My name is Erica and I’m on a self-taught journey to become a Flavor Master. I find flavors and how they work together absolutely fascinating. If you do too, I hope you’ll join me as I learn! After all, what good is a journey without company?
What is a Flavor Master?
Someone who is fully comfortable with flavors of all kinds, when any given ingredient inspires flavor pairings without needing to reference other sources. Is this an official term? Nope, not to my knowledge, but maybe someday it will be!
While I have no official affiliation to these books, one of my trusty sidekicks on this journey is The Flavor Bible. This book has been a game changer on how I approach flavors and cooking. I would never have been inspired to take this journey without it! The best way I can describe it is a flavor glossary; a book of ingredients. Each ingredient has lists of other ingredients that pair with it, crafted by chefs across the country and consolidated by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg.
I’m also using other great resources like The Flavor Matrix by James Briscione and The Science of Spice by Dr. Stuart Farrimond. The Flavor Matrix uses a more scientific approach based on compounds to determine what makes a great flavor combination. The Science of Spice concentrates on blending science for combining various herbs & spices. These are all amazing resources for a future Flavor Master.
Each recipe will be inspired by a specific flavor combination from these books, so look for the combination under the recipe title. Some recipes will be more simple and some will be more involved. It all depends on what inspiration I find in the flavor pairing. Want to find more recipes that use a specific ingredient? Look for any like ingredient recipes at the bottom of each post!
Not only do I want you to try the recipes I create along with me, I want to hear from you! As a fellow Flavor Master in training, what would you have made with the flavor combination? After all, part of this journey is learning from my community! I want to hear what YOU think would have been a good recipe to try. I may have thought blueberry and maple would be fun to try together in a muffin, you might think it would be great to try in an ice cream. Take the flavor pairings I’m using and find your own inspiration to take your own journey!
Want to make sure you never miss a flavor pairing as you learn to be a flavor master? You can follow me on my socials and sign up for my email list!
