Earlier this week I posted a review for Amber Locke’s new book, Savor, devoted to beautiful soups.
Amber Locke is a UK artist who creates geometric designs using fruit and vegetables. She has over 100,000 followers on Instagram. Look once, and you’ll follow too. Here’s a “berry” good example:
This book, Nourish, was her first, published just last year. It’s a cookbook. It’s an art book. It’s an exceptional book. The salad ideas here are, simply as recipes, outstanding. But it is the presentation of this bright flavors that will win your heart. Consider her Radish, Beet, and Orange Salad:
Yes, I’ll post the recipe for this wonderful creation later today. In the meantime, you can get a head start by finding some blood oranges!
Amber displays talent on two fronts in this book. First, there are the recipes themselves. Amber lives on veggies and fruits and actually prefers things that have not been cooked. She offers excellent advice on how to select complementary flavors for salad creations, so you can start with her ideas but easily generate your own, too. There is a flavor grid that shows how to mix and match based on flavors that are Neutral, Grassy, Spicy, Bitter, Sour and Sweet. You see this grid applied over and over in the book.
Her second talent is the art of assembly. Amber suggests that you prepare the salad on a platter, just like in the picture above for the Radish, Beet and Orange Salad. You need room, a culinary canvas, to spread, arrange, pile and dress your creation. Follow Amber’s advice and you are going to have a jaw-dropping experience as you bring the platter to the table.
What recipes caught my eye? Here are the salads Suzi and I will be trying over the course of the year:
Asparagus and Cucumber Salad with Spicy Orange Gremolata
Carrot, Fig, and Blueberry
Red Fruit
Summer Squash
Zucchini, Chard and Cranberry
Clearly there are seasonal aspects to Amber’s salads. That cranberry idea is targeted for the holiday season, so our next Thanksgiving table will be graced with Amber’s art.
Nourish is a brilliant book, abundant in flavor and color and pleasure. If you think salad is lettuce + onion + dressing, well, think again. And again. And again. There is a full year of artful salad awaiting you in Nourish.