The Flavor Bible: A Culinary Creative’s Honest Review. How to Make the Most Magic Out of Your Own Pantry

Calling my resident foodies! This one is for you. Whether you are classically trained, self-taught, or grandma taught. Hell, even if you have no idea what you are doing at all. If food excites you and you want what you eat to always be an adventure. If you are looking for a new way to be creative, and food is not your forte but you want to try, then this is definitely for you. Today I’m going to introduce you to the Flavor Bible with the promise that your life will never be the same.  

A relic of history: 

Much to my general dismay, cookbooks are becoming a thing of the past, even though every celebrity on the planet at some point makes one. With the advent of smart phones and the magic that is Pinterest at your fingertips; who needs to go buy a whole cookbook for one recipe when there is some variation of it for free online? We won’t hate on Pinterest. I fucking love pinterest, it’s a problem. 

It comes with the territory, but I love cookbooks. I love trying new recipes, and different cultural cuisines. They make great inspiration even if I end up changing the recipe eventually. It used to really tick Taylor off because I’d sit in the living room and read them out loud when I got a new one. As if everybody cared as much as I did about “Sausage stuffed Onions!!!!” or “Oh my GOD crème brule crusted cheesecake?!”

But I get it, I do. Despite my own love of cookbooks and my own extensive collection of them, I still find myself frequently turning to Pinterest for a quick recipe dopamine hit. It is much faster to type in exactly what I’m looking for than it is to flip through pages and pages and try to remember. “Is it in the Betty Crocker Better Homes and Gardens or am I thinking of Alice Water’s Green Kitchen Cookbook?” 

I will never tell you that regular cookbooks are obsolete. They have their uses as well as a special place in my heart. However, some are better than others. Most cookbooks are good if you know what you want to cook already and just need to know the how part.  

A different kind of Cookbook: 

The Flavor Bible is a different kind of cookbook. A true bible. Your guide to the divine flavors of the world. This book is the Codex of Cooking, a veritable grimoire for culinary magic. You see, unlike a regular cookbook, which may have a theme or common author but is essentially a collection of recipes to be followed and exprimented from. The Flavor Bible has not one recipe in it. Not one. 

Instead, you’ll find color theory for food. I do not mean the whole ‘eat your color wheel’ food pyramid schpiel. This book is the Rosetta stone of taste buds. It seeks to teach flavor affinities. The Flavor Bible is intended to help creatives getting creating with a tool already in their belt. Three hundred and ninety-two pages of mad science and sheer genius.  

Can you tell this is my favorite cookbook? 

For those of us that have one thing in the kitchen that we know we want to use, but don’t know what to do with it. Or the guy that found the strange new fruit at the farmers market so duh you bought it… but you have no idea what it tastes like or what to use it in. This book is for you.

For the mixologist that has a flavor profile for a new cocktail in her head, and now needs to inspire a dish that compliments it without over powering it. Even for the baker that isn’t sure if that savory is weird to use with that sweet because can you put cardamom in that? 

The Flavor Bible can not only teach you about using and balancing the four basics tastes (salty, sour, bitter, and sweet). But, it can also teach you to brighten flavors by using acids and add nuance to dishes by layering flavors and harmonizing contrasting flavors.  

Confession time:  

And it’s Easy to use. Easy as pie. That’s the make or break for me when I’m recommending something to someone. Confession time: I hate culinary jargon. I love the industry. I love the grit, problem solving and creativity that the food service industry demands. But I hate jargon and I dislike people who give themselves airs over food.

Food is first and foremost sustenance. And yes, it is art. But two things I don’t think should be gatekept are food and art. I believe in teaching people things in simple laymans terms and not over complicating things that don’t need to be complicated.  

You could know absolutely nothing about flavor or cooking, pick up The Flavor Bible and use it. The majority of it pages are alphabetized lists. It starts at A and goes all the way to Z listing off hundreds of ingredients. From when they are in season, and what main profile it fits in to. Down to the cuisine they are most common in, and even sometimes alcohol compatibility.  

Know your ABC’s: 

As an example, let’s say you have pears in your kitchen that you need to use. But you really don’t know what you want to do with them. It’s been a long week, and your creative juices are running low. You flip to the section with all the P’s. Then go alphabetically until you hit “Pear” and you pick the right species of pear (yes, if gets that specific). Underneath pear is a list of all the flavor affinities that compliment pears. Everything from sweet to savory along with a few suggestions of typical dishes, when the best pears are in season, and where they’re from. There’s even a brief list of flavors that do not mix well to save you from making any obscure but terribly unpalatable mistakes.  

Pears not your thing? Or maybe you need to do a little reverse engineering and start with the minor details to pick your main course. You have this Turmeric you’re trying to use, just go to T, find turmeric and work your way through the list of forty-three different things that are complimentary to Turmeric.  

Trouble Shooting

Maybe you’ve already got a complex dish, but something is missing and you’re really trying to elevate it. This book is still your best friend. I can’t tell you how useful it is to be able to cross reference between pages covering the major components of a dish and have a eureka moment because I either found a flavor that complements all six things I’m trying to balance and all of a sudden baby cherubs are singing. Or, I realize that the reason my flavor is a little off is because I missed a major flavor profile, and the dish is out of balance. Suddenly, it’s fixed, and life is good. 

If I never convince you of anything else in your life, I hope I convince you to go get yourself a copy of The Flavor Bible. This is what I would have been burned at the stake for in the 1700’s. Because I will preach this until the day I die.

If ever there was a magic book full of witchcraft and spells- it’s this one. Bible is a fair and accurate term. You want to make potions that don’t taste like Polyjuice? This is your baby. If you’ve ever wanted to be an alchemist- this is the closest to alchemical genius, you will ever get, if only because it is worth its weight in gold in my opinion.  

Now go get Creative! 

Mikaela