Flavor

Starred review from February 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.

March 1, 2017
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.

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March 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

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2017
There are connoisseurs among us, those who can swirl a glass of wine and identify the vintage, or sniff a mushroom and discern when it was harvested. And then there are those of us who just like to eat; pass the fries, and where's the hot sauce? In this entertaining and highly readable overview of chemoreception sciences, still an emerging field, according to the author, readers learn that food preferencesand we all have them, based on our DNA, our physical peculiarities, our heritage, our experiences in utero and during weaningare based on a combination of sensations: taste, most certainly, but also smell, feel, texture, appearance, and memory. Chapters deftly summarize current research, addressing the physical and evolutionary aspects that explain why Western palates enjoy some foods (peanuts and beer) but not others (aged walrus meat). The final chapter anticipates flavors of the future while encouraging readers to savor the ever-expanding flavors currently available. Foodies will enjoy the anecdotes and should be able to handle the science; the science crowd will appreciate the solid presentation and should be able to handle the restaurant reviews. Everyone will be ready for a snack.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)