I have purchased a couple of new cookbooks in last year that I have not used yet….still love having them.. Meanwhile, going through my Amazon Wish List.  WHo have the Flabor Bible?  What do you think of it…. given I am more into baking than cooking—- but do want to cook more ....

Any other ideas?

CRenee - 02 November 2012 05:37 PM

I have purchased a couple of new cookbooks in last year that I have not used yet….still love having them.. Meanwhile, going through my Amazon Wish List.  WHo have the Flabor Bible?  What do you think of it…. given I am more into baking than cooking—- but do want to cook more ....

Any other ideas?

I have the Flavor Bible, but I bought it in Kindle format.  For this sort of book, which is more a reference book, the Kindle format isn’t ideal.  It’s just too hard to flip it to the right section.  While there is a search function, it pulls up every instance of the word you type, but what you really want is to go to the section in the book that focuses on that ingredient.

Assuming I had it in a regular book, would I use it?  I’m not sure. There are already more recipes at my fingertips than I could ever hope to try, and I’m not sure that I would keep tinkering with any one in particular by trying the various ingredient combinations offered in the book.  Perhaps if you were a recipe developer…

I also have the book, I do like it and use it occasionally.  It works well when you have a specific ingredient that you would like to get ideas for using.  I am doing more and more recipe development over the last year, and for that type of work I wish it were a little more comprehensive (for instance, no cassis or currants anywhere).

Outside of recipe development, I also use it to decide on a type of recipe to use.  For instance, if you were to look up chestnuts or quince and come up with a pairing that you are interesting in exploring (like chestnuts and apples), you could then search for recipes that use those ingredients.  Both sweet and savory pairings are listed for ingredients generally recognized as being pastry components.

I can see how it may not be the best book for kindle, must be like having to use the index every time you want to look up a food.

I use it quite a bit when I’m improvising and looking for an herb to spice things up; I often put in something that I never would have thought of on my own.

knit1bake1 - 05 November 2012 03:03 PM

I use it quite a bit when I’m improvising and looking for an herb to spice things up; I often put in something that I never would have thought of on my own.

In a similar vein, Flavor Bible turned me on to vanilla-apricot mousseline, which is divine.  It’s great for stuff like that- adding an additional flavor component to a base recipe.

The flavor Bible…is my secrete wand in conjuring the most esoteric flavor for cakes, other than the ones stipulated by the cake author or creator. Please BUY IT. You will never regret it. It is a useful tool as as well as a resource book for everyone who wants to get the best out of food.

Take for instance..A Plain Vanilla Cake….it can be transformed into a spice cake using the quatre spice, or you can infuse herbs eg mint leaves in the milk before mixing etc.

The flavor bible empowers you to become a better cook/chef/pastry wizard.

You can get it from the library and try it before you buy it. I do that all the time. This discussion inspired me to try this book too.

Thank you all for the feedback.  I will keep it on my Amazon Wish List. I will not buy it myself just yet.