The Flavour Thesaurus
by Stuart Clark
I wouldn’t say I’m an especially brilliant cook, but I do like to dabble. I’m less of a culinary wizard and more of a competent recipe-follower. And I like my recipes to be simple, tasty and unpretentious too. Think Jamie and Delia, rather than Nigella and Gordon.
I do most of the cooking in my house and over the years I’ve honed a few signature dishes. My lasagne is pretty sweet and my kedgeree always goes down well. I can do a mean chilli and I never have any complaints when I make a roast. I’ve learnt how to cook almost all of these dishes by reading books and following instructions.
But what I’d really like to be able to do is cook on instinct. You know how they do on Masterchef or Ready, Steady Cook, when the contestants get given a bag of random veggies, some meat or fish and a maybe a tin of this and that – then gets told to make something from it? That’s what I want to be able to do.
The thing is I realised early on that it’s not enough just to learn a whole bunch of recipes – you’ve got to understand flavours. You’ve got to be able to understand what goes with what. Why does a tomato taste so good with basil? Why do carrot and coriander marry so well together? And why is spinach and ricotta such a perfect match?
For years I’ve wanted a book that gave me the answers to all these questions and finally it has arrived. 
The Flavour Thesaurus by Niki Segent is “a unique compendium of flavour combinations” which offers “pairings, recipes and ideas for the creative cook.” It arrived from Amazon this morning and I haven’t been able to stop flicking through it all day.
For one thing, it’s set out just like one of my all-time favourite word-geek books – Roget’s Thesaurus. As it says on publisher Bloomsbury’s website:
“The back section lists, alphabetically, 99 popular ingredients, and suggests classic and less well known flavour matches for each. The front section contains an entry for every flavour match listed in the back section and is organised into 16 flavour themes such a Bramble & Hedge, Green & Grassy, and Earthy.There are 980 entries in all and 200 recipes or suggestions are embedded in the text.
It covers classic pairings such as pork & apple, lamb & apricot, and cucumber & dill; contemporary favourites like chocolate & chilli, lobster & vanilla, and goat’s cheese & beetroot; and interesting but unlikely-sounding couples including black pudding & chocolate, lemon & beef, blueberry & mushroom, and watermelon & oyster.”
The author actually spent twenty years working as a marketing executive, developing new brands, products and flavours for global companies like Unilever, KP, Lindt, Diageo, Coca-Cola and Cadbury – and her passion for both food and words shines through. Here’s what she says about Cucumber and Mint:
“Colder than a couple of contract killers. Add yoghurt, also know for its cooling properties, and you have a form of gastronomic air-conditioning found the length and breadth of the ‘tsatsiki belt’ that runs between India and Greece.”
I think this is going to be the first cookery book I’ll read from cover to cover. And if you see me with a Bacon and Apple salad at lunch next week, you’ll know why.
Tags: Bloomsbury, Cadbury, Coca-cola, Copywriting, Delia Smith, Diageo, Flavour Thesaurus, Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver, KP, Lindt, Marketing, Masterchef, Nigella Lawson, Niki Segent, Ready Steady cook, Roget's Thesaurus, Unilever
