The Flavor Thesaurus: A Compendium of Pairings, Recipes and Ideas for the Creative Cook

This is a book that I've been dipping into at regular intervals for the last 18 months or so, and I am very sorry to have come to the end.

The idea is simple: take a hundred different foods or flavour categories (such as 'chocolate', 'cumin', 'blue cheese') and describe how they work together, and why - with examples from cuisines ranging from French and Italian to Thai, Filipino, New England-ish and Curacao-an.

The execution is brilliant, not least because of Segnit's ability to come up with unexpected but vivid and funny metaphors: overripe blackberries "dissolve in your grasp like a teenager's handshake", pairing asparagus and peanut is "as incongruous as playing darts in a ballgown".

But more than this, Segnit is enthusiastic, show more knowledgeable, prepared to try all sorts of combinations, and - like any proper foodie should be - not at all snobbish about the food as long as it tastes good. As well as mentioning great meals she's had in internationally famous restaurants, she credits a pasty she ate in a French motorway cafe and even "one of my husband's signature dishes... simply empty a packet of salted peanuts into a bag of salt and vinegar crisps, clench the bag shut and shake. Mysteriously more delicious than it should be. Good with lager".

She's also good at explaining why things work together. "Lamb and apricot both have an affinity with sweet spices, and while their sharpness cuts through the lamb's fattiness, the intense sweetness of the dried apricots throws that lamb, spices and almonds, all very sweet themselves, into a far more savoury light, making the meat taste meatier".

Some of the entries include recipes, others include recommended brands or varietals of fruit or veg. My copy is now bristling with post-it notes and folded down pages. But I think that this is a book that could be enjoyed by someone without any intention of actually cooking, simply for the pleasure of the writing. show less

This is so much better than it should be. I thought it would be like a dictionary, a reference book, but it is an absolutely delightful read. As well as lots of information & suggestions, it is scattered with simple recipes, anecdotes & opinion. I loved it and will dip back in regularly.

Segnit took 99 flavours, and investigated how they pair together. The result tends towards free association, with a lot of name and place dropping. She knows a lot about food. Fascinating stuff. Some of the recipes are spelled out, others are more suggested, but they are all good starting points for a competent cook

I would have had several different flavours on my list. In several cases I wanted to add tidbits, and some good pairings are missing. But this is her book, so she gets to do the picking and choosing.

What is missing is a good recipe index. For example, there are several good ideas for ice creams, but no way to find them.

Excellent source of ideas and inspiration. If you have one or two ingredients but no inspiration about what to do with them, you will probably find something here.
Probably most useful if you already have a pretty good idea about basic cooking techniques, but I think beginning cooks can use it too.

This is a book about food, and has recipes in it, but it’s not a cookbook as one usually thinks of it. The author set out to classify all the possible flavor elements, describe them, and list the foods that contained them. She lists flavors such as roasted, meaty, mustardy, green & grassy, spicy, woodland, fresh fruity, citrusy, floral fruity, marine, and sulfurous- there are a huge number of possible flavors. Some I already knew; a few surprised me- I would have never guessed ginger root went under ‘citrusy’! The recipes are right in the thesaurus, put down as one would tell a friend how to create the dish rather than as a list of ingredients & quantities followed by instructions. The book includes an extensive bibliography, show more recipe index, ingredient index, and a regular index, so you can find anything easily. I wouldn’t recommend reading it straight through like I did (I was getting a bit restless by the ‘T’s, but what can I say, it was a library book) but rather to keep around for inspiration when faced with an ingredient and no ideas. It’s a fun read, though- it’s like listening to a friend describe what she’s eaten in places and how those things were made. show less

One of the best food writing books I've read. I hadn't expected to want to read it cover to cover, but the descriptions of flavour combinations are so inspiring, the writing so amusing and there's so much interesting information that I didn't want to put it down when I started to browse.

I love this book. It is part cookbook, part food history, part a glimpse into the head of the author. I had it checked out (from my library) but by page 25 I knew I needed to own it. If you like food read this book!

I say I have finished this book because I have read every page but I think It will be awhile before I am ready to put it on the cookbook shelf. In a spare moment I pick it up and look through it or wonder if this flavor and that will go together and I check this book.