Flavor Combos Quotes

“How was Houston?" I asked as he set me down.
Dad's warm brown eyes crinkled with his smile. "Hot. But the food was great, and I've got a lot to write about."
'What was your favorite bite?" I asked.
"Savory or sweet?" he asked, grinning.
"Savory first, then sweet," I said, grinning back.
"Well, I had an incredible pork shoulder in a brown sugar-tamarind barbecue sauce. It was the perfect combination of sweet and sour." Dad has an amazing palate; he can tell whether the nutmeg in a soup has been freshly grated or not.
"That sounds delicious. And the best dessert?"
"Hands down, a piece of pecan pie. It made me think of you. I took notes- it was flavored with vanilla bean and cinnamon rum. But I bet we could make one even better."
"Ooh," I said. "Maybe with five-spice powder? I think that would go really well with the sweet pecans."
"That's my girl, the master of combining unusual flavors.”
― Rajani LaRocca, Midsummer's Mayhem

“If he were a baked treat, he'd be a seven-layer bar- the perfect combination of sweet and salty, exotic coconut and homey caramel, and supported by a good, strong, buttery shortbread crust.”
― Rajani LaRocca, Midsummer's Mayhem

“After some experimentation, we put hot water in a measuring cup and dissolved the honeysuckle nectar by swirling the stems around.
When we were done with all the flowers, I tasted the golden liquid; it was sweet and fragrant. There wasn't much of the solution, though- we'd have to make a very small batch if we wanted the honeysuckle to be noticeable.
We measured out the dry ingredients and Vik whisked in a pinch of ground cloves while I creamed the butter with the sugar, and then added honey. We poured in the honeysuckle nectar and combined everything. Vik and I tasted the dough: it was sweet and spicy, the flavors in perfect harmony.”
― Rajani LaRocca, Midsummer's Mayhem

“The proper balance of sugar and salt was the key to perfect barbecue sauce. Of course, when it came to barbecue sauce, everybody had an opinion about the combination of acid, aromatics, fruit, and flavorings---the ineffable umami---that made each bite so satisfying.
But Margot Salton knew with utter certainty that it all started with sugar and salt. She'd even named her signature product after it: sugar+salt. This sauce was her superpower. Her secret. Her stock-in-trade. When she'd had nothing---no home, no education, no family, no means of support---she had created the powerful alchemy of flavors that made grown men moan with pleasure, cautious women ignore their diets, and skeptical foodies beg for more.”
― Susan Wiggs, Sugar and Salt

“The salty bacon and sweet caramel gave her gooey brownie a nice salty/sweet kick, and she wished she could bake them for her dad. He would have loved how she'd improved on her brownie recipe.”
― Amy E. Reichert, The Optimist's Guide to Letting Go

“One early morning last week, I walked through a terraced garden over the ocean, peeling a blood orange. It was a Taroco orange, or arancia rossa, brought from Sicily many years ago, its skin thin with a hint of blush, its flesh the color of a setting sun, its sweetness beyond that of any other orange."
Pursing his lips in remembrance, he went on, his voice rich with reverence and wonder. "The salt air on my lips, combined with the sweet juice, inspired this new effort. Try it for me. I'd love to know what you think."
Celina brought the dark chocolate-enrobed delicacy to her nose and inhaled, reveling in the juxtaposition of aromas. Biting into it, a complexity of flavors melted across her tongue. The intense aroma of blood orange with its singular sweetness... a bitter edge of dark chocolate with hints of tropical earthiness... a tart explosion of sea salt that intensified every flavor.”
― Jan Moran, The Chocolatier

“Now Ispahan is his most celebrated flavor combination, but by no means the only one. Over the years he's created macarons such as chocolate and passion fruit; raspberry and wasabi; peach, apricot, and saffron; white truffle and hazelnut; and olive oil and vanilla. They may sound funky, but trust me, they are all delicious.”
― Amy Thomas, Paris, My Sweet: A Year in the City of Light

