The Flavour Thesaurus
Niki Segnit
The Flavour Thesaurus
Ever wondered why one flavour works with another? Or lacked inspiration for what to do with a bundle of beetroot? "The Flavour Thesaurus" is the first book to examine what goes with what, pair by pair. The book follows the form of "Roget's Thesaurus". The back section lists, alphabetically, 99 popular ingredients, and suggests classic and less well known flavour matches for each. The front section contains an entry for every flavour match listed in the back section and is organised into 16 flavour themes such a Bramble & Hedge, Green & Grassy, and Earthy. There are 980 entries in all and 200 recipes or suggestions are embedded in the text. It covers classic pairings such as pork & apple, lamb & apricot, and cucumber & dill; contemporary favourites like chocolate & chilli, lobster & vanilla, and goat's cheese & beetroot; and interesting but unlikely-sounding couples including black pudding & chocolate, lemon & beef, blueberry & mushroom, and watermelon & oyster.
5.0 out of 5 based on 4 reviews
|
Omniscore:
|
| Classification |
Non-fiction |
| Genre |
Food & Drink |
| Format |
Hardback |
| Pages |
400 |
| RRP |
£18.99 |
| Date of Publication |
June 2010 |
| ISBN |
978-0747599777 |
| Publisher |
Bloomsbury |
| |
Ever wondered why one flavour works with another? Or lacked inspiration for what to do with a bundle of beetroot? "The Flavour Thesaurus" is the first book to examine what goes with what, pair by pair. The book follows the form of "Roget's Thesaurus". The back section lists, alphabetically, 99 popular ingredients, and suggests classic and less well known flavour matches for each. The front section contains an entry for every flavour match listed in the back section and is organised into 16 flavour themes such a Bramble & Hedge, Green & Grassy, and Earthy. There are 980 entries in all and 200 recipes or suggestions are embedded in the text. It covers classic pairings such as pork & apple, lamb & apricot, and cucumber & dill; contemporary favourites like chocolate & chilli, lobster & vanilla, and goat's cheese & beetroot; and interesting but unlikely-sounding couples including black pudding & chocolate, lemon & beef, blueberry & mushroom, and watermelon & oyster.
Reviews
The Guardian
Nicholas Lezard
“Superb… Even if you know your 4,851 flavour pairings backwards to the point of ennui, or, conversely, have no intention whatsoever of cooking anything in your life, this is still a book that can be read for pleasure alone.”
17/07/2010
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The Independent on Sunday
Lisa Markwell
“the perfect manual for experimental cooks”
06/06/2010
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The Observer
William Skidelsky
“One of the delights of Segnit's book is the way it combines an air of empirical exactitude with something more loose-limbed and poetic. Here she is on chocolate and cardamom: "Like a puppeteer's black velvet curtain, dark chocolate is the perfect smooth background for cardamom to show off its colours." No doubt there are more rigorous ways to explain the compatibility of these ingredients, but I doubt they'd be half as satisfying.”
27/06/2010
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The Sunday Times
Kate Colquhoun
“Erudite and inspiring, practical and fun, it will make you salivate, laugh, take issue and feel vindicated… The Flavour Thesaurus is a deceptively simple little masterpiece, set to take its place by McGee on Food and Cooking as a household Bible.”
27/06/2010
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