Flavor: The Science of Our Most Neglected Sense

by Bob Holmes Narrated by Jonathan Yen

Overview

Can you describe how the flavor of halibut differs from red snapper? How Brie differs from cheddar? For most of us, unfortunately, the answer is: badly. Flavor remains a vague, undeveloped concept we don't know enough about to describe-or to appreciate-fully.



In Flavor, Bob Holmes shows us just how much we're missing. He tackles questions like why cake tastes sweetest on white plates, how wine experts' eyes fool their noses, and how language affects flavor. He peers over the shoulders of fascinating food professionals engineering the perfect snack, chefs seeking surprising new flavor combinations, and even mathematicians pursuing the perfect pizza topping. He reveals how we can all sharpen our senses using professional techniques to name and describe flavors articulately.



Whether you're someone who likes to cook creatively, delve into cutting-edge science, explore nutrition trends, or just to eat, Flavor will open your mind and palate to a vast and exciting sensory world.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

★ 02/27/2017
In this mouthwatering work, New Scientist correspondent Holmes turns the kitchen into a laboratory, probing the nature of gustatorial delight to find better ways to think and talk about the foods we enjoy (or don’t). Holmes opens by carefully walking readers through what flavor actually is, which turns out to be much more than just the sense of taste. Taste is vital because it helps a person detect immediately what will supply carbohydrates (sweet), electrolytes (salt), and protein (umami) while avoiding poisons (bitter) and food that has gone bad (sour). Most people understand that scent is a component of flavor, but sight, sound, touch, and even mental states such as expectation play into the way we perceive our foods. Holmes also addresses the ways in which flavor potentially affects appetite, as scientists remain undecided on that question. He takes a fascinating and mildly disturbing foray into the industrial flavor industry and shares what gives certain foods their particular flavor. He concludes by taking a look at the way chefs and amateurs cooks combine flavors. He encourages gastronomic appreciation, since “almost anyone can get better at appreciating flavor.” As Holmes runs through terrific experiments and describes strange technologies, he makes food science fun and approachable. (Apr.)

Wall Street Journal

"Fascinating…Flavor, as Bob Holmes demonstrates elegantly, exists nowhere but in the mind of the eater."

Bill Bryson

"Endlessly fascinating. A terrific book."

Avery Gilbert

"I learned a lot while reading Flavor. Bob Holmes is a genial, well-informed guide to the rapidly evolving world of flavor and food design. From microbreweries to research labs, he captures all the key players: their personalities and passions come through clearly in this engaging tour of the field."

From the Publisher

"[A] mouthwatering work . . . As Holmes runs through terrific experiments and describes strange technologies, he makes food science fun and approachable." ---Publishers Weekly Starred Review

From the Publisher - AUDIO COMMENTARY

"[A] mouthwatering work . . . As Holmes runs through terrific experiments and describes strange technologies, he makes food science fun and approachable." —Publishers Weekly Starred Review

Library Journal

03/15/2017
Is there anything objective about flavor? Why are we the only species to season our food? Science journalist Holmes interviews flavor chemists, neuroscientists, sommeliers, and chefs in an attempt to learn more about our sense of taste and how it links to our sense of smell. This journey takes him to such places as University of Pennsylvania's Smell and Taste Center and IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Center, but most fascinating is a tour of flavor and fragrance manufacturer Givaudan, and the author's efforts to sample various peppers to understand "chili burn." In analyzing common flavors (salty, sweet, sour, bitter, and umami), Holmes discovers flavor lives in the mind; an attractive presentation causes a meal to be perceived as more flavorful. Relying on interviews and primary sources, Holmes addresses the stigma of processed foods and "artificial flavors," the resulting rise of misleading labels such as "natural," and how premature harvesting has affected the supermarket tomato among other fruits and vegetables. VERDICT Foodies who enjoyed Mark Schatzker's The Dorito Effect, Michael Pollan's Cooked, and Michael Moss's Salt Sugar Fat will gravitate toward this scientific yet accessible and humorous take on food and wine.—Stephanie Sendaula, Library Journal

MAY 2017 - AudioFile

Narrator Jonathan Yen brings an expressive reading to a scientific subject that remains an elusive concept, difficult for many of us to verbalize: flavor. Scientific works can sometimes prove difficult to follow in the audio format, but Yen's enthusiasm helps to keep the information fresh as he describes the intricacies of cutting-edge research into flavor, including such contributing factors as olfaction and the way individuals perceive flavor. Yen's use of accents for some of the scientists consulted throughout the book seems like a superfluous touch, occasionally distracting from the material at hand. Overall, however, listeners are sure to learn some fascinating facts and pick up some tips for how to enhance flavors in their everyday lives. S.E.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

2017-02-20
An introduction to what flavor is and how we experience it.In the early chapters, Holmes, a longtime correspondent for New Scientist and an avid cook, gets a bit bogged down in the biology of taste, resulting in a slow narrative pace during his discussions of odor receptors, retronasal olfaction, and genetic differences in taste perception. Matters pick up, however, in the third chapter, "The Pursuit of Pain," in which the author turns away from taste and smell and explores another aspect of flavor: burn. Holmes blends accounts of his interviews with researchers with his own experiences testing the fire levels of various chili peppers, a narrative pattern he follows in later chapters. In the next chapter, "This is Your Brain on Wine," he recounts experiments that reveal the importance of factors such as the color and weight of the crockery or the sound the food makes in the mouth. He also reports that researchers are finding that the brain binds together inputs from many sensory channels to create the sensation of flavor. In other chapters, Holmes takes up the problems of keeping flavor in certain crops, such as tomatoes and strawberries, the development of appealing ready-to-eat meals for the military, and how flavor affects food intake. The author chronicles his visit to the Culinary Institute of America to see students learning how to create flavor in the kitchen. He also spent time with scientists working in the modern flavor industry, chemists who take flavors apart and build them up again to enhance processed foods. Among the odder experiments conducted by the author, who often put himself front and center, was decanting wine into his kitchen blender to see how it affected the flavor; the results are intriguing. An uneven work, but some of the chapters could have lives of their own as entertaining magazine pieces.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170494002
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	04/25/2017
Edition description:	Unabridged

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