The Flavour Thesaurus: pairings, recipes and ideas for the creative cook by Niki Segnit
I have dozens and dozens of cookbooks with more recipes than I could ever use in ten lifetimes. But I keep buying them more. Why?
I suppose because I just love thinking about new ideas and new combinations, it keeps the aging mind active, just like cryptic crosswords.
So what’s so special about this book?
I must have been attracted by the title first up. I love the fact that knowledge can be codified and organised, even though I am a most disorganised person myself.
Of course I also have a long term interest in pairing food and wine, so that is a prompt for me. The Thesaurus has very little about wine in it at all.
So what is in the Flavour Thesaurus?
The core of the book is 99 different ingredients, from Almond through Mushroom to Nutmeg to Smoked Fish to White Chocolate.
Each entry is arranged into themes just like in Roget’s book. There is a list of suggested pairings to another single ingredient. Some of these suggestions are merely descriptions of how and why the pairing would work. A considerable number include recipes. These are brief outlines rather than detailed instructions.
Recipes are gleaned from a galaxy of (British) celebrity chefs - Elizabeth David, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Keith Floyd, Nigella Lawson, Jamie Oliver, Claudia Roden etc.
How would you use it?
The great thing about the Thesaurus it that it encourages deep thinking about the virtues of each ingredient.
When you go to farmers market and see a lovely fresh ingredient you need to find a way to use without overwhelming it with thirteen competing flavours. Just a carefully chosen one or two is what you need.
If you have a abundance of cauliflowers, say, and are looking beyond the classic baked with cheese dish there are sixteen suggestions. For example you could serve a cauliflower puree with seared scallops, or you could add it to a saffron flavoured risotto Milanese.
The pros
There is a good coverage of the basic ingredients. Cheese is well covered, organised into separate sections for soft cheese, hard cheese, washed rind cheese, blue cheese and goat cheese. Seafood is separated into shellfish, oysters, white fish, oily fish, oysters and smoked fish.
Fruits, herbs and spices are given extensive coverage.
Like in its Rogets inspiration the entries in this work are classified thematically for browsing but there is an efficient system of cross referencing and indexing.
The real beauty of the book is the inspiration on every page. You are nudged into considering some way out combinations, tomato and blue cheese; anchovy and pineapple, bacon and banana.
The cons
This is definitely not a book for beginners. There are no instructions for basic culinary techniques.
I was most surprised to see that duck did not feature. Pork and prunes a combination I fell in love with years ago when touring the Loire misses out but there are nearly fifty other suggestions for pork. There are sections for black pudding and liver but none for tripe.
The verdict
The Flavour Thesaurus is one of a kind, comparisons with other cookbooks is impossible. I like the idea and its execution.
Too many recipes these days, in books and online publications have long lists of sometimes unobtainable ingredients.
If you are ready to explore simple dishes with just a couple of ingredients then you’ll find plenty of inspiration.
Get your copy
Buy this book from Book Depository
If you didn’t receive this post as an email, please subscribe to Darby’s Wine Newsletter
You will receive this weekly newsletter and if you wish you can join our Taste and Talk Zoom sessions
Taste and Talk Sessions
The next session will be held on Thursday 4 November at 5.30pm.
We will discuss What are the Most Vinodiverse Wine Regions in Australia?