Taste is a lyric meditation on one of our five senses, which we often take for granted. Structured as a series of “small bites,” the book considers the ways that we ingest the world, how we come to know ourselves and others through the daily act of tasting. Through flavorful explorations of the sweet, the sour, the salty, the bitter, and umami, Jehanne Dubrow reflects on the nature of taste. In a series of short, interdisciplinary essays, she blends personal experience with analysis of poetry, fiction, music, and the visual arts, as well as religious and philosophical texts. Dubrow considers the science of taste and how taste transforms from a physical sensation into a metaphor for discernment. Taste is organized not so much as a linear dinner served in courses but as a meal consisting of meze, small plates of intensely flavored discourse.
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Named a Notable Book of 2021 by NPR and The Washington Post From award-winning actor and food obsessive Stanley Tucci comes an intimate and charming memoir of life in and out of the kitchen. Stanley Tucci grew up in an Italian American family that spent every night around the kitchen table. He shared the magic of those meals with us in The Tucci Cookbook and The Tucci Table, and now he takes us beyond the savory recipes and into the compelling stories behind them. Taste is a reflection on the intersection of food and life, filled with anecdotes about his growing up in Westchester, New York; preparing for and shooting the foodie films Big Night and Julie & Julia; falling in love over dinner; and teaming up with his wife to create meals for a multitude of children. Each morsel of this gastronomic journey through good times and bad, five-star meals and burned dishes, is as heartfelt and delicious as the last. Written with Stanley’s signature wry humor, Taste is for fans of Bill Buford, Gabrielle Hamilton, and Ruth Reichl—and anyone who knows the power of a home-cooked meal.
This engaging and approachable (and humorous!) guide to taste and flavor will make you a more skilled and confident home cook How to Taste outlines the underlying principles of taste, and then takes a deep dive into salt, acid, bitter, sweet, fat, umami, bite (heat), aromatics, and texture. You'll find out how temperature impacts your enjoyment of the dishes you make as does color, alcohol, and more. The handbook goes beyond telling home cooks what ingredients go well together or explaining cooking ratios. You'll learn how to adjust a dish that's too salty or too acidic and how to determine when something might be lacking. It also includes recipes and simple kitchen experiments that illustrate the importance of salt in a dish, or identifies whether you're a "supertaster" or not. Each recipe and experiment highlights the chapter's main lesson. How to Taste will ultimately help you feel confident about why and how various components of a dish are used to create balance, harmony, and deliciousness.
Think of this book as your herb-seasoning master class, filled with simple secrets for capturing the power of flavor from your herb garden. Herbs are easy to grow anywhere, indoors or out, but do you know which ones do what in your foods and beverages...or how flavors play off of each other? This book shows you how to become an herbal tastemaster, whether you're a home cook or a gourmet foodie. It all starts in the garden with fresh-picked herbs. Let dedicated herb lover Sue Goetz guide you into the delicious world of 20 essential, flavor-rich herbs and the pleasures they offer. With over 100 kitchen-tested herb recipes and full-color photographs throughout, you'll discover how to: grow and harvest the best flavor cultivars for culinary use preserve and package complement herbal flavors with spices, edible flowers, garlic, citrus, and other botanicals prepare easy recipes for mixes, salts, rubs, pestos, oils, vinegars, butters, sugars, dressings, teas, herb-infused beverages...and much more!
Join Margaret Feinberg, one of America's most beloved teachers and writers, as she sets out on a remarkable journey to unearth God's perspective on food. What you discover will forever change the way you read the Bible--and approach every meal. This groundbreaking book provides a culinary exploration of Scripture. You'll descend 400 feet below ground into the frosty white caverns of a salt mine, fish on the Sea of Galilee, bake fresh matzo at Yale University, ferry to a remote island in Croatia to harvest olives, spend time with a Texas butcher known as "the meat apostle," and wander a California farm with one of the world's premier fig farmers. With each stop, Margaret asks, "How do you read these Scriptures, not as theologians, but in light of what you do every day?" Taste and See teaches us that: As we break bread, we find the satisfaction of our deepest hungers in the community our souls crave As we share our lives, we taste and see God's fruitfulness When we're tempted to lose heart--and we all will be--we find courage in listening to and participating in stories of God's rescuing ways In the midst of a busy life, we can all create space to taste and see God's goodness Taste and See is a delicious read that includes dozens of recipes for those who, like Margaret, believe some of life's richest moments are spent savoring a meal with those you love. See you around the table! Praise for Taste and See: "Margaret Feinberg's appetite for the feast of His grace makes you hunger for more of a fulfilling life. Read and taste the richest food for the soul!" --Ann Voskamp, bestselling author of WayMaker and One Thousand Gifts "Margaret is a storyteller who never ceases to see the beauty of the world around us. If you love God, good food, and life around the table, this book will take you on an unforgettable culinary journey through the Bible." --Jennie Allen, bestselling author of Get Out of Your Head and founder of IF:Gathering
When an accident obliterated Molly Birnbaum's sense of smell, it also destroyed her dream of becoming a chef, and sent her instead upon a brave and uncertain mission to reawaken her nose. Writing with emotional honesty, intellectual curiosity, and a foodie's feel for descriptive precision, she explores the science of olfaction and pheromones, ponders Proust's madeleine and her own scent memory, and quizzes psychologists, perfumiers, and ice-cream inventors, all in an effort to overcome her condition. From cinnamon and cedarwood to bacon and her boyfriend's shirt, we follow Molly as she gradually rediscovers the scented world and captures in apt, piquant words the rich layer of life that tends to be wordless.
'Life Kitchen is a celebration of food' Lauren, Sunderland 'The recipes are just really simple, really easy and delicious' Carolyn, Newcastle 'His book is better than a bunch of flowers because it's going to last forever' Gillian, Sunderland Ryan Riley was just eighteen years old when his mum, Krista, was diagnosed with cancer. He saw first-hand the effect of her treatment but one of the most difficult things he experienced was seeing her lose her ability to enjoy food. Two years after her diagnosis, Ryan's mother died from her illness. In a bid to discover whether there was a way to bring back the pleasure of food, Ryan created Life Kitchen in his mum's memory. It offers free classes to anyone affected by cancer treatment to cook recipes that are designed specifically to overpower the dulling effect of chemotherapy on the taste buds. In Life Kitchen, Ryan shares recipes for dishes that are quick, easy, and unbelievably delicious, whether you are going through cancer treatment or not. With ingenious combinations of ingredients, often using the fifth taste, umami, to heighten and amplify the flavours, this book is bursting with recipes that will reignite the joy of taste and flavour. Recipes include: Carbonara with peas & mint Parmesan cod with salt & vinegar cucumber Roasted harissa salmon with fennel salad Miso white chocolate with frozen berries With an introduction from UCL's taste and flavour expert Professor Barry Smith, this inspiring cookbook focusses on the simple, life-enriching pleasure of eating, for everyone living with cancer and their friends and family too. 'This book is a life changer: this is not gush, but a statement of fact' Nigella Lawson