The Flavour Thesaurus

A unique treasury of flavour combinations, offering endless diversion and inspiration for the creative cook.

Observer Book of the Year

Best Food Book - Andre Simon Food & Drinks Awards

Best First Book - Guild of Food Writers Awards

Ever wondered why one flavour works with another? Or lacked inspiration for what to do with a bundle of beetroot?

The Flavour Thesaurus was the first book to examine what goes with what, pair by pair and is divided into flavour themes including Meaty, Cheesy, Woodland and Floral Fruity. Within these sections it follows the form of Roget's Thesaurus, listing 99 popular ingredients alphabetically, and for each one suggests unique flavour pairings that range from the classic to the bizarre.

You will find traditional pairings: pork & apple, lamb & apricot, cucumber & dill; contemporary favourites like chocolate & chilli and goat's cheese & beetroot, and interesting but unlikely-sounding pairings like black pudding & chocolate, lemon & beef, blueberry & mushroom, and watermelon & oyster. There are nearly a thousand entries in all, with 200 recipes and suggestions embedded throughout the text.

Now featuring a new foreword by Bee Wilson and a fold-out poster of the flavour wheel, The Flavour Thesaurus is a highly useful, and covetable, reference book for cooking - it will keep you up at night reading.

I'm a huge fan of cookery recipes, and I heartily recommend The Flavour Thesaurus by Niki Segnit. It lists more than 4,000 possible combinations of 99 flavours, with lots of recipes to inspire you * Kate Winslet, Harper's Bazaar *

Follow this book and you will impress your guests like never before * Atul Kochhar, The Times *

A forensic yet fun exploration of flavour combinations and why they work * Guardian *

A bible for anyone who cooks by grabbing ingredients from the fridge * Independent *

'Delightful and informative ... I love Niki's style of writing - packed with knowledge and information, but conveyed with such a lightness of touch' YOTAM OTTOLENGHI

Niki Segnit's first book, The Flavour Thesaurus, won the Andre Simon Award for best food book and the Guild of Food Writers Award for best debut. It has been translated into fifteen languages. Her second book, Lateral Cooking, has been called 'a staggering achievement' by Nigella Lawson, the 'book of the decade' by Elizabeth Luard and 'astonishing and addictive' by Brian Eno. It has been translated into nine languages. She lives in London with her husband and two children.