“I looked expectantly to the window but there were no plates lined up. Instead Scott, the young, tattooed sous chef, passed me a sliver of tomato. The insides were tie-dyed pink and red.
"A Marvel-Striped from Blooming Hills Farm," he said, as if I had asked him a question.
I cupped it while it dripped. He pinched up flakes of sea salt from a plastic tub and flicked it on the slice.
"When they're like this don't fuck with them. Just a little salt."
"Wow," I said. And I meant it. I had never thought of a tomato as a fruit----the ones I had known were mostly white in the center and rock hard. But this was so luscious, so tart I thought it victorious. So----some tomatoes tasted like water, and some tasted like summer lightning.”
― Stephanie Danler, Sweetbitter

“I took a popsicle out of the freezers. It was her favorite---sugared violets, mint, and lime zest. The flowers were frozen in the translucent green popsicle, their gorgeous deep purple petals suspended amid tiny flecks of lime zest and a few sprigs of mint.”
― Rachel Linden, The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie

“But recently I'd been crafting some truly surprising and yummy combinations---elderflower limeade with clover blossoms, coconut water with rose syrup and candied rose petals, a strawberry-basil concoction sprinkled with marigold petals. I loved dreaming up unique combinations and then creating them. A few ingredients and a wooden stick. It was simple, local, and environmentally friendly. Not to mention delicious.”
― Rachel Linden, The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie

“As soon as she bit into it the lemon flavor burst in her mouth, immediately sweetened by the rosemary. The cornmeal didn't make the doughnut heavy or gritty, but gave it a light earthiness. It was so perfect in its lack of pretension, obviously designed not to impress but to comfort, to extend to the eater a genuine piece of affection.”
― Sarah Addison Allen, Other Birds: A Novel

“She took another bite of the kringle, appreciating how she tasted just the right combination of flaky, tender pastry and scrumptious filling in each bite. She could see the layers in the dough, but they didn't flake off like a turnover or croissant. The almond cherry filling and cream cheese glaze were the perfect balance of sweet and tangy. With a man who could bake like this, she could almost see herself in another relationship.”
― Amy E. Reichert, Once Upon a December

“The strong urge to give her the biggest hug I possibly could swamped me. But then our entrées came, and sorry, Alice, but they smelled so good I only wanted to hug them. Which I did not do, because then they'd be all over my shirt and not in my mouth. Which was the only place I wanted the beef roll, tender shreds of beef braised in garlic and ginger and soy sauce all chopped up and snuggled tightly inside a flaky, oniony, tender scallion pancake. The effect was something like beef Wellington, but better. Alice and I gobbled it down, using our fingertips to scrape up the last few flakes of pancake in the hot, peppery sauce.
Then we turned to the other dish. "Is this... a doughnut sandwich?" Alice asked, cocking her head and blinking.
"Yes," I said with relish.
Alice's entire face lit up. "Excellent."
And it was. From the outside, it looked like any normal glazed doughnut, shiny with hardened sugar and puffy from the heat. But the chef had sliced it down the middle and filled it with the most delightful combination of ingredients: a salty, savory aged prosciutto-like ham that melted in my mouth; little bits of tart, sweet pickled pineapple, leaves of grassy cilantro. Together, when they came into contact with the sweet, fluffy doughnut, everything crashed into a bite that was sugary and crunchy and tart and spicy and bright, so bright.”
― Amanda Elliot, Best Served Hot

