Taste Buds And Molecules: The Art and Science of Food, Wine, and Flavor

by François Chartier

"If Catalan superchef Ferran Adria is the leading missionary of molecular gastronomy, Mr. Chartier is his counterpart with a corkscrew."— Globe and Mail This award-winning book, now available for the first time in English in the U.S., presents a cutting-edge approach to food and wine pairing. Sommelier Francois Chartier has spent the better part of two decades collaborating with top scientists and chefs to map out the aromatic molecules that give foods and wines their flavor. Armed with the results of his extensive research, Chartier has been able to identify why certain foods and wines work well together at a molecular level. In this book, he has gathered his findings into a simple set of principles that explain how to create ideal harmonies in food and wine pairings. This new approach to the art and science of food and wine pairing will be an invaluable resource for sommeliers, chefs, and wine enthusiasts, as well as a fascinating read for anyone who is interested in the principles of modernist or "molecular" cuisine. The Canadian edition of Taste Buds and Molecules was a 2011 IACP Award nominee, and the original French-language edition, Papilles et Molecules, was named the Best Cookbook in the World in the category of Innovation at the 2010 Paris World Cookbook Awards, and also won the 2010 Gourmand Award for Canada for Best Design. The book includes a foreword by Juli Soler and Ferran Adria of El Bulli, who worked closely with Chartier in planning the menus at their renowned restaurant.

Genres: Food, Wine, Science, Cookbooks, Nonfiction, Culinary, Food Science

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Lau Malbec · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ya lo dice el subtítulo “La ciencia aromática de los alimentos y el vino” Papilas y moléculas, libro recomendadísimo. Excelente guía para lograr cada vez mejores maridajes 🙌

[Frédéric Bourgeon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an inspiring dive into taste, cooking, wine-matching (or should I say meal-matching since the author suggests to go the other way around - wine first) and science. This book is largely supported by in-depth research and confirms long-time associations with a scientific approach.

Sometimes I felt there was a lot of repetition in the book, but it's due to its (pretty much) independent chapters that are, for most of them, self-sufficient.

In the French-speaking edition, the amount of typos and wrong syntax upset me from time to time, the the writing style of M. Chartier is pretty heavy and would be better if sentences were shorter and the organisation of text was improved for the second opus of Papilles et Molécules (Taste buds and molecules in English).

Although, this is a major piece for any amateur or professional cook who would like to acquire more knowledge of the "why" of taste.

[Rin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Generally I am not a big non-fiction person and I am only interested in it if it's a subject that I really love, food being one of those subjects. I want to like this book but I couldn't even finish it. It has no less that FOUR introductions, and in the first chapter the writer keeps going on and on and on about how he created his field of knowledge and how he has so many years of experience and how amazing he is... I couldn't even focus on the material because it was just so damn annoying!

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am fascinated by the flavors and aromas of wines and foods. This book ties so many things together in such an artistic and scientific way. I find it is often a go-to reference for inspiration when I am looking to create a recipe or a pairing.
It's also just pretty. I love the layout of the book and the graphics.

[Alina Yasnaya · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really interesting and engaging book about pairing the unpairable.

[Marinach.20 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es un libro muy intenso y que necesitas mucha concentración para poder entender algo, si no tienes mucha idea sobre vinos no lo recomiendo.

[Eileen Kosasih · Rating 2 out of 5]

not a lot of actual concrete information and the research seems selective. there are some takeaways. lots of fluff and smoke blowing to sift through. the edition i have is pretty.

[uosɯɐS · Rating 3 out of 5]

If cooking were actually a hobby of mine, I probably would have liked this book much better. The recipes sounded good - although I wouldn't know where to buy most of those ingredients here. It really read more like a reference book for an advanced, avante-garde, chef. But, based on the title, I was expecting a pop-science book. It did not live up to that expectation, since there was very little "how" type explanations, just long lists of flavors/ingredients, and molecular named without even any chemical discussion of what those molecules are. Very little discussion of the physiology of tastebuds either, beyond the basic categorization of tastes and the fact that volatile compounds are what are detected by our sense of smell, which overlaps strongly with out sense of taste. I already knew that (though it had not occurred to me that alcohol increases the volatility of all substances, which can increase flavor). This books was really more about contemporary sommellerie (the pairing of food and wines). The title didn't say ANYTHING about wine. Now I do want to eat at eBulli sometime, though. I wouldn't have know about that without this book.

[Hypatia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't really read this in the end, just skimmed it. It's a really interesting book I think. The basic idea is that when you're creating a menu and wine pairing, you should think about all the foods in the dish, not just the main component. So by pairing wine, meat, vegetables, and seasoning elements that all have the same kinds of flavours, you get more appealing dishes than with the traditional red meat = red wine pairing. There are recipes in the book, but they're more outlines or suggestions, so only useful if you're already comfortable in the kitchen.

Although the book has some really interesting ideas, it's either really poorly written or really poorly translated. The structure is stilted, and jumps around a lot, which made it very difficult to actually read. Still, a useful addition to my kitchen library.

[Elle C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating book, I feel it is essential reading for people who loves wine and loves to cook. It makes connections between food and wine with similar molecules for instance the best wine to take to a sugar shack (cabana a sucre) is strangely sake, because of similar molecular compounds. I do not do the book justice. Read it.

[Mark]

"In this work, I am introducing the first results of my scientific and gourmet research on wine and food pairing and molecular sommellerie." Author's intro. Um, not what I thought; not for me.

There are very small bits that might be useful for a deeper study of flavors but is truly wine-focused, and also a lot of meat-focused dishes.

[Ewan Henderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible book for anyone interested in food alcohol pairings, ground-breaking, insightful with science, an inspiring read for any foodies. In my top 5!

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but the focus on wine pairings is completely over my head.