Review by Booklist Review
Contemporary chefs seeking original dishes, novel recipes, and nonstandard taste sensations eagerly experiment with all manner of combinations of ingredients that a few decades ago would not even have been contemplated. So much innovation is currently underway that every new cookbook develops ideas that may strike the uninitiated as at least bizarre, if not downright off-putting. But such cutting-edge chefs force eaters to taste beyond conventional boundaries. Briscione, a celebrity chef, has made a reputation for originality, and here he offers insight into what he's learned about creating new flavors. Inventorying ingredients, he develops detailed diagrams that break down essential tastes. Then he arrays other ingredients based on their potential to work complementarily alongside. Of most interest to cooks are the surprising pairings Briscione has identified, such as coffee with lettuce, vanilla with root vegetables, and hot peppers with figs. Highly recommended for culinary students and the daring home cook.--Knoblauch, Mark Copyright 2018 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Briscione, director of culinary research at the Institute of Culinary Education, along with cowriter and wife Parkhurst, will delight food nerds with this scientific exploration of flavor profiles of common ingredients. Briscione had the opportunity to work with IBM's supercomputer Watson, and he quickly discovered that the computer's focus on inherent flavors rather than conventional pairings was transformative. Using chemistry to teach about the "science of flavor," Briscione creates charts of flavor matrices that contain data about an ingredient's aromatic compounds and its compatibility with other ingredients. He provides analyses of 58 ingredients along with pairing options and includes complex wheel-like diagrams that list optimal choices. The results range from appetizing to questionable. Recipes for coffee-cured salmon and radish-apple salad with basil vinegar sound promising, whereas a porcini, hazelnut, and chocolate torte or a black-tea tomato sauce simply feel off-key. Professional chefs and home cooks who enjoy experimentation will welcome this insightful new approach, although others may feel the combinations here are a bit too adventuresome for their palates. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
This is not your typical cookbook; in fact, readers will find few recipes here. What they will find is a fascinating collection of matrices that break down the best flavor combinations to make main ingredients shine. Featuring 150 of the most common ingredients used around the world, Briscione (director, culinary research, Inst. of Culinary Education) pares each ingredient down to its essence and proceeds to chart the variety of combinations available to produce a range of flavors from earthy to savory, floral to meaty, and everything in between. The flavors are arranged alphabetically, and span allium to vanilla. Each ingredient receives careful attention, presented beside a brief introduction and a listing of best pairings, surprising combinations, and substitutes to replicate the flavor. The "Inspiration" section breaks each element down further, presenting the science behind the flavor. VERDICT Visually, this book is stunning, like a science text for foodies, with a particularly helpful introduction. Casual cooks may find it too scientific for practical, everyday use, but it is a treat for gourmands and food science geeks.-Gricel Dominguez, Florida International Univ. Lib., Miami © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
