Food wouldn't be the same without a little herb and spice. From basic parsley or black pepper to more exotic tamarind or arugula, this book has a comprehensive introduction to the history and use of many of the herbs and spices that enhance our food. An illustrated directory of herbs and spices opens the book and includes a history of use, storage advice, and cultivation tips. Following this informative section is a selection of 100 recipes organized by the primary herb or spice used.
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Arabella Boxer's Herb and Spice Handbook is a valuable reference and a distinctive cookbook. Both of these aspects are easily overshadowed, though, by this book's picture-perfect, miniaturized, coffee-table presentation. (This volume is, in fact, a somewhat abridged combination of two other Boxer books, The Spice Handbook and The Herb Handbook.) In her introduction, Boxer explains that spices were used variously as medicines, incense, dyes, and cosmetics before being relegated mainly to culinary applications. The recipes show how conservatively we use herbs and spices in comparison to past eras, when a salad included comfrey and burnet along with easily a dozen other greens and herbs. And now, outside of some ethnic dishes, we almost never use cinnamon in savory recipes, reserving it almost exclusively for desserts.
The first section of this book is a directory with entries for 43 herbs and 38 spices. Each includes the plant's Latin name and information on its history, cultivation, culinary and medicinal uses, as well as color photos. One discovers, for instance, that scallions are merely the immature stage of various kinds of onions and that eating them stimulates digestion and helps ward off colds and flu. Of the 100 recipes provided, most dishes are as enticingly simple as barely hard-cooked eggs served on a bed of spinach and swathed in a creamy pureed-watercress sauce that is also good with poached fish and chicken. A few choices are decidedly sophisticated, including an intriguing pheasant braised with lemon grass, juniper berries, ginger, chervil, and garlic. As a British food writer, Boxer is noticeably less conservative in using dairy products and fat than many Americans tend to be. Beyond serving as a reference for all cooks, the Herb and Spice Handbook also presents convincing examples of Great Britain's rejuvenated culinary spirit. --Dana Jacobi
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Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
When I first started writing about herbs in 1980, fresh herbs were hard to find in most places unless you had your own garden, as I did in those days, or access to a good farmer's market. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
spice information, lovage page, chervil page, green onions page, saffron page, arugula page, tarragon page, chiles page, parsley page, ginger page, tamarind syrup, dill page, garlic page, heated stock, mint page, flameproof baking dish, tablespoons sunflower oil, pot marjoram, seeds page, chile flakes, natural antiseptic, lightly salted boiling water, pepper page, salad burnet, chopped chervil Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Middle East, Southeast Asia, North Africa, United States, West Indies New!
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Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
When I first started writing about herbs in 1980, fresh herbs were hard to find in most places unless you had your own garden, as I did in those days, or access to a good farmer's market. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
spice information, lovage page, chervil page, green onions page, saffron page, arugula page, tarragon page, chiles page, parsley page, ginger page, tamarind syrup, dill page, garlic page, heated stock, mint page, flameproof baking dish, tablespoons sunflower oil, pot marjoram, seeds page, chile flakes, natural antiseptic, lightly salted boiling water, pepper page, salad burnet, chopped chervil Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Middle East, Southeast Asia, North Africa, United States, West Indies New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 2
books:
- JOY OF COOKING by Irma S. Rombauer on page 10
- Joy of Cooking (Aldine Pbs.) (Aldine Paperbacks) by Marion Rombauer Becker Irma Starkhoff Rombauer on page 10
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