How to Taste: The Curious Cooks Handbook to Seasoning and Balance, from Umami to Acid and Beyond with Recipes

by Becky Selengut

This engaging and approachable (and humorous!) guide to taste and flavor will make you a more skilled and confident home cook

How to Taste outlines the underlying principles of taste, and then takes a deep dive into salt, acid, bitter, sweet, fat, umami, bite (heat), aromatics, and texture. You'll find out how temperature impacts your enjoyment of the dishes you make as does color, alcohol, and more. The handbook goes beyond telling home cooks what ingredients go well together or explaining cooking ratios. You'll learn how to adjust a dish that's too salty or too acidic and how to determine when something might be lacking. It also includes recipes and simple kitchen experiments that illustrate the importance of salt in a dish, or identifies whether you're a "supertaster" or not. Each recipe and experiment highlights the chapter's main lesson.

How to Taste will ultimately help you feel confident about why and how various components of a dish are used to create balance, harmony, and deliciousness.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction, Food, Culinary, Food and Drink, Food Writing

240 pages, Hardcover

Published March 13, 2018

Reviews

[Gphatty · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was really well written -- though I am not a big fan of the lighthearted, confessional tone the author uses during the book. (It's fine, just not my cup of tea.) Where this book shines is the thought and care behind breaking down the basic principals of taste - plus adding some additional concepts that are are also important to the enjoyment of food -- while providing not only proper recipes, but experiments that will allow the reader to figure out their own words for what she is describing.
Favorite moment: after many chapters of describing different tastes, and how to alter or set them, she confesses that she has a slight allium allergy, and that she uses a most of the principals discussed in the book to make flavorful food that she can enjoy. Waiting until 3/4's of the book to divulge this was smart, and she knows it (she said it was purposeful.) It teaches valuable lessons without being dogmatic. Very well done -- and I have been inspired to run workshops on these concepts at my library. Should be fun.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everybody knows that humans can distinguish only four tastes: salt, acid, sweet and bitter. It says that in the Book of Leviticus. Then the Japanese, who think their palates to be congenitally superior to everybody else's, added a fifth taste: umami. Becky Selengut, who is a Seattle chef and a local teacher of cooks, says there are lots more than just those, maybe even eleven! In writing a book about how to taste food and how to make food taste good, she identifies ten "tastes" and a number of other factors affecting the gustatory experience: salt, acid, sweet, fat, bitter, umami, aromatics, bite, texture and everything else (colour, booze, temperature, sound and good service/good company). She devotes a chapter to each of these and amplifies her exposition in a variety of ways. She offers recipes which illustrate; she suggests kitchen experiments for those who learn best that way. Although this is not a recipe book, there are plenty of recipes. Although this is not a science book, there is plenty of food science. It is more like a book about cooking theory. The idea here is two-fold: if you know how to balance tastes, your food will be more appetizing and enjoyable; if you know how to analyze imbalanced tastes, you will know how to correct your mistakes. All of this could easily become dreadfully heavy, the reading equivalent of swimming in gingerbread batter. Instead, Selengut uses humour to relieve the intensity of education. She is a gifted teacher, not in the pedantic sense but as someone who has gifts of encouraging, inspiring and guiding the reader. There is much here for the novice; there is plenty here for the veteran. It is unfortunate that the book's designer, Tony Ong, chose to print red letters on a pink background in places. The lack of contrast between the two hues makes the text difficult to read. It is also unfortunate that this book ended at 224 pages; some pleasures ought to be prolonged.

[Andrew Carr · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a similar vein to Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat this book talks about how food works, how to construct or change and adjust meals, and what the f*** 'season to taste' actually means.

This is a very handy book for aspiring cooks. It is well laid out, the experiments are interesting, and there are links to some video demonstrations online. Plus, the author has a punkish, self-deprecating style that makes it a fun book to learn from and never feel lectured by.

Recommended for those who hover over a dish on the stove and on tasting think 'it's good, but not great, how do i fix that'.

[Marzi Pecen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Skillful explanation of balancing flavor in a dish by trusting your own senses. Informative & casual style. Everyone who eats or cooks should read this.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Looking forward both to putting the author's flavour principles to work in my cooking and to finding out how many taste buds I have with blue dye!

[Alana McCool · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about what makes food taste good. Most times, if happen your food is "meh" it is a problem with salt, acid, sweet, or bitter. Only when happen you fix these problems you can say, maybe it needs some herbs or other things. This book teaches when for to use which. I think it is enough this book taught me how to use salt and always cook perfect scrambled eggs, but all the other parts are good also. The experiments teach how different things change a recipe so happen you can't say after, maybe it was not enough cumin. No, it was the salt. The recipes I think are more for west coast rich people, but I tried Salmon with Roasted Vegetables and I think this is the first time I really liked sweet potato forever. It always tastes too much sweet for me. But when mixed with enough salt, sour rice vinegar, sesame oil, and red pepper flakes it is really maybe the best. I will need to think about this when I make butternut squash soup this year. She is also right about fresh cilantro, basil, and parsley. These dried never are right.

Read this and you will never wonder about when to add salt again.

[La Crosse Public Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

How to Taste claims to be a cooking theory book, rather than simply a recipe book. The author clearly states that the intent with this book is to teach you how to cook using the basics of flavor and the science of taste, so that you can go on to apply these skills to anything you make.


I found the book to be an interesting, and quick, read. I have definitely put some of the ideas in it to use, especially using salt more readily. It does contain several recipes, and the ones I've tried were great. I would recommend it to any aspiring cooks, and veterans as well. You may just pick up a new tip.

