Saw this yesterday. It’s a $40 book on sale for $3.99 on kindle. The Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, Based on the Wisdom of America's Most Imaginative Chefs https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001FA0P86/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_5smkCbBV27J03
The "Mexican" food you're familiar with in upstate NY (Binghamton saying hello) is almost certainly TexMex, which is a distinct cuisine. Don't get me wrong, I love the stuff and have since I first lived in Texas nearly 40 years ago. But TexMex is a distinct cuisine, one highly influenced by northern Mexican cuisine, but built on ingredients and methods and etc. found in the southern US.
Just like with France and Italy, say, Mexico has many distinct and varied regional cuisines. If you're interested, Diana Kennedy is a good place to start your research.
This reminds me of this book
https://www.amazon.com/Semenology-Bartenders-Handbook-Paul-Photenhauer-ebook/dp/B00D5FJOWC
I was going to copy over the listing from The Flavor Bible but it's too long.
but the highlighted ones are: almonds, basil, blackberries,, blueberries, capers, cheeses (goat, ricotta), chicken, coconut, greek cuisine, lamb, mint, nuts (esp. hazelnuts), orange (juice, zest), pistachois, poppy seeds, raspberries, rosemary, thyme, vanilla, veal.
The capitalised and bold are: fish, garlic, honey, shellfish, sugar (brown, white).
Meyer Lemons are: cream, grapefruit, honey, lemon, lime, orange, sugar, vanilla.
Flavor Bible is currently $4 for Kindle version on Amazon if anyone is looking for a discounted copy. https://www.amazon.com/Flavor-Bible-Essential-Creativity-Imaginative-ebook/dp/B001FA0P86
Diana Kennedy's Essential Cuisines of Mexico based on her 50+ years living and traveling across the whole country.
I was in exactly your shoes at one time. I came back from my first trip to Mexico in love with Mexican food, which I'd never had before, and wanted to reproduce it at home. But this was in the early 70s in New Orleans, which had little or no Mexican or Mexican-American population at the time. Almost immediately I realized that what I already knew about cooking -- ingredients, techniques, etc. -- was not going to get me what I needed to produce the flavors I'd enjoyed in Mexico.
Then I came upon Diana Kennedy's book, "The Cuisines of Mexico" and not only were my eyes opened, but I had realistic hopes of creating at least some authentic dishes at home.
I believe the only way you can get a copy of this now is from a library, so do try to see if your local library has it. Don't worry if you can't get all the ingredients and stuff she mentions, just READ the book. It will ground you in how and why the textures and flavors of various dishes are achieved and also give you some background into the different regions of Mexico.
The book was re-issued as "The Essential Cuisines of Mexico", which is a compilation of three of her books, including the original Cuisines of Mexico. I'm including the Amazon listing for it here because of the "look inside" feature, which will give you an idea of the contents.
Because of your obvious desire to learn and to make real Mexican food for yourself, I urge you to start by getting your hands on this book. Seriously, it will get you going like nothing else will.
Well, you can eat it if you want.
Teas (including black, green, oolong, and matcha), coffees, fresh juices, flavored syrups, shrubs (and other drinking vinegars), fermented drinks (kombucha, tepache, etc), and other worldwide regional favorites (horchata, agua frescas, maté, salep, aryan, lassi, Thandai, etc) are your friends. A good soda/seltzer is essential. Good flavored seltzers also have their place. Karen Page's The Flavor Bible is crazy helpful in build flavor profiles.
Perhaps grab a copy of the The Flavor Bible.
Beet-Rhubarb
Tomato-Basil This and the previous also allow for more savory profiles
Strawberry-Rhubarb
Lavender-Rhubarb
Strawberry-Basil
Plum-Chilli
Maple-Ginger
Pear-Ginger
Cardamom-Pear
Apple-Ginger
Blackberry-Thyme
Kiwi-Lime
Tart Cherry-Vanilla
Cranberry-Orange
Citrus (grapefruit, clementine and/or lemon)-Rosemary
Ginger-Orange
Pineapple-Jalapeno
Elderflower-Mango
Blueberry-Ginger
Raspberry-Peach
The Essential Cuisines of Mexico by Diana Kennedy. Compiled after 50 years of travelling throughout Mexico.
Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art is coffee table art book meets cookbook.
Years of cooking, starting with following recipes exactly, then combining part of this recipe with that recipe, then being willing to fail and try again to create something good without a recipe. You might benefit from The Flavor Bible (https://www.amazon.com/Flavor-Bible-Essential-Creativity-Imaginative-ebook/dp/B001FA0P86/ref=nodl_) or a subscription to Cook’s Illustrated, a magazine that not only tells you what works well but why, so you can use the knowledge for other dishes. Both have been helpful to me.
A word of warning: Baking is different from cooking, which is generally more forgiving. Very experienced bakers use formulas that depend on ingredient ratios as a foundation for their creations and riff from there. I’ve been baking for many years and still rely on recipes, though I might tinker around the edges a bit.
Check out 12 Bottles. They literally wrote the book on the subject: The 12 Bottle Bar.
Bang for the buck***, specifically for mixing***; but many can easily be sipped...
Don't forget bitters. Angostura's Aromatic, Orange and Cocoa are perfectly fine.
~Have fun!
Weeeelllll... Not technically. There are laws that discourage and punish the acts leading up to and surrounding it, but a lot of places don't have laws specifically targeting cannibalism. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=e6l6k76cFqM
Brings to mind all of the women who give birth then eat the placenta to replenish nutrients. There are even published cookbooks for that. https://www.amazon.com/25-Placenta-Recipes-Delicious-placenta-ebook/dp/B00BN2JP78
Humans and what are basically double standards, am I right?
>including semen under the umbrella of "food"
If this is food to you i have a cook book you might like
I HIGHLY recommend getting yourself a copy of The Flavor Bible by Karen page and Andrew Dornenburg. It's a great resource for learning what flavor profiles go together well, especially as you start to tweak recipes and get more creative. The Flavor Bible
They also have a vegetarian version which might be better if you have more food restrictions.
12 Bottle Bar would be a helpful guide in this subject: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GU2RGPY/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
If memory serves its gin, vodka, whisky, tequila, brandy, light rum, and dark rum. They do not count sweeteners toward the twelve. Personally, the real choice is in the modifers. There are just too many to really get them all. But most people here will argue between a few bottles: chartreuse, maraschino, elderflower, benedictine, campari, ango, peychaud, reagan's, cointreau/grand marnier.
https://www.amazon.com/25-Placenta-Recipes-Delicious-placenta-ebook/dp/B00BN2JP78
Bonus cookbook if you aren't willing to wait for it:
There's this cookbook that I swear by. People are hesitant to try it, but it's my go to for parties and weddings.
edit: also try spaghetti noodles with butter and salt. Super good.
> With food we don't so much want to be surprised.
There is a flavor combination bible conveniently titles the Flavor Bible. You'll find it frequently recommended here. Using its guidelines and tasting everything individually and in combination, over time you'll develop an intuition as to what will work.
Take a look in the Recipes section of our FAQ for more advice on moving past recipes into improvisation. Also, moving beyond basics in the Basics section. I may have to reorganize.
I don't have a SO, so I'll substitute my best meal. French style pot roast, sauteed green beans with lemon and garlic, and home made mac and cheese.
You can feel your arteries clogging, but it's worth it. Both the pot roast and the beans are from the Cooks Illustrated cookbook which I highly, highly recommend.
I do have a copy of The Flavor Bible. It's quite nice to not have to get up and hunt for it though by having a similar list on the computer.
I'm a big fan of The Silver Palate Cookbook Of all the cookbooks I own, this is the one I grab when I'm running low on inspiration and want to make something new.