Synopses & Reviews
A New Way of Thinking About Food and Fragrance Turn a brilliant natural perfumer loose in a chef's kitchen and you get vanilla perfume, saffron, ginger, and blood orange bath salts, and a cucumber mist. Turn a brilliant chef loose in a perfumer's pantry and you get rose-infused steamed bass, peach-jasmine sorbet, and scores of other startlingly original recipes using floral and herbal aromas.
Aroma permeates every cuisine, from ancient to modern, in every culture and at every level, but what this pioneering cookbook, by chef Daniel Patterson and perfumer Mandy Aftel, makes evident is that aroma, not taste, is our primary experience of food. Without aroma there is no flavor. By focusing on aroma, we intensify all aspects of food, and immeasurably enhance the experience of cooking and eating.
While many cookbooks include some discussion of the use of aromatics in cooking, none concentrates on this essential link, where a few drops of a fragrant essence can make commonplace dishes memorable and good dishes great. Both the food recipes and the fragrance recipes in Aroma are powerfully alluring, whether it's a coffee cologne or an orange flower custard. Cumin vinaigrettes and lemon verbena mists waft off the page. Lavender makes a grilled steak sizzle while white ruffle makes for a haunting perfume.
Explicit information on ingredients, equipment, and terms and techniques complements one fragrance recipe and three food recipes for nearly thirty ingredients—lime, mint, green tea, black pepper, vanilla, and ginger, among others. This seminal work will open your senses to the aromatic, even sensual, dimension of food and fragrance.
Review
"Daniel Patterson is a poet and a revolutionary at the stove. Now with this daring new book, I'm delighted to find his terrific recipes combined with cutting-edge ideas concerning aroma." Paula Wolfert, author of The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen
Review
"I have always thought it important to engage all the senses when cooking
and eating. Mandy and Daniel truly understand this idea and have made it the basis
of this beautiful book. This is an inspiring collection of aromatic recipes." Alice Waters, Owner, Chez Panisse
Review
"Probably we shouldn't eat in the bath, though after reading Aroma, the thought did occur." Deborah Madison, author of Local Flavors,
Synopsis
Turn a brilliant natural perfumer loose in a chef's kitchen and you get vanilla perfume, saffron, ginger, and blood orange bath salts, and a cucumber mist. Turn a brilliant chef loose in a perfumer's pantry and you get rose-infused steamed bass, peach jasmine sorbet, and scores of other startlingly original recipes
using floral and herbal aromas.
Aroma permeates every cuisine, from ancient to modern, in every culture and at every level, but what this pioneering cookbook, by chef Daniel Patterson and perfumer Mandy Aftel, makes evident is that aroma, not taste, is our primary experience of food. Without aroma there is no flavor. By focusing on aroma, we intensify all aspects of food, and immeasurably enhance the experience of cooking and eating.
While many cookbooks include some discussion of the use of aromatics in cooking, none concentrates on this essential link, where a few drops of a fragrant essence can make commonplace dishes memorable and good dishes great. Both
the food recipes and the fragrance recipes in Aroma are powerfully alluring, whether it's a coffee cologne or an orange flower custard. Cumin vinaigrettes and lemon verbena mists waft off the page. Lavender makes a grilled steak sizzle while white truffle makes for a haunting perfume.
Explicit information on ingredients, equipment, and terms and techniques complements one fragrance recipe and three food recipes for nearly thirty ingredients lime, mint, green tea, black pepper, vanilla, and ginger, among others. This seminal work will open your senses to the aromatic, even sensual, dimension of food and fragrance.
Synopsis
While many cookbooks include some information about the use of aromatics in cooking, none concentrates on this essential link, where a few drops of a fragrant essence can make commonplace dishes memorable and good dishes great. Both the food recipes and the fragrance recipes are powerfully alluring, whether it's an orange flower custard, a cucumber mist, or a rose-infused sea bass.
Explicit information on ingredients, equipment, and terms and techniques complements one fragrance recipe and three food recipes for each of nearly thirty ingredients--lime, mint, green tea, black pepper, vanilla, ginger, and more. This seminal work will open the senses to the aromatic dimension of food and fragrance.
About the Author
Mandy Aftel, owner of Aftelier Perfumes, custom designs one-of-a-kind blends for individuals and formulates fragrances for private labels. Her book on natural perfume, Essence and Alchemy, won the Sense of Smell Institute's 2001 Richard B. Solomon Award.
Daniel Patterson opened a new restaurant in San Francisco in June 2004. Named one of America's Best New Chefs by Food & Wine, Patterson previously was chef-owner of Elisabeth Daniel (Best New Restaurant in the United States James Beard Foundation) and Babette's. He lives in San Francisco.
Table of Contents
Preface (9) Aroma, Emotion, and Memory (11)
Recipes By Category (12)
The Safe Use Of Natural Essences (17)
The Perfumer's Pantry (18)
The World of Natural Essences (19)
Fragrances and Carriers (21)
Useful Tools (22)
The Simple Art of Making Fragrances (24)
The Cook's Pantry (27)
Cooking with Essential Oils (27)
Ingredient Basics (28)
Useful Tools (30)
Cooking Terms and Techniques (31)
Refreshing
Spearmint (38)
Cucumber (44)
Lime (49)
Orange (54)
Lemon Verbena (59)
Herbal
Rosemary (68)
Tarragon (75)
Perilla (Shiso) (80)
Lavender (85)
Floral
Litsea Cubeba (94)
Chamomile (99)
Orange Flower (105)
Jasmine (110)
Rose (114)
Earthy
Coffee (124)
Cépe (129)
Truffle (134)
Green Tea (140)
Spicy
Cinnamon (148)
Black Pepper (153)
Ginger (158)
Cumin (164)
Coriander (169)
Luxurious
Cognac (176)
Vanilla (182)
Chocolate (187)
Saffron (191)
Pantry Recipes: Basic Recipes and Stocks (197)