Andrew Dornenburg

I bought this book for my husband who is an "intuitive" cook, in that he rarely follows recipes - he creates by flavor. I thought he would find this book intriguing, and he did. However, he also found (and implemented) all kinds of new and unusual flavor combos that he had never thought of...this book really "thinks outside the box" but also has very practical uses. A book that I thought was interesting trivia, turned out to be an amazing tool for my husband. This book is not recipes (we show more have enough recipes at our house), rather it is for inspiration. Also I would think a novice cook could learn a great deal about cooking from this book. show less

One night I was preparing dinner from a recipe and, tasting it, realized it needed something. I added an ingredient to a small portion of it – an ingredient I didn’t particularly like – and found it was the perfect flavor foil. This was a particularly favorable feat because I did not even consult my copy of The Flavor Bible but, instead, mentally retrieved its explanation of balancing flavors and considered how I could emphasize or ‘push’ the existing taste to a brighter level. My show more friend Anne can, amazingly, throw things together off the top of her head and it always tastes fantastic. After a particularly simple but yummy lunch with Anne, I decided I wanted to be able to cook like she -- something she said she’d learned from her mother. However, I wanted guidance to avoid making horrible concoctions and wasting food.

The Flavor Bible is a somewhat strange book to review and recommend. Aside from the first 2 chapters that are comprised of only 33 pages, you don’t read it straight through; the text is most useful in browsing fashion. The first two chapters explain the chef’s mindset. Chapter 1, Flavor = Taste + Mouthfeel + Aroma + ‘The X Factor’ : Learning to Recognize the Language of Food, deals with balancing flavors and understanding how various senses come into play to affect flavor. The first chapter also includes chefs’ personal strategies that not only give specific tips, but also show, in action, what they are considering and pursuing when creating new recipes. Chapter 2, Great Cooking = Maximizing Flavor + Pleasure by Tapping (Body + Heart + Mind + Spirit): Communicating via the Language of Food, discusses the importance of thinking about the occasion, weather, seasonality, weight (heavy or light), volume, and function. While the second chapter was not quite as practical as the first, it was interesting to learn that things I would have considered peripheral to a meal actually had an impact on – or could even aid in – planning, preparation, and the overall experience.

Chapter 3, pages 35 – 374, provide flavor-matching lists. For example, I can look up fennel and find a list of ingredients/flavors that go well with it. If something is listed in bold, it is a pairing frequently recommended by expert chefs; BOLD CAPS means it’s highly recommended; BOLD CAPS* (with an asterisk) means it’s stellar. That’s it. Lists of ingredients. Some entries include classic Flavor Affinities (e.g., fennel + lemon + mint + olive oil + olives + orange; plums + cinnamon + orange; plums + bay leaf + vanilla). Often there are Tips such as “Use to finish a dish” (fennel pollen) or “Gets firmer with longer cooking” (mushrooms -- Portobello). There might also be Techniques such as “Add early in cooking” (cloves), “Add at the end of the cooking process” (tarragon), or “Dry-heat cooking” (pork -- chops).

This is absolutely a time-intensive book, so if you are looking for quick meal ideas, this is definitely not it. If you enjoy spending a lot of time paging through cookbooks and would like to venture into creating some of your own recipes, this is a perfect resource. show less

Interesting, I guess. Explores the idea of cooking and/or food as art. Includes many quotes, rather than formal interviews, with chefs you probably have heard of a few of, a handful of recipes, and a large section - which is what I bought it for - of lists of flavor pairings, identifying what goes with what, including both familiar and strange combinations.

The pairings are interesting, and the whole book a fine idea, really; other than the fact that I was not familiar with about 1/3 of the show more chefs involved, it feels like a solid project. The main trouble I have with it is that it's so, well, painfully dated. As I read the recipes and combinations, I couldn't help thinking, "Oh geez, how 90s!". I suppose that if you'd read this when it came out, or, if you live in the sticks somewhere, or haven't been out to eat much in the last 15 or 20 years, this would be tremendously exciting. As it is, well, it'll go on that reference shelf with the Norton guide to English Lit before 1500 - I'm glad I have it, but I don't expect to refer to it very often. show less

I generally use recipes as suggestions rather than as a road map to a finished dish. Therefore, my most oft-used cookbook is one that has something far more valuable. Culinary Artistry has, in addition to wonderful recipes, superbly useful LISTS of things that go with a named ingredient. The ingredients -- spices, fruits, vegetables, etc. -- are listed alphabetically and each has a list of all of the varying things that are used together with that ingredient. I like that it gives the classic show more combinations in, as I recall, boldface type, yet still lists some of the more unusual pairings as well. The lists are also great when I'm looking to pair things I already have in the house, rather than go out in search of a missing ingredient from a recipe. I have gotten more inspiration from this book than I have from any of my nearly (more than? I'm still cataloging.) 1000 cookbooks. This book is a treasure! show less