The Curry Book: Memorable Flavors and Irresistibly Simple Recipes from Around the World [Paperback]

Nancie McDermott (Author), Pauline C. Speers (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 1997

Whatever its incarnation, curry is one of the most popular and pervasive seasonings in the world. McDermott explores endless variations on the curry theme, from Jakarta to Senegal, Tokyo to Jamaica, and Sri Lanka to South Carolina. The result is an nontraditional and thoroughly accessible celebration of curries and curry flavors. Illustrations and two-color photos.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The Curry Book serves purists and as well as those who enjoy dishes made with the yellow, store-bought curry powder that purists scorn. Nancie McDermott, who is a diligent researcher with an exceptional palate, lived in Thailand for three years. In this book, she goes beyond the more specialized work of her earlier books, Real Thai and Real Vegetarian Thai. The Curry Book provides recipes for authentic curry pastes and powders from India, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. Tandoori Chicken and Rogan Josh, and the food equivalent of elevator music, such as dip, tuna salad, and roasted nuts are comfortingly familiar. Aficionados of Asian flavor and heat will appreciate McDermott's authentic versions of Mussamun, Penaeng, and Vindaloo Curry. She also gives clear guidance on what to buy and how to use ingredients; for example, if you mostly broil and roast simple dishes, the chapters on chutneys and raitas provide condiments and side dishes to add spark to meals.

From Library Journal

McDermott (Real Thai: The Best of Thailand, Chronicle, 1992) grew to love curried dishes when she spent three years in Thailand as a Peace Corps volunteer. Here she presents recipes for her favorite curries from Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries, India, West Africa, and the Caribbean, along with her own nontraditional variations on the theme. Her recipes are light and fresh, and she includes many quick tips, suggestions for substitutions, and other time-saving ideas. Less ambitious than Dave DeWitt and Arthur J. Pais's A World of Curries (LJ 2/15/94), this attractive book is recommended for most collections. [BOMC's The Good Cook selection.]
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin; First Edition edition (April 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1576300293
• ISBN-13: 978-1576300299
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 8.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,793,998 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Nancie McDermott is a North Carolina native, born in Burlington, raised in High Point, and educated at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her three years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand gave her a lifelong love for the cuisines, history and cultures of Asia, and she has spent the last twenty years cooking, reading, traveling, writing, and teaching about Asian food. Her ten cookbooks focus on Asian kitchens, but since moving back home to North Carolina in 1999, she has taken time to look at the foods of the American South, the place she fell in love with cooking in her grandmother's dairy farm kitchen. Now living with her family in Chapel Hill, NC, she writes, researches, and teaches about both her beats, while serving as a contributing editor for Edible Piedmont magazine. Visit her blog at: nanciemcdermott.wordpress.com, to keep track of it pie by pie.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The recipes are wonderful and easy to follow., June 15, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Grand Forks, ND) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Curry Book: Memorable Flavors and Irresistibly Simple Recipes from Around the World (Paperback)

I've tried about 8 recipes from this book and have loved all of them. A wonderful quick and easy recipe is the curried chicken with sweet and spicy garlic sauce. An incredible,though time consuming, curry is the Thai Mussamum Curry. Enjoy!

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most used cookbook in my vast collection!, July 3, 2001

By 

Susan - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Curry Book: Memorable Flavors and Irresistibly Simple Recipes from Around the World (Paperback)

I love curry but could never find a cookbook easy enough to follow. Browsing one day in a bookstore I was drawn to the beautiful cover of this one and had to have it! Starting slowly, I made a few of the recipes that were easy like Deviled Eggs with Cilantro and Curry (Get real, most people HATE deviled eggs) and the Curry Dip. My guests went nuts over both, devouring the platters in minutes! I then progressed to more recipes, all as easy as the previous. McDermott has a beautiful collection of curry recipes from all over the world tailored to the American palette. If you like curry, this one is for you.