The Flavour Thesaurus by Niki Segnit
Pairings, recipes and ideas for the creative cook
First published: 2010
ISBN: 9780747599777
What is the book about?
With the Flavour Thesaurus Niki Segnit takes us along on her quest to find all good flavour combinations in the world. By creating a flavour spectrum she discusses a wide variety of combinations as they are used around the world. All neatly organized in order on the spectrum, by ingredient and with cross references when the combination is already mentioned earlier in the book. (The Sage and Anchovy entry let’s you know where to find the Anchovy and Sage section earlier in the book)
Containing about 800 combinations (I didn’t count them) there is something for every occasion. Even if just to help you at the start of a search for the right meal.
What are the main takeaways when it comes to communicating with the Primal Being?
Experience with flavour starts somewhere: A good chef has an extremely trained palette and a vast library of combinations in his head. They know what works and what doesn’t, making even their spontaneous creations a success. Most of us never get the chance to develop and refine these skills out in the wild, we don’t work in restaurants and have less access to certain ingredients. This book does not replace those skills, but it will fill in some of the gap.
You don’t need to stick to the same old boring recipes: It feels safer to stick to what you know because it is so easy to mess up your food. With this book you get a great starting point to NOT mess up the new thing. Not everything will be a hit, but the combinations will always work, inviting you to go on an adventure and try something new.
Intuitive eating is easier than you might think: Often we know sort of what we want, but at the same time don’t want the same (boring) recipe. Now you can start your search with a single ingredient and already get suggestions on what to pair it with. Often ending up with a good start for an online or cookbook search for that perfect recipe you are craving.
Seven tastes are (freaking) easy to incorporate: Depending on how deep you already are in the Primal Beings food philosophy you may know the challenge of finding that one specific taste to combine with your current recipe. With the thesaurus this struggle is as good as over as you can get many suggestions on what to pair as the last taste.
Should you read it?
Definitely YES! This book has been probably the most influential book for our cooking style. With probably another hundred cookbooks in our arsenal that is saying something. The Flavour Thesaurus provided us with all the range we needed to listen more to our Primal Being. It gave us many tools to move closer to intuitive eating and cooking.
So when you are looking for a book that may very well increase your joy in cooking, lets you follow your intuition more and simply point you to the best recipes, this is the book for you.
Now even “more flavours”:
Usually we would review a second book separately. But seeing Niki Segent has picked up where she left off with the sequel “more flavours” this turns into a two book review.
The sequel is just as good as the initial Thesaurus. Now focussing on more plant-led combinations. Now adding even more combinations and therefore inspiration.
Nothing more needs to be said about this sequel, as it continues upon everything already said.