How to taste A guide to discovering flavor and savoring life
Book - 2023
Whether it's a meaningful meal or a favorite nostalgic road trip snack, we know what we like to eat. But even when it comes to the most vivid and memorable dishes it's tough to say what exactly makes them so delicious. Now award-winning expert, certified food and beverage taster and lifestyle journalist Mandy Naglich reveals how to hone your tasting superpowers like a pro. Take a seat beside highly-trained cheese analysts, world-class sommeliers, competitive whiskey tasters, internationally recognized chefs, and sensory scientists as experts divulge the secrets to discerning the notes in a range of ingredients, from a dab of honey to a spoonful of olive oil--and even a sip of mineral water. Discover why a James Beard award-winner ...was visibly nervous before a blindfolded taste test on Top Chef Masters, and how coffee farmers base growing practices on the palate of one world-renowned authority. Learn why your taste buds respond to variables such as food temperature and background music. What the flavor distinction is between a pomme fruit and a stone fruit, how to judge the acidity of anything, from a cup of tea to a square of dark chocolate--and how understanding flavor can impact the way you understand the world. A rich journey for the flavor-obsessed, this instant classic is both a practical guide and a sumptuous meditation on how to savor all things delicious--on the plate and in life.
- Subjects
- Published
-
New York, NY :
Citadel Press, Kensington Publishing Corp
[2023]
- Language
- English
- Main Author
- Physical Description
- xviii, 267 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm
- Bibliography
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 249-256) and index.
- ISBN
- 9780806542294
- Introduction: Tasting it All
- Part 1. What is Taste?
- Chapter 1. This Is Your Brain on Flavor
- Chapter 2. A Matter of Individual Taste
- Chapter 3. The Flavor of a Dining Room
- Part 2. How to Taste
- Chapter 4. The Tasting Method
- Set(ting)
- See
- Sniff
- Swirl/Snap
- Sip/Sample
- Spit/Swallow
- Sit and Synthesize
- Chapter 5. Collecting Flavors, References, and Reflexes
- Chapter 6. Blinded by the Sight
- Part 3. Using Your Tasting SKills
- Chapter 7. Critics, Judges, Awards, and Grades
- Chapter 8. One Plus One Makes Seven
- Chapter 9. A Poet of the Palate
- Part 4. Tasting Life
- Chapter 10. Travel Like a Taster
- Chapter 11. What Tasters Know
- Chapter 12. Tastes to Last a Lifetime
- A Final Note: We Are What We Taste
- Acknowledgments
- Selected References
- Index