annieb123's Review of The Flavor Equation

by Nik Sharma

Finalist for the 2022 James Beard Cookbook Award and a Finalist for the 2021 IACP Cookbook Award

Named one of the Best Fall Cookbooks 2020 by The New York Times, Eater, Epicurious, Food & Wine, Forbes, Saveur, Serious Eats, The Smithsonian, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, The Chicago Tribune, CNN Travel, The Kitchn, Chowhound, NPR, The Art of Eating Longlist 2021 and many more; plus international media attention including The Financial times, The Globe and Mail, The Telegraph, The Guardian, The Independent, The Times (U.K.), Delicious Magazine (U.K.), The Times (Ireland), and Vogue India and winner of The Guild of U.K. Food Writers (General Cookbook).

“The Flavor Equation” deserves space on the shelf right next to “Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat” as a titan of the how-and-why brigade.”— The New Yorker

Named one of the Best Fall Cookbooks 2020 by Eater, Epicurious, and Chowhound.

"Deep and illuminating, fresh and highly informative… a most brilliant achievement.” – Yotam Ottolenghi

"[A] beautiful and intelligent book." – J. Kenji López-Alt, author The Food Lab and Chief Consultant for Serious Eats.com

Aroma, texture, sound, emotion—these are just a few of the elements that play into our perceptions of flavor.

The Flavor Equation

demonstrates how to convert approachable spices, herbs, and commonplace pantry items into tasty, simple dishes.

In this groundbreaking book, Nik Sharma, scientist, food blogger, and author of the buzz-generating cookbook Season, guides home cooks on an exploration of flavor in more than 100 recipes.

• Provides inspiration and knowledge to both home cooks and seasoned chefs
• An in-depth exploration into the science of taste
• Features Nik Sharma's evocative, trademark photography style

The Flavor Equation is an accessible guide to elevating elemental ingredients to make delicious dishes that hit all the right notes, every time.

Recipes include Brightness: Lemon-Lime Mintade, Saltiness: Roasted Tomato and Tamarind Soup, Sweetness: Honey Turmeric Chicken Kebabs with Pineapple, Savoriness: Blistered Shishito Peppers with Bonito Flakes, and Richness: Coconut Milk Cake.

• A global, scientific approach to cooking from bestselling cookbook author Nik Sharma
• Dives deep into the most basic of our pantry items—salts, oils, sugars, vinegars, citrus, peppers, and more
• Perfect gift for home cooks who want to learn more beyond recipes, those interested in the science of food and flavor, and readers of Lucky Peach, Serious Eats, Indian-Ish, and Koreatown
• Add it to the shelf with cookbooks like The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science by J. Kenji López-Alt; Ottolenghi Flavor: A Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi, and Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking by Samin Nosrat.

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

The Flavor Equation is a science-based guide to flavor and sensory experience with accompanying recipes developed by Nik Sharma. Due out 27th Oct 2020 from Chronicle Books, it's 352 pages (print edition) and will be available in hardcover and ebook formats.
Most cookbooks (even niche ones) are arranged thematically: breakfast, lunch, dinner, drinks, etc. Some of them have styling and serving advice in addition. This recipe collection is not at all like the usual cookbook presentation. First, the author spends roughly 16% of the book's content exploring the basis of taste, how we experience taste, mouthfeel, scent, and the roles they play in emotion and perception. There are a lot of interesting takeaways here and while many of them are interesting in their own right, there are also practical bits of information which can be utilized in other non-cooking situations.

The recipes themselves are varied and interesting and represent a number of different world cuisines (some emphasis on the Indian subcontinent). They are arranged thematically: brightness, bitterness, saltiness, sweetness, savoriness, fieriness, and richness. The book is lavishly and appealingly illustrated with large clear recipe and serving photographs. Each of the recipes includes yields, prep and cooking time, ingredients (including metric measurements, yay!), a short description, and step by step instructions. The recipes also include a flavor profile and the reasons for the author's selection of certain ingredients. Nutritional information is not included. The appendices include staples (including spice blends), menu serving suggestions, some info on flavor science (which goes into delightful detail about the molecular components of the food we eat and what they mean for us biologically), a bibliography and links for further information and an index.

This is a wonderfully in-depth book which can also be used on a much less complex basis by simply following the author's suggestions in the recipes. I was impressed on a lot of levels. Definitely one which will appeal to all the bio-nerds, but also to keen cooks looking for more theoretical information for developing and varying their own recipes.

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

The Flavor Equation

by Nik Sharma

Reviewed by annieb123 on Sep 11, 2020

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