Eight Flavors: The Untold Story of American Cuisine
I first saw Sarah Lohman speak as part of The Masters of Social Gastronomy a two person food seminar in Brooklyn on the history of BBQ. It was a great presentation and since then I've heard her speak about the history of sourdough bread as well as Chinese Takeout. When I found out she had written a book I instantly asked for an advanced review copy to read through and she was nice enough to send me one.
Her book is Eight Flavors: The Untold Story of American Cuisine and it is a fascinating deep dive into 8 different flavors from American cuisine, where they come from, and how they got adapted into American cooking. Sarah manages to share all this info in an engaging and entertaining manner...making the reading go fast while making you very, very hungry!
She covers many flavors that I would agree are heavily used in American cuisine, such as pepper, vanilla, and garlic. However, my favorite chapters were the flavors I didn't realize have been used here for centuries. The main ones that stood out were:
- Soy Sauce - used and made in America for 200+ years
- Chile Powder - invented in the 1800s in Texas
- Curry Powder - appeared for in an American cookbook for the first time along with ice cream...if ice cream is "American", so is curry powder!
As a country of immigrants with a cuisine taken from around the world, it was great discovering how much diversity we have had in our cooking over the years and how many "trendy" flavors have actually been here for as long (or longer!) than apple pie!
In addition to all the historical information, Sarah also discusses several long-ago recipes for each flavor and even provides several updated versions for today's cook.
I highly recommend this book to anyone that likes learning about the history of our food and culture. It's a really fun book to read while still being real informative. You can find it online at Amazon.com.
Do you have a favorite flavor? Let me know in the comments!
Related Amazing Food Made Easy Articles
All tags for this article:
This article is by me, Jason Logsdon. I'm an adventurous home cook and professional blogger who loves to try new things, especially when it comes to cooking. I've explored everything from sous vide and whipping siphons to pressure cookers and blow torches; created foams, gels and spheres; made barrel aged cocktails and brewed beer. I have also written 10 cookbooks on modernist cooking and sous vide and I run the AmazingFoodMadeEasy.com website.
Affiliate Disclaimer: Some links on this site might be affiliate links that if used to purchased products I might receive money. I like money but I will not endorse something I don't believe in. Please feel free to directly go to any products I link to and bypass the referral link if you feel uncomfortable with me receiving funds.
If so, please join the more than 19,000 people who receive my exclusive newsletter and get a FREE COPY of my printable modernist ingredient cheatsheet.
Just click on the green button below!
Get Started!
Thanks for signing up! I look forward to sending you recipes, links, and exclusive content and offers that you can't find anywhere else on the site, and I'll send you a free copy of my modernist ingredient cheatsheet too!
Enter your first name and email below, and I'll see you on the inside!
Thanks for signing up! I look forward to guiding you through the process of discovering sous vide with amazing articles, recipes, and tips and tricks you can use to impress your friends and family by turning out amazing food time and time again!
Enter your first name and email below, and I'll see you on the inside!
