There are a lot of books about flavor pairings when cooking.

And I've read most of them.

But the best book on flavor pairings I've found is Flavor Matrix by James Briscione with Brooke Parkhurst.

For a few reasons:

• When you are looking for novelty, it will give you new combinations to try

• It explains why they work together through science

• It will unlock the creative side on how to make flavors work like mixing colors for the first time

• There were times when working in a restaurant I had to come up with a special and I used the frameworks in this book to come up with a new dish

• If you ever wanted to test the limits with what goes on what food item, this gives a ball park to where to start from

If you are at all interested in flavor pairings, I can't recommend this book enough.

(And if you've read it, do you agree? What other book would you recommend for beginners?)