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 is divided into flavour themes including Meaty, Cheesy, Woodland and Floral Fruity. Within these sections it follows the form of Roget's Thesaurus, listing 99 popular ingredients alphabetically, and for each one suggesting flavour matchings that range from the classic to the bizarre. You can expect to find traditional pairings such as pork & apple, lamb & apricot, and cucumber & dill; contemporary favourites like chocolate & chilli, and goat's cheese & beetroot; and interesting but unlikely-sounding couples including black pudding & chocolate, lemon & beef, blueberry & mushroom, and watermelon & oyster. There are nearly a thousand entries in all, with 200 recipes and suggestions embedded in the text. Beautifully packaged, The Flavour Thesaurus is not only a highly useful, and covetable, reference book for cooking - it might keep you up at night reading.
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Review
'An original and inspiring resource' -- Heston Blumenthal
`Intriguing, surprising and remarkably useful'
-- Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
`this imaginative and beautiful little book deserves a place on the shelves of every serious home cook.' --Spectator
'Goes way beyond recipes...the perfect manual for experimental cooks.' --The Independent
`The Flavour Thesaurus is a deceptively simple little masterpiece, set to take its place by McGee on Food and Cooking as a household Bible.' --The Sunday Times
`With Niki Segnit's fascinating book we can all take cooking to the next level.' --Homes and Gardens
`You'll never be bored with your dinner again'
--Psychologies
`Intriguing, surprising and remarkably useful'
-- Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
`this imaginative and beautiful little book deserves a place on the shelves of every serious home cook.' --Spectator
'Goes way beyond recipes...the perfect manual for experimental cooks.' --The Independent
`The Flavour Thesaurus is a deceptively simple little masterpiece, set to take its place by McGee on Food and Cooking as a household Bible.' --The Sunday Times
`With Niki Segnit's fascinating book we can all take cooking to the next level.' --Homes and Gardens
`You'll never be bored with your dinner again'
--Psychologies
About the Author
Niki Segnit was inspired to write The Flavour Thesaurus when she noticed how dependent she was on recipes. Her background is in marketing, specialising in food and drink, and she has worked with many famous brands of confectionery, snacks, baby foods, condiments, dairy products, hard liquors and soft drinks. She writes a column for The Times and lives in central London with her husband.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
72 of 73 people found the following review helpful
By Syriat
TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I bought this the other day as I realised, like the author states in her intro, that I am too attached to recipe books. I was hoping that this would inspire me to try new combinations and start a bit more experimentation. And it has. However, before buying its really important to know what this book is and more importantly what it is not.
What this book is not
- a book with detailed recipes (it doesn't really have any recipes at all)
- a book with illustrations of food (there are no illustrations at all of food)
- a traditional cookery book (no measurements, no oven settings, no real cookery guide)
What this book is
- a jumping off point where you identify flavours with a brief guide to examples
- a well written explanation of how flavour combinations work
- a way for budding chefs to try new flavours with confidence
Not all the combinations are to my liking. And you won't be using this as a cooking bible. However, its very readable and as a resource for a budding chef it really takes some beating. It allows you to be creative rather than follow a recipe to the letter. Which is exactly what I wanted from this book. If, however, you are expecting recipes then avoid.
What this book is not
- a book with detailed recipes (it doesn't really have any recipes at all)
- a book with illustrations of food (there are no illustrations at all of food)
- a traditional cookery book (no measurements, no oven settings, no real cookery guide)
What this book is
- a jumping off point where you identify flavours with a brief guide to examples
- a well written explanation of how flavour combinations work
- a way for budding chefs to try new flavours with confidence
Not all the combinations are to my liking. And you won't be using this as a cooking bible. However, its very readable and as a resource for a budding chef it really takes some beating. It allows you to be creative rather than follow a recipe to the letter. Which is exactly what I wanted from this book. If, however, you are expecting recipes then avoid.
