Book description
In this lively and exceptionally enjoyable book, Niki Segnit takes 160
popular ingredients and explores all the ways they might be combined in
the kitchen. She has scoured thousands of recipes in countless recipe
books, talked to dozens of food technologists and chefs, and visited
hundreds of restaurants - all in her quest for flavour pairings. The
result is a unique book that is full of quirky observations, practical
information (hundreds of recipes are embedded in the narrative) and
good jokes. Here are a couple of randomly chosen entries:
Celery
and Dill: Like a couple of spry septuagenarians who still bother to
find the right necklace for their frock, wear silver shoes to the
theatre and are more than capable of a waspish, flirty conversation if
given the attention they deserve. Come alive in the red-blooded company
of beef, or more workaday tinned tuna, but left to their own devices
can make a thrifty but classy soup.
Coriander Leaf and Peanut:
Substitute coriander and peanut for basil and pine nuts and you have a
delicious Vietnamese-style take on pesto. Process a large bunch of
coriander leaf with a tbsp ground nut oil, a tsp fish sauce, maybe a
few mint leaves if you have them, some chilli and a squeeze of lime.
Add half a handful of ground peanuts. Toss through warm noodles - egg
or rice - and serve with more peanuts scattered on top.
Beautifully
packaged, THE FLAVOUR THESAURUS is not only a highly useful, and
covetable, reference book that will immeasurably improve your cooking -
it's the sort of book that might keep you up at night reading. Niki
Segnit has spent twenty years working with global companies such
as Unilever, KP, Lindt, Diageo, Coca-Cola and Cadbury developing new
brands, new products and new flavours. She has travelled all over the
world in pursuit of interesting things to eat, and at home has been
known to cook nothing but the cuisine of a single country for a month.
She writes a food food column for The Times. She is married to an
omnivore and lives in London's West End.
