About this item
Highlights
- *Winner of two Gourmand World Cookbook Awards**Best International or Regional Cookbook, Guild of Food Writers*"What a deep dive this is into the world of spice. . . .
- About the Author: Eleanor Ford is a food writer, recipe developer, and food stylist who has traveled to seventy-seven countries, collecting eclectic and evocative recipes for inspiration or to reproduce.
- 256 Pages
- Cooking + Food + Wine, Specific Ingredients
Description
Book Synopsis
*Winner of two Gourmand World Cookbook Awards**Best International or Regional Cookbook, Guild of Food Writers*
"What a deep dive this is into the world of spice. . . . And then the recipes! Recipes which allow the reader to travel from Asia to the Middle East along the spice route, taking in so much flavor and so much context on the way." --Yotam Ottolenghi
Through 80 spice-infused recipes, spectacular images, and a mouthwatering culinary journey along the ancient spice trail, award-winning author Eleanor Ford's luscious new volume reveals how centuries of spice trading and cultural diffusion changed the world's cuisine and how to best stock and enjoy spices in your own home.
From humankind's earliest travels, people have followed and sought out the spice routes. These maritime trading trails acted as the central nervous system of the world, enabling the flow of goods and ideas.
In this richly illustrated volume, Eleanor Ford uses recipes as maps as she takes readers on a culinary journey that weaves through history and around the world. She explores both the flavor profiles and the spread of spices--from cardamom to cinnamon, ginger to sumac--and provides fascinating insights such as how nutmeg unites the spice blends Indian garam masala, Lebanese seven spice, French quatre epices, Moroccan ras el hanout, and Middle Eastern baharat, lending its bittersweet, fragrant warmth to them all.
This unparalleled volume provides 80 flavorful recipes for entrees, appetizers, sides dishes, and more, enabling you to make a divine garlic clove vegetable curry, jasmine tea-smoked chicken, Indonesian seafood gulai, as well as staple spice pastes and mixtures to have on-hand. The result will enable you to stock up and to have a home kitchen rich in international flavor and fragrance.
Review Quotes
Praise for Eleanor Ford
"Eleanor Ford's passion shines through her beautiful and picturesque writing."
--Guild of Food Writers Awards
Praise for A Whisper of Cardamom
"Recently, I suffered a bout of cinnamon fatigue. It was...Eleanor Ford who cured me with her new cookbook, A Whisper of Cardamom, in which she explores the sweet side of spices. She offers anyone who loves cinnamon new ways to use it and those who share my malaise aromatics they can try in its stead." --The Washington Post
"Eleanor Ford is an inspiring teacher, and it's a joy to progress through her lessons in these pages." --Nigella Lawson
Praise for The Nutmeg Trail
*Winner of two Gourmand World Cookbook Awards*
*Best International or Regional Cookbook, Guild of Food Writers*
"Eleanor Ford is a cook and a historian, a culinary detective, and, as
she says, a gastronomic archaeologist. What a deep dive this is into the
world of spice. It's a deep dive, a culinary history, a spice library,
anatomy, and miscellany. And then the recipes! Recipes which allow the
reader to travel from Asia to the Middle East along the spice route,
taking in so much flavor and so much context on the way. It's the green
coconut hot sauce from Somalia first up for me, followed by the green
peppercorn asparagus from Thailand." --Yotam Ottolenghi, chef, restaurateur, and author of Plenty, Jerusalem: A Cookbook, and Ottolenghi Simple
"The Nutmeg Trail: Recipes and Stories Along the Ancient Spice Routes . . . peels back layers of history--spice by spice, starting with nutmeg--from the many seasonings that have elevated food since antiquity. . . . Spices shine in recipes like Keralan black pepper chicken, and superb green peppercorn asparagus." --The New York Times
"A transportive blend of stories and meals that are as enlightening as they are piquant." --Publishers Weekly ✰STARRED REVIEW ✰
"Capable of transporting readers to tables around the world from their own kitchens." --USA Today, selected as a top summer 2022 cookbook
"Packed with fascinating history, stylish photography, useful guidelines and recipe descriptions as mouthwatering as the dishes themselves, The Nutmeg Trail is an international cookbook you'll want to savor." --BookTrib
