Title: Flavorbomb
By: Bob Blumer
Publisher: Appetite by Random House
Publication Date: October 27th, 2020
ISBN: 9780525610892
Pages: 272
If you live for wildly addictive, life-affirming taste sensations that knock you off your feet, but can't figure out how to make them at home, you have just found your kindred cookbook spirit. Welcome to Flavorbomb.
You keep a running list of restaurants you go to for your favorite flavorbombs--a vibrant, pungent Caesar salad, extra crispy garlic fries, or a spicy puttanesca pasta maybe. You might even be able to articulate exactly what it is about those dishes that you find so addictive. But when you try to reproduce the same flavors at home, you find yourself falling short. If any of the above sounds familiar, this book is for you.
For the past 25 years Bob Blumer has eaten his way around the globe, traveling millions of miles in search of culinary adventures and inspiring foods for three TV series and six cookbooks. Along the way, he's broken eight food-related Guinness World Records, competed in some of the most outrageous food competitions on the planet, cooked alongside countless amazing chefs, and sampled every local street food imaginable at ramshackle carts, hawker stalls, and night markets from Italy to India. These collective experiences have formed the backbone of Bob's cooking in ways that culinary school can't begin to teach. In Flavorbomb he channels everything he has gleaned into recipes and practical tips to help you you create bold, stimulating flavors, that will leave those you cook for in a state of bliss. Prepare to become a rock star in your own kitchen.
The first half of the book is the real "money." It's full of tips, strategies, ingredients, techniques, and gear that will help you crack the code--and gain the confidence to take the leap on your own and turn any dish into a flavorbomb. We're talking developing the courage to season with wild abandon, brown your food to within an inch of its life, double down on the ingredients that can increase the pleasure factor, and taste and adjust on the fly.
The second half consists of 75 step-by-step recipes that use all the tricks in your arsenal to deliver the addictive, life-affirming dishes we all crave. And because Bob gets more excited by tacos than truffles, his outsider approach to creating addictive flavors won't require you to buy frivolous top-shelf ingredients or use super-sophisticated techniques. Instead, every recipe starts by building the foundation, and then adding layers of flavors and textures at every step of the way. If there's a hack or a simple trick that can save you time or up the ante--it's in here. Every recipe was thoroughly tested and had to earn its place in the book.
Get ready to cook like every bite is your last. Read Flavorbomb and your cooking will be forever changed!
MY REVIEW
My husband and I love to cook. With us still being stuck in the house due to Covid-19, we've been enjoying cooking different types of meals, taking turns in the kitchen this past year, and it has been great with all of the hustle and bustle of life slowing down a bit and falling in love with cooking all over again. We received Flavorbomb by Bob Blumer about a month ago and I have to say it has really upped our game in the kitchen. One of the things we love so much about this book is not only the delicious recipes shared in the book but how to incorporate different flavors in each meal making each bite a treat.
In Flavorbomb, Bob shares tips, tricks, and secrets to making your cooking experience even more enjoyable. Starting the book off with Taste, Bob goes into details about flavor building blocks and how cooking with many ingredients, and what each one brings to the recipe. The book shares different tips on what each spice and/or herbs bring to a recipe and how fresh herbs are always better and brings out the flavor so much more than dried herbs. From spices to herbs to homemade stock, Bob shares so many different useful tips that have made cooking for the hubby and me so much better and more enjoyable this past month. The top three rules of seasoning he shares are all the same; "It's easier to add than subtract." I couldn't agree more and have been following this rule since I started cooking in the kitchen with my grandmother when I was a kid.
Not only does this book share loads of amazing recipes, but it also shares tips and techniques on using different gadgets, like, food processors, grills, deep fryers, along with inexpensive excellent chef tools that Bob recommends that are under $15.
This cookbook has become a favorite in our home. We've made a couple of the easier recipes from the book, like, Bob's Chocolate, Caramel, Peanut Butter and Banana Wontons, and Just-the-Good-Stuff Guacamole, and are excited to dive into the book even more to create a main dish and we really want to get into making our own broths. Flavorbomb will leave you wanting to head straight to your kitchen to create so many different delicious meals that you won't even be thinking about take out.
Flavorbomb retails for $30 US and $35 CAD. For more information on where to purchase, be sure to check out Bob Blumer's website and also check him out on Instagram and Twitter.
GIVEAWAY
I'm excited to offer one of our Canadian readers a chance to win this lovely book filled with so many tricks and tips. To enter to win a copy simply comment below your favorite recipe to make.
Disclosure: All opinions are my own. I received Flavorbomb at no cost for the purpose of this post. No other compensation was received.
