Book Review: The Flavor Thesaurus Review, and Cumin Smashed Potatoes

For February, the book club selection is The Flavor Thesaurus: A Compendium of Pairings, Recipes and Ideas. My The Flavor Thesaurus review, at a high level,  is that you should go in with the expectation that this is a reference book, not a cookbook.

Inside its covers, the London author Niki Segent, has compiled a list of 99 main flavors, which then translate into 99 chapters. In each chapter she explores how the chapters titular ingredient might play with the other 98. For each pair, the exploration is usually in a few sentences to perhaps a tangential story or referring to a general recipe guideline that might be 1/3 of a page.

Based on this, the book is not one you really can sit down and read. Instead, it is one you pick up to uncover some inspiration for some interesting flavor combinations.

For example, her highlight of chicken going with walnut was inspiring to me. She references the kormas of northern India which I have experienced before in thick luxurious sauces, but she also introduced the Turkish dish of Circassian chicken with shredded poached chicken at room temperature with a sauce of onions, garlic, ground walnuts, soaked bread and maybe ground coriander and cinnamon.

She also mentions satsivi from Georgia, with its walnut and spices sauces that is supplemented with sour flavorings like vinegar or pomegranate juice! I had never heard of these before, and it sounds incredibly interesting.

Other ah hahs included beef and cinnamon (citing a Elizabeth David recipe for pasticcio with beef ragu flavored with orange zest and cinnamon), blue cheese topping some mashed avocado on toasted brioche, cumin and potatoes or anchovy and potatoes (the latter exemplified by a dish called Jansson’s Temptation, a Swedish variation on potato dauphinoise), watercress with blue cheese (like with Stilton) and walnuts (say a walnut bread, and/or walnut oil), and the list goes on and on.

This is an excellent book to quickly look up when you have an ingredient you want to use and are looking to experiment with a little twist from what you know. There are not many recipes, and any that are listed are more very casually written like it is part of a conversation you are having- folded right into conversation of the paragraph summation of two flavors together.

So you will probably finding yourself searching online for more after an inspiration, as I’ll be doing with some of the examples I gave above, or just experimenting on your own. The book is definitely not showing you what or how to do anything, only offering ideas for you to grow for yourself with a few guiding hints to start your quest. If you are looking at this book as a start of thinking about what to make, and not to give you an actual meal, than the book will work for you.

I tried out one of the flavor combinations that was suggested- cumin and potatoes. The suggestion was simple- boil some potatoes, and then afterwards I roasted it in an olive oil with cumin. I used 4 medium sized potatoes, which can serve 2-4.

Flavor Inspiration: Crispy Cumin Smashed Potatoes

Ingredients:

• 4 medium sized potatoes, though you can also use half a dozen baby potatoes or a dozen fingerling
• 6 tablespoons of Olive Oil
• Ground Cumin – 3/4 tablespoon, divided into 1/2 and 1/4
• Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Boil the potatoes- your choice on whether you want to peel them or not, depending on the type of potato. I like them with the skin on, and in this case I was using gold potatoes. Start with cold water and the potatoes in a pot with enough water to just cover the potatoes and a bit of salt, and then bring to boil with no lid. You know they are done when you poke them with a fork and there is no resistance.
2. In a pan, heat the oil until it is hot but not smoking. Add 1/2 tablespoon of cumin and cook until fragrant, about one minute. If you’d like here, you can also add garlic
   
3. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. On a baking pan covered with aluminum foil, take the potatoes and using another pan or pot or other cutting board, smash the potato down to flatten it so it is maybe an inch tall. Now pour the cumin oil over the potatoes. Using a spatula, lift the bottom of each potato and tilt the pan so the oil coats both side. Because of the size of my potatoes, I used about 1 1/2 tablespoon for the top and bottom for each potato, but you may be able to make do with less depending on your potatoes if they are smaller. Sprinkle a little more cumin on top, as well as the salt. Do a few turns of the freshly ground pepper- you don’t want to use too much as you want the cumin to stand out.
   
4. Roast in the oven at 450 degrees F for 35 minutes or so until browned and crispy at various edges. Serve with your choice of protein- be it as breakfast potatoes with sunny side eggs to kickstart your morning, or at dinner with your protein and veggies.
   

I read this book as part of the online book club the Kitchen Reader. For our casual online club there is a new book selected for every month, each book is related to food, and members write a review on their blog during the last week of that month. If you are interested in joining, check out the website.

For February the book club selected reading is Below Stairs: The Classic Kitchen Maid’s Story that Inspired Upstairs, Downstairs and Downton Abbey by Margaret Powell.