The Flavor Bible - by Andrew Dornenburg & Karen Page (Hardcover)

About the Book

Great cooking goes beyond following a recipe--it's knowing how to season ingredients to coax the greatest possible flavor from them. Drawing on dozens of leading chefs' combined experience, the authors present the definitive guide to creating "deliciousness" in any dish.

Book Synopsis

Widely hailed as one of the most influential cookbooks of all time, this is the timeless, classic guide to culinary creativity and flavor exploration, based on the wisdom of the world's most innovative chefs

Eight years in the making, The Flavor Bible is a landmark book that has inspired the greatest creations of innovative cooks and chefs by serving as an indispensable guide to creativity and flavor affinities in today's kitchen.

Cuisine is undergoing a startling historic transformation: With the advent of the global availability of ingredients, dishes are no longer based on geography but on flavor. This radical shift calls for a new approach to cooking--as well as a new genre of "cookbook" that serves not to document classic dishes via recipes, but to inspire the creation of new ones based on imaginative and harmonious flavor combinations.

The Flavor Bible is your guide to hundreds of ingredients along with the herbs, spices, and other seasonings that will allow you to coax the greatest possible flavor and pleasure from them. This astonishing reference distills the combined experience of dozens of America's most innovative culinarians, representing such celebrated and transformative restaurants as A Voce, Blue Hill, Café Atlántico, Chanterelle, Citronelle, Gramercy Tavern, the Herbfarm, Jardinière, Jean Georges, Le Bernardin, the Modern, and the Trellis. You'll learn to:

• Explore the roles played by the four basic tastes--salty, sour, bitter, and sweet--and how to bring them into harmony;
• Work more intuitively and effectively with ingredients by discovering which flavors have the strongest affinities for one another;
• Brighten flavors through the use of acids--from vinegars to citrus juices to herbs and spices such as Makrut lime and sumac;
• Deepen or intensify flavors through layering specific ingredients and techniques;
• and balance the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual aspects of cooking and serving an extraordinary meal.

Seasoned with tips, anecdotes, and signature dishes from the country's most respected chefs and pastry chefs, The Flavor Bible is an essential book for every kitchen library.

For more inspiration in the kitchen, look for The Vegetarian Flavor Bible and Kitchen Creativity.

Review Quotes

"I don't reach for The Flavor Bible when I want a recipe--I reach for it when I want to cook without one...it teaches you how flavors actually work together. This is the rare cookbook that makes you a more intuitive, confident cook--and the one I recommend to just about everyone."

--Leah Colins, Senior Culinary Editor, Serious Eats

"Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page are accomplished authors, respected food authorities, and industry leaders with exceptional talent and vision in writing some of the industry's most well-respected books."--Culinary Institute of America

"Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page's books have enriched the fount of culinary knowledge. They move the culinary culture forward thoughtfully and intelligently... They've done a marvelous job of making the history, culture, and even science of food compelling."--Mia Stainsby, Vancouver Sun

Associated Press

Booklist

Emily Nunn in The Chicago Tribune

Library Journal

Lucinda Scala Quinn on Martha Stewart Living Radio

Newsweek

Oprah Winfrey in O Magazine

People

Publishers Weekly

Sara Moulton on Good Morning America

The Flavor Bible...is amazing. Sandra Lee on the Today Show, on her favorite books for holiday gifting

I love The Flavor Bible...[One of 19] must-have food books [of all time] Ellen Rose on NPR's Good Food

About the Author

Karen Page is a two-time James Beard Award-winning author whose books include The Flavor Bible, which was named one of the year's best cookbooks on both Today and Good Morning America, one of the 100 best cookbooks of the last twenty-five years by Cooking Light, and one of the ten best cookbooks in the world of the past century by Forbes. The former Washington Post wine columnist is also the author of What to Drink with What You Eat, which was named the IACP Cookbook of the Year and Georges Duboeuf Wine Book of the Year. She lives with her husband, author and photographer Andrew Dornenburg, in New York City.

Andrew Dornenburg studied with the legendary Madeleine Kamman at the School for American Chefs and has cooked professionally in top restaurants in New York City. Their website is www.becomingachef.com.