Eight Flavors

Starred review from October 31, 2016
Food writer Lohman uses eight key flavors to launch an entertaining tour through the tastes that have made American food the “most complex and diverse cuisine on the planet.” The story of America’s embrace of black pepper, vanilla, curry powder, chili powder, soy sauce, garlic, MSG (monosodium glutamate) and sriracha demonstrates how travel, immigration, science, and technology continue to influence what Americans eat. From her opening story of John Crowninshield of Massachusetts, who returned to the U.S. from Sumatra with commercial quantities of black pepper in the early 19th century, to her rousing defense of MSG, Lohman’s thoughtful, conversational style and infectious curiosity make the book wholly delightful. As a bonus for enthusiastic amateurs, Lohman includes well-researched historic recipes, such as Thomas Jefferson’s vanilla ice cream. This Founding Father was responsible for introducing the noble dairy treat to the country, via the French chef he brought home with him in the 1780s. A more modern but equally heroic tale is that of sriracha, invented in California by an immigrant, David Tran. Tran named his company, Huy Fong Foods, after the refugee ship he and his family fled Vietnam on—a Panamanian freighter called the Huey Fong. Lohman’s book gives fascinating new insight into what we eat.

October 15, 2016
A tasty historical study of flavorful mainstays of American cuisine.Serving as a culinary archaeologist of sorts, this self-described food historian and blogger raided spice cabinets and pantries across the U.S. to produce this fascinating overview of what she believes to be the eight major flavors of the land: black pepper, vanilla, chili powder, curry powder, garlic, soy sauce, monosodium glutamate, and Sriracha (the only questionable inclusion, but Lohman makes a convincing case). In her ambitious attempt to characterize American cuisine, the author found it essential to identify commonalities among the disparate regions and ethnicities that have flourished here. She accomplished this by combing old cookbooks and researching past and present consumption patterns in the U.S. She admits that there are really 10 dominant flavors in the U.S., but "so much" has been written about chocolate and coffee as to warrant their exclusion here. The author's decision to isolate popular flavors, as opposed to assessing common dishes or particular cooking techniques, allowed her to focus on the history and growth of their influence on the American palate, making this account often as much about the men and women responsible for introducing each flavor. Thus readers will find a treasure trove of spicy trivia, ranging from staggering statistics on the amount of black pepper sold in the U.S. each year--158 million pounds--or how much garlic is consumed--annually, two pounds per person--alongside entrepreneurial tales like that of the Chili Queens of San Antonio, whose namesake dish sold daily on Alamo Plaza inspired German immigrant William Gebhardt to try to emulate it and led to his invention of a dry chili powder patented in 1897. Lohman also tells the moving back story of how the modern cultivation of vanilla derives from a pollination technique developed by Edmond Albius, a slave, and exposes and attempts to debunk how MSG, the defining savory taste of umami isolated by 20th-century biochemist Kikunae Ikeda, came by its bad rap. A tantalizing look at flavors of the American table that foodies will absolutely devour.

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July 1, 2016
As a historical gastronomist, Lohman has worked her way through cookbooks, manuscripts, and various economic, scientific, political, and religious tracts dating from the 1700s to understand what's cooking in America. And despite our tremendous ethnic and consequently culinary diversity, she has determined that American cuisine is defined by eight flavors: black pepper, vanilla, curry powder, chili powder, soy sauce, garlic, MSG, and Sriracha. Just not all at once.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2016
Every culture across the globe is uniquely characterized by its cuisine. The food of American culture is distinct in that it has been notably influenced by the myriad ethnicities residing throughout the country. Lohman, a historical gastronomist, presents the eight flavorsblack pepper, vanilla, chili powder, curry powder, soy sauce, garlic, monosodium glutamate, and srirachathat are utilized most often in American cookbooks from 1796 to 2000. Each chapter focuses on one flavor and gives a well-researched historical context, along with a dash of Lohman's own personal experiences with the flavor, from teaching a black-pepper tasting class to helping work a chili food truck to attending a multicourse garlic degustation. Historical and interestingly updated recipes that feature each flavorsuch as Thomas Jefferson's French Vanilla Ice Cream, Soy Sauce Chocolate Mousse with Fruit Compote, and the Rosemary House Garlic Carrot Cakeare sprinkled throughout the text. This delicious history of these now-ubiquitous ingredients will have readers savoring each page and licking their lips for a taste for more.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)