Cooking for the Senses

The first half of the book describes every single vegetable and seasoning in detail. And then every single type of cooking utensil. In detail. With no pictures - just page after page of boring, excruciating text. An example for (a small part of) the entry for rice, after going through the history of rice, is ...

"Typical" white rice has many words to describe its flavour - MsGee mentions green, mushroomy, cucumber-like, popcorn, floral, hay-like - whereas brown rice has these attributes and the additional elements of vanilla and maple syrup!

I've eaten plenty of rice, and would never describe it as any of those. But if you do find white rice an explosion of taste, then this vegan cook book is for you. The rest of us mere mortals will suffice with having to add flavour and texture to white rice, I'd steer clear.

I  recieved a free digital copy of this book from Netgalley for an honest review.

More than the first half of the book is spent explaining different spices and herbs. Personally I felt that section dragged on too much.

The illustrations are delicious looking! I'm definitely going to be trying some of these recipes.
I didn't realize this was a vegan cookbook when I first picked it up, but the recipes sound amazing.
Smoky tomato soup, lemon and thyme radiatori potatoes and sunshine tomato sauce are among my favorite recipes.

This is the perfect book to read at the beginning of the year. The recipes seem so innovative, creative and new and the text that goes along with them only deepens the reading experience.

Having said this, there are some ingredients that will not seem familiar. In my opinion, many of these recipes call for an open, inquisitive and adventurous home chef. I may not be the cook who experiences all of these recipes firsthand in my kitchen but I am someone who would like to be. This book, for me, is like a waking dream. I can imagine myself, surrounded by friends in the kitchen....stirring, inhaling, anticipating. So if this book is more of a piece of fiction than a work that will become part of my autobiography, it will still feed me.

I wanted to like this book, I really did, but man does it ever drag on! I am an avid fan of studying neurogastronomy (I am a tea blogger, I spend a lot of time analyzing taste) and have many books just dedicated to describing various foods in detail (don't even get me started on my cheese books) but the even I found the introductory description of every ingredient tedious to read.

The recipes themselves were fine, but I was sick of reading when I finally got around to them. I am not vegan, but I do love reading cookbooks and the recipes looking delicious and being well described are this books saving grace.

I'm always looking for books I can recommend to nutrition clients that embrace a variety of dietary theories, such as veganism. This book had too many issues for me to recommend it and I struggled to finish it. I enjoyed the information on how different cultures pair flavors, and the emphasis on making meals a sensory experience. I also appreciated the information on different foods, but some sections offered unnecessary personal stories and details instead of focusing on sensory elements, how to cook with each food, and complimentary herbs/spices. In fact, I was surprised by how long it took to get to the actual recipes.

I disagree with the author's opinion that vegans only need 3 supplements. This is something you should discuss with a nutrition professional or healthcare provider as it depends on your health history, medical conditions, and individual needs. I was also surprised the author approached gluten allergy/intolerance with little empathy or apparent understanding of the science behind our inability to digest gluten, symptomatic or not. From an editing standpoint, I was distracted by the excessive exclamation points throughout the book.

I received an e-copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Cooking for the Senses is a vegan cookery book (though I use the word cookery loosely as the first 55% of the book goes on and on and on and on...) with the authors introduction, explaining about the senses and then continues in minute detail with each and every vegetable, herb, grain, fruit they could think to include. It really was quite dull and laborious and not a single picture was included - would be nice to see some of the ingredients just to break it up somewhat!

Once the recipes are finally reached, there is colour photography to accompany some of the recipes. The recipes are split into 5 sections and include small plates, brunches & lunches & picnics, dinner dates & gentle plates, seeking solace in the kitchen (covers dressings, bread, sauces, pickling to name but a few) and desserts. Measurements are given in grams which I appreciate.

Then the book reverts back to more information with chapters on Important plant compounds and their role in Health Maintenance and Resources with a list of suppliers for ingredients such as salt and herbal teas.

Perhaps to make this book a little more readable, the recipes should be first and the information bits should be at the rear and I would have liked to see more photography of the ingredients and recipes.

I received this book from #netgalley in return for a honest review.

This gorgeous book deals with the topic of neurogastronomy, or, in short, experiencing a meal on many levels: taste, sight, smell, and even sound (yes, you read that right). It is therefore far more than just a cookbook. The introduction takes up roughly half the book. You learn a lot about exploring flavor, the wide world of ingredients that bring magic into the kitchen, and food preparation. Then it is on to a fine collection of largely uncomplicated, yet intriguing, vegan recipes, including a wonderful section on dressings and sauces and some truly inspired dessert recipes (I'm a sucker for a good dessert).

