The Flavor Bible by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg (Book Review by Melissa A. Bartell)
The Flavor Bible
Karen Page & Andrew Dornenburg
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Although it does contain several recipes, The Flavor Bible, by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg, is not a cookbook. It isn’t really a bible either, for that matter. If I had to classify this book it would be half dictionary, half encyclopedia, and all wonderful.
In the opening chapters, the authors invite us to learn the language of food, cooking and flavor, and they don’t mean the simple terminology like the difference between stirring and folding that often perplexes young chefs in the making. Instead, they treat each flavor, each type of flavor, as if it were a part of speech, so coriander, for example, might be an adverb, while cinnamon is a verb, and within the pages of this book, we learn how each works with the other, or with a number of other herbs and spices. Want to know what flavors compliment the sweet-tart complexity of a cranberry, or know the perfect ratio of coriander to cumin for maximum taste? THAT is the information this book provides.
The bulk of the pages are filled with tables of “flavor affinities” including everything from celery to potatoes and beef to spinach, with many, many others in between (and on either side). It tells you the peak seasonality for each food or spice, what they work well with, and what combinations are best avoided.
There are certain cookbooks that tend to become staples in the well-rounded kitchen: Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking, The New Basics, by the authors of the Silver Palate series, and The Joy of Cooking, among others. The Flavor Bible should be included among those shining stars. It’s a kitchen resource no serious cook should be without.
Melissa A. Bartell earns her living by writing articles for an SEO marketing firm, and dabbles in essays and fiction on the side. She lives near Dallas, TX with her husband, two dogs, and more computers than anyone really needs. She is the Managing Editor here at All Things Girl. Find out more about her on our About Page. You can also find her at her website and various other places around the ‘net.
