The Elements of Taste

by Gray Kunz, Peter Kaminsky

Wine lovers have long had a rich vocabulary to describe the complexity of wines, but gourmands have had no such lexicon-until now. To capture the ineffable experience of eating good food, and to explain why certain taste combinations work so well together. Chef Gray Kunz and Peter Kaminsky have identified the essential elements of great taste. Each of Kunz's 130 recipes builds upon the 14 fundamental taste building blocks and embodies the basic principles of great cuisine. The 14 tastes are divided into four tastes that pull out flavor (i.e. salty, sweet), tastes that push flavor forward (i.e. tangy, spiced aromatic), tastes that punctuate (i.e. picante, bitter) and platform tastes (i.e. meaty, oceanic). Grasping these food fundamentals will enable readers to think like chefs and create masterpieces of their own.Author

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Cooking, Nonfiction, Culinary, Food Science, Reference

272 pages, Hardcover

First published October 24, 2001

Reviews

[Marianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun to look at, not the kind of recipes I want to eat outside of being at a restaurant with a creative and limited menu.

[Gina Rheault · Rating 5 out of 5]

Philosophy of cooking, a step into the world of cooking not by someone else's recipe, but by working backwards from desired effects and navigating cooking via the desired tastes, much as Thai people tell me they navigate by balancing elements of salty, sweet, spicy, sour.

The Kunz/Kaminsky way posits fourteen elements of taste which: push (salty, picante, sweet), pull (tangy tinted, bulky, spiced aromatic, floral herbal, funky), punctuate (sharp, bitter) and serve as platforms (garden, meaty, oceanic, starchy).

I bought this book as I was evolving beyond recipes. I had tired of cookbooks, had learned basics from other greats in the kitchen, understood a bit of the chemistry, but had become more fascinated by the experience of building recipes and reflecting on the fundamentals of tasting, eating, and sharing food. Food for thought and thoughts for food. A keeper.

[Eva Luna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I checked this out from a awesome local library (of which i just became a supporter of, yay!) Lovely recipes, with a unique way of portraying the recipes. Instead of a long list of items you need and steps thereafter, this cookbook lists micro-recipes inside the main one, so you are able to get your mise en place in order before the serious cooking begins. Saturday I'll be trying out the crab and lemon thyme souffles with chervil sauce. Sunday we'll be having pan-seared scallops in a riesling broth with butternut. just counting down the days.

[Serge Pierro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book that revolves around a great concept of defining the tastes in food ala a wine review. My understanding of flavors and the progression of flavors was greatly enhanced by this book. I would have given it 5 stars, but the recipes tended to lean towards exotic ingredients that most people would not have access to. They should have led off each chapter with a "basic" recipe, to allow readers to partake in the experience, before wandering off to recipes that were more exotic in nature.

[Jenn Mar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book ten years ago, recommended to me by the bookseller at Green Apple, San Francisco, as a classic, must-have. I agree with him completely. This is the book that will teach you how to deconstruct the experience of eating, so that you learn about the artful techniques of cooking. Rocko DiSpirito kind of gives a nod to Gray Kunz in his own cookbook published years later, by breaking down his recipes into the elements of taste.

[Beth Lequeuvre · Rating 2 out of 5]

They said that other cookbooks had not explored the elements of taste before, I don't know what cookbooks they were reading but the ones I've read are most certainly aware of the elements of taste and how to properly layer flavors. As I flipped through the recipes, I realized this was just not MY taste.

[Jerrod Stephan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book by two very knowledgeable chefs, breaks down "Tastes" very unconventionably, and it works better than any other cookbook I've read.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

The actual elements of taste made sense, but I wonder why all the recipes sounded absolutely disgusting??

[Vbm923 · Rating 5 out of 5]

everything you could want in a cook book. great pictures, great food, great explanations. for professionals or hard core home cooks. a classic.

[jared]

Sound, general taxis of taste. key points in the experience of suggested recipes.