Compound Flavors

In Lyon, a Colombian chef fights for her place in the most traditional kitchen in France. In Cincinnati, a Japanese-American chemist tries to synthesize the exact molecule that makes vanilla smell like home. In Penang, a Taiwanese grandmother loses her memory except when she cooks.

Three people. Three cities. One molecule: vanillin. It appears in vanilla orchids, aged bourbon, breast milk, and oak smoke. The most common flavor compound on Earth connects their lives in ways none of them can see. A novel about what we taste when we remember and what we lose when we forget.