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Reference

By Self Publishing Titans
The Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, Based on the Wisdom of America's Most Imaginative Chefs

The Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, Based on the Wisdom of America's Most Imaginative Chefs

by Andrew Dornenburg, Karen Page

4.7 (9010 ratings)
Reference

Published

September 16, 2008

Pages

392 pages

Language

English

Publisher

Little, Brown and Company

Available Formats & Prices

View on Amazon

Kindle

$14.99

Hardcover

$24.99

Audio CD

Not found

About This Book

Widely hailed as one of the most influential cookbooks of all time, this is the timeless classic guide to culinary creativity and flavor exploration, based on the wisdom of the world's most innovative chefs Eight years in the making, The Flavor Bible is a landmark book that has inspired the greatest creations of innovative cooks and chefs by serving as an indispensable guide to creativity and flavor affinities in today's kitchen. Cuisine is undergoing a startling historic transformation: With the advent of the global availability of ingredients, dishes are no longer based on geography but on flavor . This radical shift calls for a new approach to cooking -- as well as a new genre of "cookbook" that serves not to document classic dishes via recipes, but to inspire the creation of new ones based on imaginative and harmonious flavor combinations.

The Flavor Bible is your guide to hundreds of ingredients along with the herbs, spices, and other seasonings that will allow you to coax the greatest possible flavor and pleasure from them. This astonishing reference distills the combined experience of dozens of America's most innovative culinarians, representing such celebrated and transformative restaurants as A Voce, Blue Hill, Café Atlántico, Chanterelle, Citronelle, Gramercy Tavern, the Herbfarm, Jardinière, Jean Georges, Le Bernardin, the Modern, and the Trellis. You'll learn to: explore the roles played by the four basic tastes -- salty, sour, bitter, and sweet -- and how to bring them into harmony; work more intuitively and effectively with ingredients by discovering which flavors have the strongest affinities for one another; brighten flavors through the use of acids -- from vinegars to citrus juices to herbs and spices such as Makrut lime and sumac; deepen or intensify flavors through layering specific ingredients and techniques; and balance the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual aspects of cooking and serving an extraordinary meal.

Seasoned with tips, anecdotes, and signature dishes from the country's most respected chefs and pastry chefs, The Flavor Bible is an essential book for every kitchen library. For more inspiration in the kitchen, look for The Vegetarian Flavor Bible and Kitchen Creativity.

Introduction

Embark on a delicious journey into the heart of culinary creativity with The Flavor Bible. This unique guide showcases an extraordinary compilation of insights and wisdom shared by America's most imaginative chefs. It's a treasure trove for aspiring home cooks and seasoned culinary professionals alike, offering inspiration and guidance on how to elevate flavors, create unforgettable dishes, and transform your kitchen into a canvas for gustatory adventure.

Discover how seemingly simple ingredients can be transformed into masterpieces with the knowledge and guidance this book provides.

Key Takeaways

Explore harmonious flavor pairings that elevate everyday ingredients into exquisite dishes. Gain insight from top chefs for developing a deeper intuitive approach to cooking. Enhance culinary skills by understanding complex taste profiles and creative combinations.

Detailed Description

Dive deep into the world of flavors with The Flavor Bible a book designed to ignite your culinary imagination. It draws from extensive interviews and research conducted with renowned chefs demonstrating countless ways of pairing ingredients to create unforgettable dishes. This essential guide doesn't simply list ingredient combinations.

It provides context and insight into how and why certain flavors work well together. With each page readers are encouraged to explore new ways of imagining recipes that appeal to the senses making cooking more instinctive and enjoyable. The book is both a reference and a source of inspiration with an extensive listing of flavors organized by ingredients.

From the commonly used to the rare every entry offers a glimpse into its unique characteristics when paired with others. Whether you're aiming to enhance your culinary skills or searching for the next great flavor pairing this book provides the foundational knowledge needed to experiment successfully in the kitchen. It's a thoughtful resource that guides you through the art of flavor making it indispensable for anyone passionate about cooking.

Standout Features

The Flavor Bible stands out by offering more than just recipes It imparts a fundamental understanding of flavors and how they interact allowing readers to improvise confidently Through its approach the book demystifies complex culinary concepts making them approachable and comprehensible for cooks of all levels It empowers readers to experiment fearlessly with flavors Its exhaustive list of flavor pairings is drawn from diverse cuisines worldwide lending a global perspective that encourages the creation of unique imaginative dishes.

Book Details

ISBN-10:

0316118400

ISBN-13:

978-0316118408

Dimensions:

8 x 1.55 x 10.25 inches

Weight:

3.15 pounds

Specifications

Pages:392 pages
Language:English
Published:September 16, 2008
Publisher:Little, Brown and Company
Authors:Andrew Dornenburg, Karen Page

Rating

4.7

Based on 9010 ratings

Customer Reviews

Changed the way I cook

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RK
November 29, 2023

Fantastic book! I use it more than any other cookbook I have. Often I'm trying to work with what's on hand. This book does a great job of helping me select things that will go together really well, not just passably. I've even given copies as gifts to other family members who like to cook. This is not a recipe book. It's collection of food combinations that go together nicely. There's a good, better, best ranking to items on the lists. Plus there's a discussion of the basic flavor characteristics of each ingredient. A must-have for any cook who likes to make recipes up.

