The flavor equation : the science of great cooking explained in more than 100 essential recipes

First Title Value for Searching:

Personal Author:

Sharma, Nik

Physical Description:

352 pages : color illustrations ; 26 cm.

Genre:

Cookbooks.

Summary:

"In this groundbreaking book, Nik Sharma, scientist, food blogger, and cookbook author, guides home cooks on an exploration of flavor via 125 recipes. He demonstrates how to convert approachable spices, herbs, and commonplace pantry items into tasty, simple dishes, providing inspiration and knowledge to both home cooks and seasoned chefs"--

Contents:

The flavor equation. Emotion -- Sight -- Sound -- Mouthfeel -- Aroma -- Taste -- Recipes + the anatomy of flavor. Brightness -- Bitterness -- Saltiness -- Sweetness -- Savoriness -- Fieriness -- Richness -- Pantry essentials -- Flavor reactions -- Appendix.

Subject Term:

Cooking

Cooking -- Technique.

Additional Credits:

Riva, Matteo

Publication Info:

San Francisco : Chronicle Books, 2020.

Subject:

Cooking

Cooking -- Technique.

Cookbooks.

Cookery

Cuisine

Food preparation

SAILS ISBN:

9781452182698

Available:

Library	Shelf Number	Shelf Location	Status
Searching... Foxboro - Boyden Library	641.5 SHARMA	NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Every time you cook, you're trying to hit just 6 notes: richness, brightness, depth, heat, saltiness, and sweetness. These are the flavours that make our food sing. When you cook - and eat - you rely on a variety of senses and feelings - taste, sight, aroma, sound, mouthfeel, and emotion - to perceive these sensations. In this groundbreaking cookbook from Nik Sharma, author of acclaimed cookbook Season and the award-winning A Brown Table blog, we learn the simplest ways to play up any and all of these sensations for the most flavourful food. The compounds that cause these unique sensations are found in the simplest ingredients: lemons and limes, salt and pepper, pickles, cream, olive oil, and butter. These are the flavour-boosting building blocks on hand for splendid, simple cooking. Once home cooks learn how to evoke these sensations, they'll be able to make nearly anything delicious. The Flavour Equation presents an in-depth exploration of the science of taste, with more than 100 illustrations for visual learners. Here, too, are 125 go-to recipes for favourite dishes - curries, one-pot vegetarian mains, soups - for cooks of all skill levels, with a photo of almost every recipe, in Nik's trademark evocative and moody style. This is a hefty, must-own cookbook - the next Food Lab or Flavor Bible - perfect for curious cooks of all levels who are learning the basics, need best-of-their-class recipes, and want to take their cooking to the next level.

Reviews (2)

Booklist Review

Mumbai-born Sharma arrived on the American culinary scene with a column in the San Francisco Chronic his blog, A Brown Tab a New York Times profi and a debut cookbook, Season (2018). Departing from the exciting mashup of tradition and innovation in Indian cuisine that he developed in Season, Sharma here focuses on flavor, which he defines as the sum of emotion, sight, sound, mouthfeel, aroma, and taste. "More than just a skeleton of instructions, a recipe reflects a point of view and a glimpse into the past." As a trained molecular biologist, Sharma explains in scientific yet wholly readable fashion how those six elements combine to make delicious food. He details the workings of acids on texture, aroma, flavor, even shelf life in a variety of foods. He maps out flavor profiles for North American, Latin American, Southern European, Western European, and East Asian cuisines, showing how those profiles stand alone or even co-occur. And he explains the nuances of creating brightness in dishes. And the joys of bitterness. More than 100 recipes illustrate Sharma's concepts to a tee. Focused readers will come away from this extraordinary, handsomely illustrated book with an entirely unique and relatable understanding of the nature of delicious.

Library Journal Review

Food is all about taste and flavor. Sharma, following up on his best-selling cookbook Season, now focuses more on the science behind what makes specific flavors and dishes so delicious. The book begins with a substantial chapter on the interaction of our emotions and senses with how we perceive food. The recipes themselves, many of which are inspired by his childhood in Mumbai, are divided into seven categories: brightness, bitterness, saltiness, sweetness, savarins, fieriness, and richness. The science behind the taste is emphasized, with each section focusing on the specific ingredients and techniques that characterize those flavors. As with his previous book, recipes are easy to follow and the photographs are mouth-watering, which will help with re-creating dishes such as potato and roasted corn herbed raita or roast chicken thighs and vegetables. Helpful diagrams, charts, and illustrations are presented throughout. VERDICT This book will appeal both to those who want to expand their Indian cooking repertoire and those who want to know more about the scientific background behind cooking itself.--Susan Hurst, Miami Univ. Libs., Oxford, OH