Culinary Artistry
Back near Thanksgiving, my friend Tom reminded me of a book I had bought a while before, but hadn't much looked at since (this occasionally happens with food books; I have enough that not all are as well-read as I would like). The book was Culinary Artistry by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page. I re-examined it, and it is now a common reference.
The front portion of the book tries to answer the question "Is Food Art?" The authors collected opinions from chefs around the world, and tried to assemble them into a greater whole. They don't come down on any one particular side of the issue, but instead they provide more fodder for debate. It's a tough question, to be sure. I tend to be in the "for the most part no, but every now and then yes" camp.
But the bulk of the book has you thinking about how food works and how one should think about preparing it, and it is this that I turn to again and again these days. In particular, the book features an extensive flavor pairing chart that showcases ingredients that various chefs have found to work well together. There are often names of dishes from different chefs, and every now and then recipes, but for the most part it's about giving you the information about good flavor pairings and letting you work from there.
Here's an example of how I used it recently. We got a pomelo in our first produce box from a local farm, and knowing it was like grapefruit, I looked up grapefruit and I saw fish and mint (among other things). Fish, grapefruit. Suddenly I thought of a pomelo salsa, perhaps garnished with mint. Now take a look at our dinner party with Reza, James, Jean, and Dan. Anything about that opener sound familiar? (Incidentally, for those bakers out there, Regan Daley's In the Sweet Kitchen has a similar extensive flavor pairing chart which is more focused on sweets). When I looked up carrots, I found ginger and almonds; check out the amuse-bouche from that same menu. Actually, most of that dinner party was done without recipes with combinations I was inspired by from this book.
Other sections are illuminating. Contrasting courses in a menu (note how at that same dinner party I went from spicy to earthy and back to spicy a few times). How chefs have evolved over time. Sample menus that have worked well. There's lots of good information here, and I discover new items every time I open the book.
For you serious cooks who want to break free of recipes and do your own thing, I think Culinary Artistry is a great reference.
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