Tom Douglas

Buy This Book, by Halley Archbold/ Dahlia Line Cook

I was shopping around the cooking section of Barnes and Noble a few weeks ago, looking for yet another additon to my ever-expanding collection of books on food, and couldn’t seem to pick anything (for once!)  A few of the books that we have in the office at the Dahlia kitchen have grabbed my attention recently (Mangoes and Curry Leaves: A Culinary Journey Through the Great Subcontinent by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid, and Susanna Foo Fresh Inspiration: New Approaches to Chinese Cuisine by Susana Foo and Hermie Kranzdorf, for anyone looking for a new cookbook), and I thought I’d pick one up.  I searched, but to no avail; they were either not carried or sold out.  Luckily for me, The Flavor Bible, by Karen Page and Andrew Dorenburg caught my eye.  I opened the book to a random page and instantly decided that I had to have it.

The Flavor Bible has three simple chapters. The first breaks down what flavor is.  It explains why certain foods taste good and others don’t.  A combination of taste, mouthfeel, aroma, and “the X factor” are explored and discussed by the authors as well as chefs from around the country, including Seattle’s own Jerry Traunfeld of Poppy, and Dahlia alumna Holly Smith of Cafe Juanita.

The next chapter goes through what factors attribute to great cooking, or as they call it, “Communicating Via the Language of Food.” The third chapter, which takes up 90% of the book, is called “Flavor Matchmaking; the Charts.”  This is what sold me.

Anyone who loves food, knows food, works in the restaurant industry, or has spent any amount of time in a kitchen understands that certain foods go well together.  This book is like a thesaurus for the culinary world.  Fruits, vegetables, proteins, herbs and spices, regional cuisine, and even seasons are alphabetically listed followed by another list of the foods that go well with it.  Those that are universally agreed upon are both in capitol letters and bold font, ones that are agreed upon by many of the 38 contributing chefs are in bold, and there are even “Flavor Affinity” equations at the end of most entries.  For example, under “Bacon” it says, “Bacon + Chanterelle mushrooms + Salmon+ Shallots.”

I think that every gastrophile should own this book.  Every time I open it, my knowledge and understanding of how food works is vastly increased.  If I am ever stumped on what to make for an amuse-bouche, this book sparks my own imagination.  Whenever I have something unfamiliar, or even boring, to use for family meal, I can simply open up to an ingredient and I am given all sorts of ideas.  I know that this book will help me fill my culinary potential, and I hope that it can do the same for everyone with a desire to learn, cook, and eat!

November 12th, 2009