~Peter, Library Assistant

[Tory · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is amazing! Have you ever cooked something that was fine but did not have that extra zing? Ever added too much salt? Too much fat? Becky Selengut explains how to figure out was is wrong with the dish and then what to do to correct it. Very easy to follow, with 'experiments' so that you can see how salt/acid/sweet/fat/bitter/umami/aromatics/bite/texture affect your dish. There are recipes at the end of each chapter that highlight the topic covered, but the real fun is with experimenting so that you can taste how you affect the dish with the various elements she describes.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is hands down the best "how to cook" book I've read. Instead of teaching you things like how to cut carrots into stars it teaches you how to use flavor to its full potential. My cooking improved dramatically after reading this once I understood how to properly use things like salt. I'm a vegetarian so I didn't try most of the recipes as they were largely meat-based, but the advice was sound and still very helpful. This is the one cookbook I'd recommend to everyone.

[Happyreader · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually salted a cup of black coffee because of this book - and, as promised, it cut the bitterness. Worth a read if you're looking for fun and tasty experiments geared towards making you a more imaginative creator of delicious, well-balanced meals.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Food will not taste the same after reading this book. Dining becomes an entirely new experience.
I am by far more a consumer than a preparer of food. I won't starve if left to my own cooking but I much prefer to be served.
This book has tempted me to experiment in the kitchen, as well as in my experiences dining in other places. After reading this book, I will be more aware of the entire environment and dining experience.
I enjoyed the explanations and discussion of experiments and results.
This is a book you will find yourself discussing with friends and reading passages aloud.

It is a combination cookbook, science textbook and social activity.
As opposed to other cookbook that draw people in with beautiful photos, the illustrations here are strictly for informational purposes. I will admit that the red print on a pink page did test my eyes if I attempted to read later in the day.

The author has a light, conversational style that I quite appreciated.
It is a book tha I will keep handy and refer back to on a regular basis.

I received this book through a Goodreads giveaway and am grateful to the author for this opportunity to review.
The rating, enjoyment and opinions are my own.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book and learned a lot! Accessible, conversational, energizing, and jam-packed with information that is already improving my cooking and my sensibility about how to balance tastes in a dish. The author includes tasting experiments where you build a recipe from the ground up and taste along the way to observe and learn particular cooking principles. I only did one of them (the spiced carrot salad) which was, by design, completely disgusting in the early stages and absolutely delicious by the end. I feel very inspired to cook and be bolder with my culinary choices as a result of this book. I think I have a similar sense of humor to the author which means I also thought the all jokes were funny.

[Tom Bantle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Selengut writes with humor and knowledge for ordinary folks who want to go beyond recipes and create delicious dishes that sing. Written in a down-to-earth style, Selengut allows the reader to analyse why she or he loves certain dishes. More importantly, it provides real-world solutions for mistakes, a real basis for making substitutions in recipes, and a guide to understanding how your individual taste is unique. Well worth reading by any cook who wants to understand flavors and to work to better his or her cooking. A quick and fun read.

[Brian Rogers · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was enjoyable and full of worthwhile information, but for reasons I can't identify reading it kept putting me to sleep, whereas my wife flew through it in a day.

it's definitely something I'll be revisiting as I experiment with cooking, so long as I have a spotter to keep me from passing out on the floor.

[Aisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars because it will be a reference for the way I think about flavorings, troubleshooting dishes, and other fun things like garnishes or how to balance what each item adds. This was written in a conversational style, which I found delightful and makes it feel like you're in a 1:1 class with Chef Selengut, rather than being dictated at by some old, stuffy rulebook.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book I’ll keep handy for reference. I never knew a book about taste and food prep could be so HILARIOUS! I sometimes think I learned as much from this book as I did from culinary school! :D Through a creative take on culinary writing, Becky Selengut produces an all-inclusive view of how to make our food memorable and exceptional.

[S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Its nice to read a book about how to balance the elements of food, rather than just a book of recipes. This book tells you why certain flavors are needed, what to do if you have too much of one, what foods harbor those tastes, and how you can experiment. There are a few recipes but mostly its lessons about food, with loads of humor mixed in :)

[Bussola Vespucci · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up this book from the library with the intention of flipping through it, reading highlights, and returning.

I was sucked into reading every word (even before I even got to the chapter with the South Park reference).

Now I'm going to have to buy the book.

[Serena · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun read - she makes some good jokes and I enjoyed her writing style. The ideas are all things I’ve heard but it was a nice reminder to look at the balance of flavors and make sure there’s enough salt in my cooking. Didn’t do any of the activities but maybe I will later.

[Gabs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Changed the way I thought about food and flavor. Turns out I have good instincts, I just didn’t think about the flavor long enough to improve it. Bonus points for her tone. I her humour got many chuckles out of me. Her description of an unripe persimmon made my tongue seize up.

[JoAnn M · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading about adjusting the taste of your culinary creations, but the recipes in the book were too hifalutin' for me.

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book. I learned much more than I expected and I think it's already improved my cooking. I would highly recommend it to anyone with any interest in cooking v

[Gerard · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's not so much a cookbook as it is a troubleshooting guide for cooking.

[Roan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick and fun to read. I learned things. Funny.

[Ariste Egan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Information that will change the way you cook!

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent book. I was looking for ways to not follow a strict recipe and this helps, but I need it in a card I can put on my fridge.

[LA Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must-read for home cooks and mindful eaters alike, filled with wonderful insights and some dandy recipes worth a try.

[Will Clemmons · Rating 3 out of 5]

A wee bit of information overload, but overall an informative read.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating, entertaining, educational book that teaches one to recognize and use the essential components of flavorful dishes.

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

She seems quite knowledgeable but she didn't format the knowledge in a way that made it easily actionable