ever were as loners… She shares an eloquent vocabulary with us in this delicious book.” ―Wall Street Journal”Astonishing and totally addictive.” – Brian Eno“The smartest, most original compendium I’ve come across in donkey’s years. It’s not a formulaic collection of recipes with variations but a rich and witty and erudite collection of suggestions for arranged marriages of the very best kind: food on food…it’s the kitchen equivalent of Match.com.” ―Epicurious“The cure for dinner ennui…a cheekily erudite, endlessly fascinating master list of flavor pairings both familiar and surprising…the entries get you dreaming of both exotic feasts and after-work comfort foods.” ―Whole Living”It has intrigued, inspired, amused and occasionally infuriated me all year, and will for years to come.” – Observer, Best Books of the Year“For new cooks and old hands in the kitchen, this book is a must-have and a must-read. Not only are the flavor combinations and recipes offered useful, but Niki Segnit’s descriptions of each and every one are delightful to read. It’s a combination between a bedtime read and a kitchen companion.” ―GOOP“With utmost respect for classic pairings, Segnit boldly considers the chemistry and harmony of flavor and, ventures into unusual combinations for a perfect reference for the aspiring foodie.” ―Chicago Tribune About the Author Niki Segnit is the author of Lateral Cooking and The Flavor Thesaurus, which won the André Simon Award for best food book, the Guild of Food Writers Award for best first book, and was shortlisted for the Galaxy National Book Awards. It has been translated into fifteen languages. Her columns, features, and reviews have appeared in the Guardian, the Observer, the Times, the Times Literary Supplement, and the Sunday Times. She lives in London with her husband and two children.

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐I’m sold on this now, but it’s taken me a bit of time to really get into this book. Sometimes the information associated with a pairing doesn’t speak to me at all – I don’t get it. But most of the time I learn from it – I think its making me a better baker – its introduced me to nuances of flavor and pairings that I wouldn’t normally have considered. Definitely makes me think outside the box. There are quite a few recipes in there that are fantastic (although the recipes are bare minimal in instruction and definitely not for beginners or the non-adventurous). Would recommend for foodies or bakers who want something unexpected and are tired of the same old cooking-baking books. This is a keeper for me….I can’t imagine I’ll ever get bored with it or learn everything in it, which is fantastic!

⭐This book is awesome. A delight to read! Very helpful book for anyone! I would highly recommend this book!

⭐This book is so fun! It gives so many ideas for flavor variations and combinations that I’ll never get tired in the kitchen!

⭐I don’t regret buying it but the flavor bible is far superior in my opinion.

⭐This book wasn’t at all what I expected, but after I accepted it for what it is I really began to enjoy it.What I Didn’t LikeAnother reviewer found it to be like a dictionary in its definitions and details. I found it not at all like that. In fact, it is entirely subjective even by the author’s own attestation. The “color wheel” of flavors I found to be useless. The copy without a seam from the binding is not even in color. Furthermore, the typeface on that copy is so small as to be unreadable for me without a magnifying glass. Aesthetics aside, the flavor wheel seems primarily presented to demonstrate that the author can cleverly devise a circular table of food flavors. There is nothing stemming from the wheel that will help you determine which flavors go together. It’s not anything like an artist’s color wheel, with those associated concepts.What I Came To EnjoyThe author’s rather creative idea was to compile a list of 99 foods and/or food types. The and/or is because some of the 99 are extremely well defined, such as “Lemon”, while others are very general, such as “Hard Cheese”. Regardless, those are how the author sees the universe of food, and as she says, it is her point of view from which she is writing.Having defined the 99 foods, she set about to locate examples of each one occurring with the other 98. To this end she seems to have spent a rather inordinate amount of time in London pubs, but there are examples from other places and even from other countries. She wasn’t able to locate an example for every pair, which is not surprising, although I suppose pubs are where you might find people who would try anything once so that particular bias is explained.The sparkling thing about the book is the way in which she writes about the combinations, and the side stories that evolve from the descriptions. A description of a pair of foods might devolve into an almost totally irrelevant discussion of the old days in London pubs, or an explanation for why monks don’t eat certain foods. There is some sharp, dry British humor at times, as well. It’s that kind where the face is so straight that you know the speaker is either joking or insane, and either way is hysterically funny.The content and quality of what was written in the book wooed me from my attitude of bitter disappointment over what I didn’t find written there. I now very much enjoy reading this book. I just don’t expect it to help me choose complementary “colors” of food.I must add that the book is very well indexed. Even a stray mention of something not on her list of 99 foods, appearing in one of her side excursions, appears in the index. I very much appreciate not having to try to remember from which of the 99 foods the tangent arose, which referenced something I want to look up again.

⭐Can I give six stars? Ten?This is one of the smartest, loveliest, most informative, well-written, funny books I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. That it refers to my love of cooking, also from an amateur perspective, makes it all the more special. No, it’s not a cook book, but every so often a recipe shows up (pasta with onion and anchovies, with a reference to my soul’s home, Venice) knocks this book out of the ballpark. Brava, Niki Segnit! (Who I don’t personally know…)

⭐The author takes an unusual approach to cooking: rather than listing recipes, she groups different meats, vegetables, herbs and spices by flavor groups (e.g., “earthy”) and discusses which items would taste best with what other items. It’s a handy guide for someone (like me) who likes to invent her own dishes. I particularly like the author’s suggestions for combining spices with each other and with other ingredients.

⭐Are you ever stuck for ideas in the kitchen? I cook fairly often and have a repertoire of dishes I know work well. After a while it gets a bit tiresome recycling the same things and then I look for inspiration. What goes with what though? Does ingredient A really go with ingredient B? Should I really do this…Well the Flavor Thesaurus is a great resource. It’s not really a recipe book. There are some vague outlines but it gives a series of combinations. Combinations such as chocolate and bacon (I kid you not page 17) or orange and rhubarb, or chicken and mushroom. There’s a whole bookful. Some ideas you might know, some might repulse but as a goad for innovation in the kitchen it is delightful. The book is organised into complimentary pairs gathered into chapters named Roasted, meaty, cheesy, etc.It is a book that can sit on a coffee table as an conversation starter or a book to change your life in the kitchen.

⭐I thought I’d use this book a lot more than I have. It’s quite detailed and reads like a normal thesaurus (so no pictures or recipes). It’s really good for inspiration though; what shall I cook with my lamb? What flavours go well in ice cream? Quite technical but a good resource.

⭐What an amazing source of ideas! Really like this book, it really stimulates creativity in the kitchen. Strongly advised for food/cooking lovers.

⭐i found many interesting ideas about mixings spices and flavours that i didn’t think would go together. it’s a not a cook book. i’d say it’s for a more creative cook who is not afraid to search for new flavours.

⭐Bought as a gift for a 20 year old foodie/cook who had admired my copy. Very well-received, and now very well-annotated with ideas and comments. Great addition to any kitchen where creative cooking is taking place.

⭐Great compendium of flavour matches. Some helpful new ideas, and lovely suggestions for mixing ingredients. NOT a recipe book though, nor quite one for real beginners.

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