Description
Award-winning writer Eleanor Ford's recipes and stories explore how centuries of spice trading and cultural diffusion changed the world's cuisine. A unique and enlightening guide to cooking with spice, the book looks at their flavour profiles and how they can be used, combined and layered - how some bring sweetness, others fragrance, heat, pungency, sourness or earthiness.
There are 80 spice-infused recipes in this collection following the trails of ancient maritime trade through Indonesia, Malaysia, China, Vietnam, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, Iran and the Emirates. Eleanor combines historical research with a travel writer's eye and a cook's nose for a memorable recipe. Interwoven are stories that explore how spices from across the Indian Ocean - the original cradle of spice - have, over time, been adopted into cuisines around the world.
About the Author
Eleanor Ford is a food writer and a cook who uses food as a means to explore culture and understand the world. A 'culinary detective', as Yotam Ottolenghi describes her. She is the winner of numerous awards, including an Edward Stanford Travel Writing award and three Guild of Food Writers awards, the most recent of which she won for her third book, The Nutmeg Trail. Alongside writing about food, Eleanor gives talks about it across the globe including regular lectures on spice for The Smithsonian. She lives in London. @eleanorfordfood
'Eleanor Ford's passion shines through her beautiful and picturesque writing.' Guild of Food Writers Awards
Reviews
"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 flavour 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
"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
"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
"In The Nutmeg Trail, Eleanor Ford takes us on a mouth-watering 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 Nathaniel's Nutmeg
"A fascinating, transporting read, packed full of intriguing recipes I can't wait to try." Felicity Cloake, Guardian food columnist and author of Perfect, The A-Z of Eating and One More Croissant for the Road
"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. Mouth-watering." John Keay, historian and author of The Spice Routes
'A fragrant, intoxicating and mesmerising voyage into the history and global spread of spice. With recipes every bit as delectable as the prose.' Tom Parker Bowles, British food writer and food critic
Awards
Winner of Best International or Regional Cookbook 2023 (UK).
Book Information
ISBN 9781922351531
Author Eleanor Ford
Format Hardback
Page Count 256
Imprint Murdoch Books
Publisher Murdoch Books
Weight(grams) 1074g
There are 80 spice-infused recipes in this collection following the trails of ancient maritime trade through Indonesia, Malaysia, China, Vietnam, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, Iran and the Emirates. Eleanor combines historical research with a travel writer's eye and a cook's nose for a memorable recipe. Interwoven are stories that explore how spices from across the Indian Ocean - the original cradle of spice - have, over time, been adopted into cuisines around the world.
About the Author
Eleanor Ford is a food writer and a cook who uses food as a means to explore culture and understand the world. A 'culinary detective', as Yotam Ottolenghi describes her. She is the winner of numerous awards, including an Edward Stanford Travel Writing award and three Guild of Food Writers awards, the most recent of which she won for her third book, The Nutmeg Trail. Alongside writing about food, Eleanor gives talks about it across the globe including regular lectures on spice for The Smithsonian. She lives in London. @eleanorfordfood
'Eleanor Ford's passion shines through her beautiful and picturesque writing.' Guild of Food Writers Awards
Reviews
"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 flavour 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
"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
"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
"In The Nutmeg Trail, Eleanor Ford takes us on a mouth-watering 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 Nathaniel's Nutmeg
"A fascinating, transporting read, packed full of intriguing recipes I can't wait to try." Felicity Cloake, Guardian food columnist and author of Perfect, The A-Z of Eating and One More Croissant for the Road
"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. Mouth-watering." John Keay, historian and author of The Spice Routes
'A fragrant, intoxicating and mesmerising voyage into the history and global spread of spice. With recipes every bit as delectable as the prose.' Tom Parker Bowles, British food writer and food critic
Awards
Winner of Best International or Regional Cookbook 2023 (UK).
Book Information
ISBN 9781922351531
Author Eleanor Ford
Format Hardback
Page Count 256
Imprint Murdoch Books
Publisher Murdoch Books
Weight(grams) 1074g
