米其林主廚大師也讚不絕口的研究創意
研究如何結合各種食物，創造出絕妙滋味的風味事典
你曾經疑惑過為什麼某種風味就是能夠與另一項風味搭配？或是曾在面對一把甜菜根時，缺乏靈感而無從下手？《風味事典》是首本以兩兩一組的配對方式，檢視各種風味間搭配對味性的書籍。本書沿用《羅傑之詞彙寶庫》（Roget’s Thesaurus）的格式，在後半部份以字母順序列出九十九種常見食材，並提出每項食材之經典搭配食材，及其較不為人知搭配方式的建議。至於本書的前半部份，則涵蓋後半部所列每項風味配對的入門介紹，而且以「黑莓灌木風味」、「蔬菜草本風味」與「大地風味」等等十六項風味系列將所有風味分門別類。
本書共有九百八十篇入門介紹，其中還蘊藏了二百則食譜或使用建議。這些風味配對包括了經典的風味組合、現代的風味組合，以及饒富趣味的創意組合。經典的風味組合像是：「豬肉與蘋果」、「羊肉與杏桃」及「黃瓜與蒔蘿」等等；現代的風味組合則有：「巧克力與辣椒」、「龍蝦與香草」及「山羊乳酪及甜菜根」；饒富趣味但聽起來不太適合的組合則如：「血腸與巧克力」、「檸檬與牛肉」、「藍莓與菇蕈類」及「西瓜與牡蠣」。編寫精巧的《風味事典》不僅僅只是一本高度實用、能夠讓人廚藝大增的參考書，而且還是會讓你閱讀起來就欲罷不能的好書。
本書特色
詳細研究食物組合的風味，專業而十分易讀，會援引各種與該食物組合的相關歷史典故，或以音樂或詩比擬出創意風味料理的千般滋味。
台灣的飲食文化已日趨精緻、專業，書市上卻少有一本能淺顯、精煉地點出食物風味的書籍。本書甫出版不久，在台灣的廚藝烘焙的專業公司就已引入原文書，足見有一定的市場需求。
Unique, beautifully written and ceaselessly imaginative, The Flavor Thesaurus is a completely new kind of food book—inspired, as author Niki Segnit explains, by her over-reliance on recipes. "Following the instructions in a recipe is like parroting pre-formed sentences from a phrasebook. Forming an understanding of how flavors work together, on the other hand, is like learning the language: it allows you to express yourself freely, to improvise, to cook a dish the way you want to cook it."
The Flavor Thesaurus is the inquisitive cook's guide to acquiring that understanding—to learning the language of flavor.
Breaking the vast universe of ingredients down to 99 essential flavors, Segnit suggests classic and less well-known pairings for each, grouping almost 1,000 entries into flavor families like "Green & Grassy," "Berry & Bush" and "Creamy Fruity." But The Flavor Thesaurus is much more than just a reference book, seasoning the mix of culinary science, culture and expert knowledge with the author's own insights and opinions, all presented in her witty, engaging and highly readable style. As appealing to the novice cook as to the experienced professional, The Flavor Thesaurus will not only immeasurably improve your cooking—it's the sort of book that might keep you up at night reading.
Cooking is an art, like writing or painting, and great cooks are artists. And although the ultimate source of creativity remains elusive, all painters have their color wheel, all writers their vocabulary. And now, in the form of this beautiful, entertaining and exhaustively researched book, cooks have their own collection of essential knowledge: The Flavor Thesaurus.
★本書中譯版《風味事典：食材配對、食譜與料理創意全書》由商周出版發行。
作者簡介
妮姬．薩格尼特 (Niki Segnit)
英國《泰晤士報》美食專欄作家。驚覺自己對食譜的依賴程度後，激發了妮姬．薩格尼特（Niki Segnit）撰寫《風味事典》的想法。她擁有行銷背景，專精於食品與飲料的行銷，曾與多家知名糖果糕餅公司、點心食品公司、嬰兒食品公司、調味品公司、乳製品公司、酒類與一般食料等公司合作過。目前則為英國《泰晤士報》的專欄作家，並與先生住在倫敦市中心。
Niki Segnit had not so much as peeled a potato until her early twenties when, almost by accident, she discovered that she loved cooking. Much as she enjoys haute cuisine, she's not likely to attempt to reproduce it at home, preferring to experiment with recipes from domestic kitchens abroad. Her background is in marketing, specializing in food and drink, and she has worked with many famous brands of candy, snacks, baby foods, condiments, dairy products, hard liquors and soft drinks. She lives in central London with her husband.