568 of 584 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Compulsive reading for all foodies, and the perfect present for keen cooks
25 Jun 2010
By Third Time Lucky
TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book has had stunning reviews in the national newspapers, and I decided to buy it as a present for my husband, the chef in our household. On the tube home, I had a quick flick through it out of curiosity...and I haven't been able to part with it since.
The concept of `The Flavour Thesaurus' is utterly, utterly genius. Segnit has taken 99 basic flavours (mint, coriander, basil, strawberry etc) and researched 980 pairings of them. The result is part recipe-book, part food memoir, part flavour compendium. (The English Language geek in me feels compelled to point out that `thesaurus' is a misnomer - even similar flavours are NOT synonyms, jeez, though the book retains Roget's format).
Some of these pairings are familiar, such as Bacon & Egg, whilst others (Avocado & Mango, anyone?) are not. Now and then, Segnit provides a recipe; many of these sound incredible, and despite being the most amateur of cooks, I reckon even I could manage many of them. Under Melon & Rose, for example, she merely tells you to drown a cantaloupe melon in rosewater syrup, so that it tastes like "a fruity take on gulab jamun". Can you even read that sentence without wanting to dash to the supermarket for the ingredients?
Segnit also peppers the book with restaurant and dish recommendations - not in an insufferable shiny London lifestyle way, but in an enthusiastic, unpretentious, eating-out-with-your-mates "you really have to try this" way. If only she had supplied phone numbers so we could immediately make reservations.
The real revelation, though, is Segnit's language. It is, quite simply, superb.... Read more ›
The concept of `The Flavour Thesaurus' is utterly, utterly genius. Segnit has taken 99 basic flavours (mint, coriander, basil, strawberry etc) and researched 980 pairings of them. The result is part recipe-book, part food memoir, part flavour compendium. (The English Language geek in me feels compelled to point out that `thesaurus' is a misnomer - even similar flavours are NOT synonyms, jeez, though the book retains Roget's format).
Some of these pairings are familiar, such as Bacon & Egg, whilst others (Avocado & Mango, anyone?) are not. Now and then, Segnit provides a recipe; many of these sound incredible, and despite being the most amateur of cooks, I reckon even I could manage many of them. Under Melon & Rose, for example, she merely tells you to drown a cantaloupe melon in rosewater syrup, so that it tastes like "a fruity take on gulab jamun". Can you even read that sentence without wanting to dash to the supermarket for the ingredients?
Segnit also peppers the book with restaurant and dish recommendations - not in an insufferable shiny London lifestyle way, but in an enthusiastic, unpretentious, eating-out-with-your-mates "you really have to try this" way. If only she had supplied phone numbers so we could immediately make reservations.
The real revelation, though, is Segnit's language. It is, quite simply, superb.... Read more ›
50 of 53 people found the following review helpful
By Bunty Brooks
Format:Hardcover
The best cookbooks become my preferred bedtime reading, piling up next to the bed. The Flavour Thesaurus is top of the pile and it's gone one better - it's jumped the queue ahead of Steig Larsson as my preferred Tube journey read. The Flavour Thesaurus is anecdotally wittier than Nigel Slater's 'Toast' and more use than `LaRousse' (which rarely makes it off my kitchen shelf). Niki Segnit's observations on flavours, their combinations and cooking are as delicious as her recipes. Her genuine love of food makes this book deliciously moorish; each bite-sized entry makes me want for more. Like Ferrero Rocher, one just isn't enough. There are very few cookbooks that are researched and written as brilliantly as this that need not rely on high quality photograpy to tempt the senses. This will make you laugh and get the gastric juices flowing. The Flavour Thesaurus actually makes me throw on my apron and get messy in the kitchen whilst indulging in a glass of champagne and a Marlboro. I will be giving this book to every truly good cook I know. They won't be disappointed.
54 of 58 people found the following review helpful
By Tyrone
Format:Hardcover
What a fantastic book!