Hands down the best book for being creative in the kitchen

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a long way from home
January 7, 2018

If you love to cook, love to let your imagination come out to play in the kitchen and love experimenting with new foods, this is the book for you. If on the other hand you feel you must rigidly adhere to recipes, this book is still going to be great but not quite as indispensable. I enjoy cooking. Friends will tell you that I am a gourmet chef but the fact is that I really am not. I am a foodie who loves to experiment with flavors and also likes the challenge of replicating foods and flavors that I've had in a restaurant. My palate isn't all that sophisticated though. When it comes to cooking I will look online for ideas, I will look at recipes and perhaps start with something I see and then embellish and experiment as I go along. That's where the flavor bible comes in. If I'm in the kitchen the F Bible is never far from my side. I hosted a small plates party recently. I used a couple of mainstay dishes that I always cook but I wanted to branch out... baked egg rolls, hmmmm what vegetables and seasonings would work well together (I didn't want to go for the obvious soy and ginger) -- I ended up with garlic, cumin and soy as a base. It was delish. My challenge at this small plate feast was that there were people who couldn't handle any level of spice, a person deathly allergic to mushrooms, and a vegetarian. I needed to find substitutions and I did. It was fun figuring out work arounds for everyday flavors and ingredients There are obvious pairings (garlic and onion) and there are less obvious and more exotic pairings. These folks have so much knowledge. The book is a treasure trove. A great reference for when you want to go with new pairings or if you just have a question about something you'd like to try. You can't imagine the wealth of information packed into this very portable volume. Figs, hmmm what would go well with figs. Crack the book open to page 161 (its arranged alphabetically) and you will find a list of fig info including ways to use it and cook with it.... and then a list of its complementary foods and flavors In this case the fig pairs with; Almonds, anchovies, anise, apples, arugula, bacon, butter, a few cheeses, cherries, chicken, chococate........ All this and I'm only up to the letter C. It goes all the way through to walnuts. BOTTOM LINE.... Honestly, my review here can't begin to do this book justice. it is well worth double its list price. I've owned my copy almost ten years and I am not sure how I got along without it. You can go online and pretty much find any recipe you desire. But the information in this book just isn't available in any sort of comprehensive way online that I have found. This truly is a flavor bible written by religious food fanatics.... they have left very few stones unturned. Though I see now that they have a vegetarian flavor bible. I might have to check that out as well. If you like to be creative in the kitchen this book is a must. Buy it. Honest. You'll thank me.

Perfect resource to enhance your cooking

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longjibbers
June 21, 2024

If you already cook, this book is wonderful. It can enhance every dish you cook. This is one of the best cooking reference cooks I’ve seen. I have been building new salads and dinners ever since I bought it. Don’t fool yourself, you won’t find this information with a quick google search.

if you buy ONE culinary title, make it this one

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Ophelia
October 15, 2012

First I have to say... don't buy reference books for your Kindle. Ever. There may be exceptions, but i would not look for them. Kindle simply is not a format that lends itself to research reading or reference; not saying it's impossible, but, generally, it doesn't work well. Now that you've been duly warned, please, don't buy and then rate book *content* because they translate poorly into Kindle *format* unless that is it's primary binding. It's not fair to other readers to drive down the rating on a text's usefulness or interest based on one format. Amazon, of course, should separate them out, or give shoppers the option. The first thing I EVER read about Kindle is, don't buy anything you would normally be "leafing" through, using an index, depending on diagrams or graphics etc. (not the case here) or where formatting is otherwise an issue (e.g. tables). Maybe some years down the road it will improve, and I don't use a Kindle Fire, but I stick to this advice and it serves me well. Now as far as The Flavor Bible goes: If you are anything but a recipe-guided cook--for instance, if you are staring into your cupboards or fridge and wondering what will work with what--and like me, you are too inexperienced or genetically underendowed with smell and taste to figure it out on your own - you WANT this book. you NEED this book. This book is the most useful and most used in my kitchen. IMO, aside from basic culinary skills - how to to cook certain cuts of meat, or how to use a steamer, or how to make sauce, or how many courses to serve ,or what order your menu should proceed through, or how to butcher meat - whatever - this is the only book you will ever need. If you don't have basic culinary skills, you can find everything you need to know on the internet. i went from how to cook different meats, to how to make sauces, and up from there, using sites like about dot com. I'm no chef - i'm a basic cook - but my food is GOOD. Since I don't have a well-developed palate, this book is a life-saver. and of course, once you start learning, you can start jumping around. Now i *know* - am i in the mood for a cream based dish? pineapple? potato? thyme? curry? chicken? pork? and what am i going to do with these leftovers? wow - i can plan a week and have EVERYTHING work together! The hardback version is well bound, easily referenced, and contains literally thousands of cross-references and often suggestions on how to combine dishes and seasonings as well, based on a main ingredient, in a way you will never find on the internet. And it's not just about seasoning--you can look up literally almost any seasoning OR basic ingredient and find a long list of compatible ingredients/flavors, in alphabetical order, with advice to let you know what goes the very best, what goes well, and what works but may not be ideal. AND an index. So you can look up a meat, or a vegetable, or a seasoning, or most any ingredient, and get a long list of what you can safely combine (within reason). and of course the hardback props open well. it's a quality bind on a quality text that you can keep forever.

very different way to think about recipes!

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Terah
May 13, 2024

I almost sent this book back when I first received it. It's not your standard recipe book but if you love to cook, it's mind-bending. For instance, have a favorite vegetable but tired of cooking it the same way all the time? Look it up in the book and there is a list of recommended spices; techniques to cook it; and great pairings. It's expanded my flavor vocabulary and delighted my husband's palate!