Trees, wood, flavor: the obsession of a woodland biologist

Trees have been on the earth for 390 million years, according to woodland biologist Artur Cisar-Erlach. Through photosynthesis, trees produce the air we breathe and form the soil beneath our feet. His obsession with wood started during his early training as a cabinet maker. He describes how Kenyans are using charcoal from trees in yogurt-making, and a Swiss cheesemaker is using the cambium layer of spruce trees to age cheese. His new book is “The Flavor of Wood.”

Artur Cisar-Erlach describes how parts of the tree impacts taste in certain food in “The Flavor of Wood.” Photo courtesy of Abrams.