This is probably the most inspirational cookery book I've ever read. By mostly eschewing full length recipes in favour of ideas, sketches, anecdotes and improbable analogies, Niki Segnit has written a book where every page has enough ideas to keep me cooking for a week.
I can think of very few books that are both practical enough to use on a daily basis (when you fancy a stir fry and have a fridge full of brocolli, why not mix in some chilli and coarse ground peanuts?) and enjoyable enough to dip into as light reading (the much quoted comparison of lime and coriander to the "whoo whoos" in Sympathy for the Devil), but The Flavour Thesaurus is both of these - to leaf casually through it is to immediately be reminded of just how much you love cooking.
If I have one complaint, then it's just that it's so good that it could be twice as long without being the worse for it.
This is probably the most inspirational cookery book I've ever read. By mostly eschewing full length recipes in favour of ideas, sketches, anecdotes and improbable analogies, Niki Segnit has written a book where every page has enough ideas to keep me cooking for a week.
I can think of very few books that are both practical enough to use on a daily basis (when you fancy a stir fry and have a fridge full of brocolli, why not mix in some chilli and coarse ground peanuts?) and enjoyable enough to dip into as light reading (the much quoted comparison of lime and coriander to the "whoo whoos" in Sympathy for the Devil), but The Flavour Thesaurus is both of these - to leaf casually through it is to immediately be reminded of just how much you love cooking.
If I have one complaint, then it's just that it's so good that it could be twice as long without being the worse for it.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By Chelsea
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
An excellent book to keep within easy reach when you're in a quandry. I know that strawberries and black pepper are The thing for nutella on toast, but having an extensive index of equally creative and wonderfully described flavour and texture parings is just the thing to make one brave enough to eat in front of, or, offer it to other people. Great for helping to use up bits and bobs of things which perhapse you'd never have considered having together.
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4.1 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting book
But it gives you no indication of how you would pair flavours, I thought it would be like a clour wheel where opposite colours pair but not so, it seems that similar flavours in... Read more
Published 8 days ago by Kevin J. Sharpe
4.0 out of 5 stars
Book was in perfect condition and delivered in go
The delivery on the book was prompt and the book was in perfect condition. The only reason I haven't given it 5 is because it was a present for someone so I haven't actually read... Read more
Published 9 days ago by Emma Tappin
5.0 out of 5 stars
Highly indulgent Coffee table book!
I bought this book because I love cooking and eating but mainly because this year's Masterchef winner was quoted in an interview saying it was essential reading. Read more
Published 14 days ago by dmp
5.0 out of 5 stars
A very well constructed reference book
I love to cook seasonal food and I love finding new ingredients on my trails of ethnic food stores. Sometimes, the challenge is in finding flavour contrasts or good flavour... Read more
Published 18 days ago by Anne O'Donoghue
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful Book
i found this book at a friends house and was immediately drawn to it. It is fantastic and can just make you see flavour combinations that might seem impossible, but they work. Read more
Published 19 days ago by Mrs. J. Joseph
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Concept
What a great concept...this has already proved very useful for inspirarion and reference
I'd recommend any cook who cares to have a copy of this
I'd recommend any cook who cares to have a copy of this
Published 22 days ago by jc_x_c
5.0 out of 5 stars
Recommended for anyone who likes to cook
I got one for myself and another for a birthday gift for a friend who really enjoys cooking. He loved it!
It's not a recipe book, more like a book of ideas.
It's not a recipe book, more like a book of ideas.
Published 27 days ago by Nelson
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great fun
The book is no food bible, but it's a good start. Segnit explains what it's for and how she devised it and therefore how the reader should take it and use it. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Sam Webster
3.0 out of 5 stars
A bit boring
Not as interesting as I hoped. It's pretty but I don't use it very often. Maybe I should give it a second chance?
Published 1 month ago by Kasper Rønberg Schultz
4.0 out of 5 stars
for an enthusiast
This was bought as a present, specifically requested by a 'foodie'. I can't vouch for the content as I didn't read it
Published 1 month ago by Esmerelda
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