The ultimate kitchen reference, The Spice Companion is the instinctual cook's guide to the world of spice usage written by Kashmiri-Australian spice mistress, Sarina Kamini. This alphabetised reference details the taste profiles and culinary uses of 57 spices, alongside sections of the function of spice categories, detailed information on 11 specific fats and their usage, as well as practical tips on how to use Eastern spices in Western culinary settings. Learn about spice function via the section on spice categories. And further understand the important role of the palate. The Spice Companion includes entrance points of information from the most inexperienced of cooks, to culinary professionals in an easy to read format and straightforward writing style that encourages stovetop experimentation. Learn about the spices of India and South Asia in order to bring a taste of excitement to every meal. The Spice Companion includes six colour illustrations and makes an ideal gift for the food enthusiast, a great starter book for young cooks, and a stovetop stalwart for the dedicated home chef.

Exotic Sephardi/Mizrahi cuisine from the Malabar coast of India, as developed or adapted by an ancient community of Jews who landed there 2000 years ago. These Jews are called Cochinis and most of them live today in Israel. Spices, especially the 3 Cs - cardamom, cinnamon and cumin - along with coconut, coriander and pepper dominate their cooking. The book contains plenty of fascinating historical notes along with the recipes. This book on Cochini Jewish cooking is the first of its kind in the world.

This seminal book, originally published in 1973, introduced the richly fascinating cuisine of India to America--and changed the face of American cooking. Now, as Indian food enjoys an upsurge of popularity in the United States, a whole new generation of readers and cooks will find all they need to know about Indian cooking in Madhur Jaffrey's wonderful book.
Jaffrey was prompted to become a cook by her nostalgia for the tastes of her Delhi childhood, but she learned to cook on her own, in a Western kitchen. So she is particularly skillful at conveying the techniques of Indian cooking, at describing the exact taste and texture of a dish. The many readers who have discovered her inspiring book over the years have found it deeply rewarding, with recipes for appetizers, soups, vegetables, meats, poultry, fish, chutneys, breads, desserts, even leftovers, all carefully worked out in American measurements and ingredients for American kitchens.
This landmark of cookery makes clear just how extraordinarily subtle, varied, and exciting Indian food can be, and how you can produce authentic dishes in your own kitchen. From formal recipes for parties to the leisurely projects of making "dals," pickles, and relishes, this "invitation" to Indian cooking has proved completely irresistible.
In 2006, the James Beard Foundation ushered this book into its Cookbook Hall of Fame.

Explore the dramatic history of the world's most expensive spice in Saffron: A Global History. Literally worth their weight in gold, sunset-red saffron threads are prized internationally. Saffron can be found in cave art in Mesopotamia, in the frescoes of ancient Santorini, in the dyed wrappings of Egyptian mummies, in the saffron-hued robes of Buddhist monks, and in unmistakable dishes around the world. It has been the catalyst for trade wars, as well as smuggling schemes, and used in medicine and cosmetics. Complete with delicious recipes and surprising anecdotes, this book traces the many paths taken by saffron, revealing the allure of a spice sought globally by merchants, chefs, artists, scientists, clerics, traders, warriors and black market smugglers.

For Sarina Kamini's Kashmiri family, food is love, love is faith, and faith is family. It's cause for total emotional devastation when, ten years after her Australian mother is diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, unaddressed grief turns the spice of this young food writer's heritage to ash and her prayers to poison. At her lowest ebb. Sarina's Ammi's typed-up cooking notes become a recipe for healing, her progress in the kitchen marked by her movement through bitterness, grief and loneliness-her daal that is too fiery and lumpen; the raita, too sharp; her play with salt that pricks and burns. In teaching herself how to personalise tradition and spirituality through spice, Sarina creates space to reconsider her relationship with Hinduism and God in a way that allows room for questions. She learns forgiveness of herself for being different, and comes to accept that family means change and challenge as much as acceptance and love.