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

Dornenburg, Andrew; Page, Karen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0316118400 ISBN 13: 9780316118408

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company, 2008

Synopsis

Great cooking goes beyond following a recipe--it's knowing how to season ingredients to coax the greatest possible flavor from them. Drawing on dozens of leading chefs' combined experience in top restaurants across the country, Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg present the definitive guide to creating "deliciousness" in any dish.

Thousands of ingredient entries, organized alphabetically and cross-referenced, provide a treasure trove of spectacular flavor combinations. Readers will learn to work more intuitively and effectively with ingredients; experiment with temperature and texture; excite the nose and palate with herbs, spices, and other seasonings; and balance the sensual, emotional, and spiritual elements of an extraordinary meal. Seasoned with tips, anecdotes, and signature dishes from America's most imaginative chefs, The Flavor Bible is an essential reference for every kitchen.

Winner of the 2009 James Beard Book Award for Best Book: Reference and Scholarship

About this title

From the Back Cover

"Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page are accomplished authors, respected food authorities, and industry leaders with exceptional talent and vision in writing some of the industry's most well-respected books."
--Culinary Institute of America, in naming the authors Honorary Ambassadors

"Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page's books have enriched the fount of culinary knowledge.  They move the culinary culture forward thoughtfully and intelligently....They've done a marvelous job of making the history, culture, and even science of food compelling."
--Mia Stainsby, Vancouver Sun

An essential companion to the authors' bestselling WHAT TO DRINK WITH WHAT YOU EAT (food and drink pairings) and CULINARY ARTISTRY (classic flavor pairings), THE FLAVOR BIBLE is a groundbreaking guide to modern flavor pairings that can revolutionize the way you cook.

WHAT TO DRINK WITH WHAT YOU EAT
Winner of the IACP Cookbook of the Year Award and the Georges Duboeuf Wine Book of the Year Award

"Thanks to [their] seemingly insatiable appetites and exhaustive taxonomic energies, the authors have shed new light on the art of pairing, ensuring...a book's worth of peak experiences."
--Patrick Comiskey, Los Angeles Times

"As with their previous books, this husband-and-wife team has researched their subject exhaustively...to put together the definitive pairing guide."
--Linda Kulman, National Public Radio

"The most exciting and comprehensive guide to wine pairing that I have ever seen."
--Eric Ripert, chef-partner, Le Bernardin, New York City

CULINARY ARTISTRY

"My most-used cookbook:  CULINARY ARTISTRY by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg."
--Grant Achatz, chef-owner, Alinea, Chicago

"My favorite cookbooks:  CULINARY ARTISTRY and El Bulli."
--Hung Huynh, winner of "Top Chef," BravoTV.com

"Of all the cookbooks I own, this is the one that I reference most."
--Jenny McCoy, pastry chef, Emeril's Delmonico, New Orleans

From the Inside Flap

Eight years in the making, THE FLAVOR BIBLE is a landmark book that will inspire 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 imaginative culinarians, representing such celebrated restaurants as A Voce, Babbo, Blue Hill, Cafe Atlantico, Chanterelle, Citronelle, Gramercy Tavern, the Herbfarm, Jardiniere, Jean Georges, Le Bernardin, the Modern, Moto, and The Trellis.

You'll learn to:

* explore the individual 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 kaffir lime and sumac;
* deepen or intensify flavors through the layering of 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.

Edition details

• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0316118400
• ISBN 13: 9780316118408
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 392