My main issue with this book is two-fold. Firstly, the selection of photos: There aren't any in the ingredients section, which is odd for a book that invited participation of all senses in the cooking and eating process. I'm assuming that this book is not overall aimed towards semi-professional chefs, so showing in addition to telling would have helped cooks unfamiliar with the variety of foodstuffs available and broken up the wordy first half of the book. As interesting as it was to read, it did get a little monotonous after a while. For a nice example on how to illustrate an ingredient section, see Amy Chaplin's At Home in the Whole Food Kitchen. When it comes to the recipe section, I'm not certain how helpful it is to present photos of cookware, raw vegetables, or sorbet, instead of including more of the finished dishes, a common complaint in cookbook reviews (see random reviews on Amazon, etc.).

Secondly, I do appreciate a good resource list. However, with some recipes requiring somewhat exotic ingredients such as black garlic, perhaps that might have been a good one to include in said resource list. Buying salt is a relatively amateur task in comparison.

Liked the idea of using senses to stimulate the palate. Good selection of vegan recipes. Probably veers towards the experimental cook and those who like to taste, smell and enhance their food. Recommended.

Anybody who knows me, knows I LOVE a good cookbook. I am absolutely fascinated with everything from the taste to the science of food.

This book goes incredibly far in depth. From cultures pairing flavors to making a meal a real sensory experience. Do not get this book of you are just expecting it to be a cookbook. Like I said this goes incredibly far in depth of food and the recipes don't take up most of the book.

One thing I disliked about this book was the authors opinions on supplements as well as dietary issues. Please do not take to heart any medical advice in this book, speak with your doctor.

While I do not eat vegan I know several who do. I know there are several recipes that I can add to my food rotation that are vegan because of this cookbook. I can't wait to purchase this book for my sister too.

When you first flick through a cookbook and your mouth starts watering, you know you have to have the book.
Well set out, with explanations of ingredients and flavours, it set out to educate that being vegan is not that hard or uninspiring, but is tasty and healthy. The recipes are easy to follow and don't require hours of prep, the photographs just jump out and say "eat me".
What a wonderful way to live - I think I am converted to add more vegan dishes to my diet.

This is a difficult review for me. Three are some amazing sounding recipes in this book, but many of them require ingredients not widely available where I live. Also, I find this book to be very dense for a food book. I understand it's more than just a recipe book, but it was so dense with text it was a little hard to navigate. Also, much of the font on the kindle edition was pale gray and very difficult to see.
Again, definitely some new and exciting recipes, but with some hard to come by ingredients. And I don't think substitutions will do the recipes justice because I think these unusual ingredients are part of what the book is trying to introduce you to.

***Thank you to Singing Dragon/Jessica Kingsley Publishers and NetGalley for the ARC with the understanding that any review provided will be my honest opinion of the book.**
Ever heard of neurogastronomy? How about Vegan neurogastronomy? I certainly hadn't prior to this book. This book is all about cooking for the sense....see what I did there lol? Seriously though, this is the perfect cookbook for anyone who is Vegan or simply just wanting to learn a new way to appreciate food. I love food and I honestly believe that it can bring all kinds of people together. For me, cooking food isn't just about making edible food. I want people to drool over the simple smell of it cooking. The author of this book spends the first half of the book teaching you to really appreciate the smell and flavors of different vegetables, herbs, and spices. I actually felt that there was a little too much detail given on the science behind neurogastronomy and it dragged a bit. I learned a lot of information on artichokes and tomatoes that I literally will never use. That aside, it was a fairly good book.
I really liked the section on "Condiments, Spice Mixes, and Sauces". I actually made a couple mason jars up with various sauces like chermoula, gremolata, and chimichurri verde. I am not Vegan so there are a lot of recipes that didn't appeal to me but I am going to try the Lemon and Thyme Radiatori Potatoes and the Green Beans with Chermoula and Tomato. I would recommend anyone Vegan to give this book a try.

Very good book for its genre. I love to cook and have a autistic son. So I love books that aren’t necessarily the norm. Loved it.

#NetGalley #Vegan #Healthy #Mindfulness #NEUROGASTRONOMY

This is not just an ordinary cookbook but an informative and well documented book about the NEUROGASTRONOMY in the vegan sector. A very deep and useful book.