“What are you planning for your mille-feuille?"
"I was looking into popular flavors of the Victorian era," Claire recited, just as she'd practiced in the mirror last night, "and I decided to use lemon and raspberry. So my pastry cream has lemon zest and a bit of lemon juice, and then I will layer fresh raspberries between stripes of cream between the pastry layers."
How are you making the pastry?" Alan pressed.
Claire swallowed, suddenly nervous. "Full puff. I found that it layers better than rough puff."
Alan gave her a nod of consideration. "Takes longer too."
"Are you concerned about the combination of two tart flavors?" Dame Sophie asked in a prim, almost trilling voice. "It can be quite a collision if you are not careful."
Claire nodded. "I tried a number of combinations, and this cream should have enough sweetness to counter the lemon. And fresh raspberries, I find, gave a better mouthfeel than freeze-dried or using an essence in the cream itself."
Lindsay leaned on the counter, her expression playful. "Tell me about the chocolate, Claire. C'mon, tell me you're using good chocolate."
"Of course I am," Claire told her with a laugh. "I'm doing a dark chocolate icing and marbling with the vanilla icing, instead of the other way around."
"Daring, Claire," Charlie praised, smiling in his usual would-be devilish way. "Turning history on its head, innit?"
Claire made a show of exhaling. "I'm going to try, Charlie, and hope not to offend history or the judges in the process.”
― Rebecca Connolly, The Crime Brûlée Bake Off

“Isabella gently guided her fork to the fish and lifted a piece of the pristine white flesh, lightly drizzled with Italian olive oil and dusted with fennel pollen, to her mouth. She closed her eyes as she tasted.
It was simple, but not simple in the pejorative sense. It tasted clean, like the fish had emerged from crystal-blue water already on a plate, just waiting to be enjoyed. The olive oil added depth, and the fennel pollen a floral whiff.
The fries were another story. They crackled under her teeth, and every bite was a salty surprise. There was a sprig of rosemary. There was a whole piece of lemon peel. Was that a caper she detected? There was also some kind of chili dusted on top, giving everything a capricious that kept making her go back for more.
The Pinot Noir was like drinking a plum that'd been reclining on a leather chair, and the trifecta of the fish, the fries, and the wine became for Isabella a lodestar, a benchmark against which she would measure all other meals.”
― Adam D. Roberts, Food Person

“Cassie perused the offerings, her mouth watering with excitement. Lemon cream, raspberry ricotta and meringue, Parmesan, creamed corn, cassis, persimmon, summer fig, bergamot, tiramisu, creamed coffee, watermelon cream... the list went on and on.
"Oh my god, how do you even decide?" Her head was spinning.
"Well, I like to do a combination. One fruit, one nut, one cream--- or chocolate, depending on my mood. So tonight I'm going to have wild strawberry, pistachio, and salted caramel. Pistachio is my constant. I always order it. It's my litmus test to judge the gelateria."
"Excellent strategy." She nodded and perused the case while Eamon ordered. She decided on Parmesan, fig, and blue honey with walnuts. "I'm going for the cheese plate combo," she joked.”
― Emily Arden Wells, Eat Post Like

“Once the soup stock was underway and infused with the desert silkie chicken, I dipped my spoon into the bubbling broth to test it. Warmth filled my stomach as I sipped. The rich, gamey flavor of the chicken rose above the simmering spices. A pleasant numbness tickled my tongue, and a puff of smoke emerged from my nostrils. The spiciness had a sour, savory dynamic that, combined with the ingredients I'd chosen, created a wonderfully complex profile.”
― Roselle Lim, Celestial Banquet

“Hey, what's that?" Jae reached past me and pulled a tub of honey butter out of the fridge.
"When Adeena was coming up with your drink, I was also playing around with how I could incorporate it into one of my bakes," I said. "It's great on the scones and with the corn and cheese muffins, but I haven't been successful with any of my experiments yet."
Jae glanced around the kitchen before grabbing a box of puffed rice cereal, several bags of marshmallows, and a container of mini mochi that I'd ordered but not used yet. I planned on incorporating them in a new dessert for Yuki's restaurant but hadn't had time to play around with them.
"What about honey butter mochi Rice Krispies Treats? My mom likes to dip fresh ddeok in honey, so I know it'll go well with the mini mochi since they're basically the same thing. But do you think it'll be too sweet with the marshmallows?"
"If I brown the butter and add a good pinch of salt, that should balance everything out," I said, picturing the flavor combinations in my head. "Or maybe some shiro miso for extra umami?”
― Mia P. Manansala, Death and Dinuguan