The Flavor Bible : The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, Based on the Wisdom of America's Most Imaginative Chefs

The timeless guide to culinary creativity and flavor exploration, based on the wisdom of the worlds most innovative chefs

Eight years in the making,The Flavor Bibleis a landmark book that will inspire the greatest creations of innovative cooks and chefs by serving as an indispensable guide to creativity and flavor affinities in todays 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 onflavor. This radical shift calls for a new approach to cooking -- as well as a new genre of cookbook that serves no to document classic dishes via recipes, but to inspire the creation of new ones based on imaginative and harmonious flavor combinations.

The Flavor Bibleis 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 Americas most innovative culinarians, representing such celebrated restaurants as A Voce, Babbo, Blue Hill, Cafe Atlntico, Chanterelle, Citronelle, Gramercy Tavern, the Herbfarm, Jardiniere, Jean Georges, Le Bernardin, the Modern, Moto, and the Trellis. Youll learn to:

• explore the individual 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 the layering of specific ingredients and techniques;
• and balance the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual aspects of cooking and serving an extraordinary meal.