Lateral Cooking: One Dish Leads to Another -- Niki Segnit, Hardcover

A groundbreaking handbook--the method companion to its critically acclaimed predecessor, The Flavor Thesaurus--with a foreword by Yotam Ottolenghi.

Niki Segnit used to follow recipes to the letter, even when she'd made a dish a dozen times. But as she tested the combinations that informed The Flavor Thesaurus, she detected the basic rubrics that underpinned most recipes. Lateral Cooking offers these formulas, which, once readers are familiar with them, will prove infinitely adaptable.

The book is divided into twelve chapters, each covering a basic culinary category, such as Bread, Stock, Soup & Stew, or Sauce. The recipes in each chapter are arranged on a continuum, passing from one to another with just a tweak or two to the method or ingredients. Once you've got the hang of flatbreads, for instance, then its neighboring dishes (crackers, soda bread, scones) will involve the easiest and most intuitive adjustments. The result is greater creativity in the kitchen: Lateral Cooking encourages improvisation, resourcefulness, and, ultimately, the knowledge and confidence to cook by heart.

Lateral Cooking is a practical book, but, like The Flavor Thesaurus, it's also a highly enjoyable read, drawing widely on culinary science, history, ideas from professional kitchens, observations by renowned food writers, and Segnit's personal recollections. Entertaining, opinionated, and inspirational, with a handsome three-color design, Lateral Cooking will have you torn between donning your apron and settling back in a comfortable chair.

Author: Niki Segnit
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 11/05/2019
Pages: 612
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 3.40lbs
Size: 10.50h x 6.90w x 1.80d
ISBN: 9781635572643

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 09/16/2019
Library Journal 12/01/2019 pg. 104

About the Author

Niki Segnit's first book, The Flavor Thesaurus, won the Andre Simon Award for best food book, the Guild of Food Writers Award for best first book, and was shortlisted for the Galaxy National Book Awards. It has been translated into thirteen languages. On BBC Radio 4, she has contributed to The Food Programme, Woman's Hour, and Word of Mouth, and her columns, features, and reviews have appeared in the Guardian, the Observer, the Times, the Times Literary Supplement, the Sunday Times, and Prospect Magazine. She lives in London with her husband and two children.