How to Taste

A different book about the art and science of flavor might be called "How We Taste," but Becky Selengut, local chef and (you can tell) beloved cooking instructor, emphasizes the "to" in her title. Taste may be individual (and she's fully aware there are many kinds of palates), but she wants to show you, in a fact-filled but entertainingly accessible style, how you can develop yours, as both a cook and an eater. Moving flavor by flavor, from salt through unami, she leads you through the effects of each adjustment you make and provides ingenious experiments to make those effects discernable on your tongue. What delicious, instructive fun!