Floyd Cardoz: Flavorwalla: Big Flavor. Bold Spices. A New Way to Cook the Foods You Love. Hardcover – April 5, 2016

The Flavorwalla of the title, meaning, essentially, "flavor master," a title to which he aspires, is Chef Floyd Cardoz, granted 3 stars by the NYT for his NYC Tabla Restaurant, and winner of the highly-coveted title of Top Chef Master (Season 3). This is a family-focused cookbook. In fact, in his delightful headnotes for every recipe, Chef Cardoz tells us what role this dish plays in his family and/or an amusing anecdote about the dish; for example, what happened when he served his healing chicken soup to Danny Meyer. Okay, Rendang Short Ribs is an exception to the recipes being family-friendly, but that just happens to be the dish that won him the title of Top Chef Master. Weeknights, weekends, his focus is his family, including tricks to get his two young boys to eat everything on their plates. Kid-friendly breakfasts. There's his dog's Shadow's favorite home-made dinner. Who knew that Chef Cardoz was a tail-gating fanatic? He gives us a chapter devoted to tail-gating and all things game-foods. He loves his spices and his lentils, but these recipes are not "Indian food," it's all-American food often spiced up to present his famously bold flavors. His recipes are almost always accessible to we home cooks (Rendang being an exception), especially because he frequently suggests shortcuts in time and/or substitutions in ingredients: he really wants us to make his dishes. I also love that he's not a food snob: he admits to using frozen corn and peas, bouillon cubes, AND buying bagged spinach at Costco! E-book critique: there's a fine online sources guide. Non-clickable index. However, clickable TOC and embedded recipes. Most recipes have color photos. I've already made his Eggs Poached in Tomato Curry, which was delicious, and there are several other recipes I can't wait to try.

Chef Cardoz is recognized as one of the most talented Chefs out there today. As a fan for many years, I can truly say that nobody has an approach to food like Floyd's. His use of spice and balanced exciting flavors makes his food stand out, but in an uncomplicated way. What I loved about this book is that it reads the way he thinks. Which is the hard part with Chefs and cookbooks for me. Reading recipes and methods doesn't help one to understand the reasons behind the dish, so you can create something similar yourself. He breaks down his thoughts on flavor without getting to textbook like. The pictures are outstanding and the layout is fun and interesting to read. The best part of the book for me is the lead in to each recipe. There is a small story for each and one can imagine him there with you as you are reading it. It is easy to imagine situations in your own kitchen that are similar, and gets your gears turning on how you could incorporate these ideas into your world. This book is a must read for every fan of Floyd's past and future restaurants. However, even if you have never had the privilege of eating his food, you will find this book rewarding. Its definitely got great tools for everyone and great ideas to make your meals even more interesting at home or in your profession.

I had purchased this to go with my Floyd Cardoz curries, but this cookbook does not focus on Indian food. It is a good cookbook, so I gave it to my son.

I received Flavorwalla yesterday and have literally read it cover to cover. One of the things I enjoyed most about this book is that it reads more like an autobiography told through food. In this case, it is the life of Chef Floyd Cardoz, highly acclaimed for his unique and masterful use of spice to create a style of cooking that is truly his own. This book offers a welcome glance into his flavor philosophy with informative segments and advice about how each spice acts and reacts in a dish. As a professional caterer, and mother of three, I can especially appreciate his chapters "Weeknight Meals," "Cooking for Tomorrow," and "Family Time" where he shares tips that any cook can benefit and learn from. The only downside to this book is deciding which recipe to make first!

A compendium of recipes that vary in complexity that encourages readers to think differently about spices and depth of flavor

I am by no means a good cook, but I LOVE good food! Floyd Cardoz's recipes are delicious, and so easy to execute. Being a full time working mom, the thought of making weeknight meals is extremely daunting, but this book makes it so easy to make flavorful dinners for my family without spending hours on them. The stories behind his recipes make this book so much more than just a typical cookbook, they make you connect with the food. I have started to introduce various flavors into my 2 year old son's diet, and I can't wait for him to experiment with the recipes in this book!

As reviews have mentioned, Cardoz does wonderful things with layers of spices. I liked that it was written in the first person and very conversationally. I learned a great deal (I had never heard of kokum, for instance). While I found each recipe very interesting reading, I probably won't make a majority of them because of the number and availability of ingredients. However, I am excited to try several of them. I feel that reading this book definitely expanded my knowledge.

A lot of good stuff in this book. Also, thicker than expected. Can’t wait to start cooking :)

Great book to have for cooking, even though the names of several ingredients seem unheard of, do google to obtain the Indian Equivalent!

Very sad first attempt For the author ....poor choices for recipes...and content!