"A fascinating, transporting read, packed full of intriguing recipes I can't wait to try." --Felicity Cloake, food writer for The Guardian and New Statesman, and author
"A fragrant, intoxicating, and mesmerizing voyage into the history and global spread of spice. With recipes every bit as delectable as the prose." --Tom Parker Bowles, food writer and author of The Year of Eating Dangerously
"The Nutmeg Trail offers a historical account of the spice trade with invaluable advice on the use of culinary spices--how to prepare and combine them, when to introduce them, and what delights to expect. Mouthwatering." --John Keay, historian and author of India: A History and China: A History
"In The Nutmeg Trail, Eleanor Ford takes us on a mouthwatering culinary voyage to the fabled 'spiceries, ' those semi-mystical islands of the East Indies. A heady blend of history, adventure, and deliciously authentic recipes, this book will make you hungry!" --Giles Milton, author of Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare and Nathaniel's Nutmeg
"A fascinating and evocative journey along the spice routes, the 'central nervous system of the world.' The author's blend of history, geography, taxonomy, and enticing recipes offers a fresh look at these small, potent ingredients that bring magic to our kitchens." --Fuchsia Dunlop, author of The Food of Sichuan
"I am completely enraptured with The Nutmeg Trail. It is the perfect balance of being fascinating and mouthwatering at the same time." --Georgina Hayden, author of Taverna
"A tantalizing treatise on the intoxicating world of spice. Eleanor has coupled essays on the history and cultural significance of spices with very enticing recipes. I cannot wait to read, meander, and cook my way along the ancient spice routes that Eleanor has so cleverly traced in this beautiful book." --Helen Goh, recipe columnist
"The eclectic collection of recipes from across the world will make the reader want to head straight into the kitchen to conjure up heady meals to share with their family and friends." --Anissa Helou, author of Feast: Food of the Islamic World
"Eleanor Ford's enticing cookbook The Nutmeg Trail explores the global history and use of spices--not just in cuisine, but in medicinal remedies, incense, and aphrodisiacs. With instructive photographs and charming graphics, as of tigers prowling alongside cinnamon sticks, The Nutmeg Trail is a heady, informative trip through the realms of spices and time." --Foreword Reviews
"A charming read from beginning to end. . . . a remarkable book perfect for anyone who loves the culinary arts and cooking, anthropology, history, and travel. The Nutmeg Trail invites readers into an ancient and exotic era that changed the course of history and the food of today." --Culinary Historians of Canada
Praise for Fire Islands
*Kerb Food and Drink Travel Book of the Year*
*Maple International or Regional Cookbook Award, Guild of Food Writers*
"A spirited and flavorful roundup of 100 recipes culled from Java, Sumatra, and elsewhere within the world's largest archipelago." --Publishers Weekly
"This book has real spirit, bold flavors, and beautiful words to boot. In short: it has it all." --Meera Sodha, author of East, Made in India, and Fresh India
"This book is a great pick...a dazzling primer to Indonesian cuisine." --Tara's Multicultural Table
"Fire Islands: Recipes from Indonesia isn't just a cookbook, it's a cultural immersion with lessons on how to capture and balance the bold, complex flavours of Indonesian cuisine." --The Vancouver Sun
About the Author
Eleanor Ford is a food writer, recipe developer, and food stylist who has traveled to seventy-seven countries, collecting eclectic and evocative recipes for inspiration or to reproduce. Her book Fire Islands: Recipes from Indonesia (Apollo Publishers) won the Best International or Regional Cookbook award at the 2020 Guild of Food Writers Awards, and the Kerb Food and Drink Travel Book of the Year award at the 2020 Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards. She is also the coauthor of the cookbook Samarkand: Recipes & Stories from Central Asia and the Caucasus, which was named a book of the year by The Guardian and Food52's Piglet Tournament of Cookbooks, and awarded a Food and Travel Prize by the Guild of Food Writers. Eleanor was also a recipe developer and editor for the Good Food Channel, BBC Food, and Good Food magazine; the local editor for Zagat's Hong Kong restaurant guide; a Zagat Buzz restaurant blogger in London; and a Time Out restaurant reviewer specializing in Asian and international foods. Eleanor lives in London, England.