this is SO CLOSE to being SO GOOD, but there r SO MANY flaws

highly rec reading thru some of the critical reviews on amazon, one in particular is more articulate abt the books categorical failings

my issues w the book amount to 2 points: 1) presentism/modernism and eurocentrism, and 2) inconsistent conceptual organization

2) is especially bad, bc the book basically tries to sell itself on its conceptual organization. it occasionally uses categories from botanical science, sometimes from organic chemistry, sometimes from the euro-american culinary tradition; the inconsistency leads to some bizarre issues w navigation, particularly when a single food might technically land under multiple categories that r included in the book, but the book might only list the food under one of those categories. this makes the books conceptual framework and science misleading and useless for organization

1) is a subtler point, but important. for one, the book makes no distinction bw whole and refined grains. for another, beans and legumes r excluded from the book wholesale. yes, you read that correct. one of the most important categories of foodstuff across the globe and throughout human history is excluded, i would imagine bc beans and legumes became less prominent in both american and european diets throughout the 20th century

these two points render the book essentially useless to me. a shame, since the idea is v powerful--like the flavor bible, but w improved data visualization and multiple systems of categorization ( )

This was an interesting book on how aromatic compounds within foods help one with food pairings. I must admit I didn't understand all of the science and some of his charts. Most of the food pairings made sense with what recipes and chefs commonly use but there were some surprises. And it doesn't explain how even though a food pairing makes sense scientifically why I don't like that pairing. For examples fruits with meat. I like fruit, I like meat but I don't care that these are supposed to go well together. ( )