Herbs, Spices and Flavorings [Paperback]

Tom Stobart (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 31, 2000

The most complete--and famous--guide to herbs and spices ever published, and a necessary volume for every cook's shelf.

Tom Stobart's extensively researched, alphabetical reference guide to herbs, spices, and flavorings, quite literally, defines good taste. Illustrated throughout, this comprehensive volume discusses nearly four hundred different herbs, spices, and flavorings found all over the world.

From Almond to Zedoary, each entry includes a detailed description of native uses, origins, and history; magical, medicinal, and scientific uses; and botanical, native, and popular names. There are also knowledgeable assessments of the gradations in taste and intensity, and the effects of cooking, freezing, pickling, and maturing on every spice, herb, and flavoring covered--a feature all cooks will surely appreciate.

"Tom Stobart is the authority on herbs."-- Craig Claiborne

"A meticulously researched and fascinating work. . . . Handsome illustrations enhance a book that will provide a helpful reference to any cook or connoisseur desiring a knowledge of herbs, spices and flavorings--the most complex and rewarding of all culinary tools."-- Publishers Weekly

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Tom Stobart is not only an expert on cookery, but also a well-known photographer, mountaineer, and filmmaker. His last film was Master Chefs and he is also the author of The Cook's Encyclopedia: Ingredients and Processes.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Overlook TP (January 31, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585670197
• ISBN-13: 978-1585670192
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,982,406 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent reference, November 7, 2000

By 

Mark R. Chartrand "Electivore" (Baltimore, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Herbs, Spices and Flavorings (Paperback)

This is an excellent reference book on all kinds of flavorings. It doesn't give you recipes--those you can find in cookbooks. This supplies information on origins and uses of a huge range of herbs, spices, and other flavoring ingredients. The "kitchen chemist" will find this not only a useful reference, but even a book to sit down and read. Lots of wonderful facts and lore to drop into dinner-table conversations! There are only two slight quibbles I have with the book. The first is that it is somewhat Anglo-centric, frequently mentioning whether something was or is used in England. Secondly, with the blossoming of interest in cuisines of all sorts during the last decade, it could use some slight updating as to some contemporary uses of some of the items. All in all, thought, a really useful and well-done tome.