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The Nutmeg Trail: Recipes and Stories Along the Ancient Spice Routes

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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 An extensive timeline chronicles the influence of spices from 50,000 BCE to the present. There are also fascinating spice facts, as of how Alexander the Great added saffron to his shampoo, how Japanese samurai ate chilies to increase their courage, and how peppercorns were used in fourteenth-century Italy as a form of currency. Next, in ‘ Cultural diffusion along the spice routes‘, Ford looks more closely at the routes travelled by individual spices and the people that traded them; spices didn’t travel alone and as the traders who carried them migrated and settled in new places, cooking techniques and dishes were “ assimilated, adapted, refined and reinvented over and over” in ways that forever changed the cuisines of the world. There was a long and slow mingling of methods, ideas, flavours, and dishes between Asia and Europe, East and West.

The third cookbook by award winning food writer Eleanor Ford, The Nutmeg Trail shares the recipes and stories of how “ centuries of spice trading and cultural diffusion changed the world’s cuisine“. It’s a truly gorgeous book full of gloriously vivid illustrations, richly narrated history, and stories and food writing that bring the past to life. This dish seems really unusual but it’s definitely one worth trying for yourself. Don’t be put off by the large volume of garlic – it works! Chapters are prefaced with a glorious tiger artwork featuring around it the spices covered in that chapter. I adore these and would happily hang them on my walls! Open the cover of The Nutmeg Trail and a spice-led journey around the world awaits… It’s an ambitious book, and a deliciously successful one.” Susan Low, ‘Best World Food Writing Books’ The Independent 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

Spice skills‘ gives guidance on choosing and storing, toasting, tempering, infusing, and smoking spices. ‘ Ground spices‘ shares advice on grinding and blending, fresh spice pastes, rubs and marinades, and finishing spices. We learn how to combine spices and layer flavours to bring different flavour profiles to a dish – sweetness, fragrance, heat, pungency, sourness, earthiness. Ford groups spices by their “ key personalities“, but reminds us that many have other nuances to their overall flavours and aromas. After the personality groups come flavour wheels for 12 core spices including nutmeg, ginger, cardamom, lemongrass and coriander. In ‘ Spice palettes: a journey of flavour“, Ford lists by country or region the core flavour profiles and signature spices that feature in each cuisine, and next is that beautiful map showcasing spice blends across North Africa, the Middle East, and South, East and South East Asia. Interwoven with divine recipes and stories, Eleanor Ford’s latest cookbook The Nutmeg Trail is a fascinating culinary exploration of spice, showcasing how centuries of spice trading and cultural diffusion changed the world’s cuisine. Like all of Eleanor’s writing, this cookbook is more than just a recipe book; it’s a history of the spread of spices around the world from cardamom to sumac, it’s a spice map, a travel book, with stories and flavour wheels and writing so gloriously vivid I can’t put it down.” Lara Lee A transportive blend of stories and meals that are as enlightening as they are piquant.” Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Beautifully presented, Eleanor Ford's The Nutmeg Trail blends delicious recipes with fascinating spice-trading history and travel writing flair to concoct a book that’s informative, inspirational and bursting with wonderful ways to spice-up your menu…. a spicy slam-dunk of a book.” Love Reading Expert Review 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. 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 MiltonIn this richly illustrated volume, Eleanor Ford uses recipes as maps as she takes readers on a culinary journey that weaves through history and around the world. She explores both the flavor profiles and the spread of spices-from cardamom to cinnamon, ginger to sumac-and provides fascinating insights such as how nutmeg unites the spice blends Indian garam masala, Lebanese seven spice, French quatre epices, Moroccan ras el hanout, and Middle Eastern baharat, lending its bittersweet, fragrant warmth to them all. Consider also a Mint sambal: Grind together in a food processor 30g (1/3 cup) grated coconut, leaves from a small bunch of mint, 1/2 red onion, 1 garlic clove, 3 green chillies with or without their seeds, and a pinch of salt. Add a squeeze of lime juice and a little water to loosen the blades. 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

Interspersed with the recipes are essays about ‘ The kebab empire‘, ‘ Layers of spice and rice‘, ‘ Curry and conquerors‘, and ‘ Redrawing the world‘. For those of you who love food writing as much as I do, these are a delight. I am completely enraptured with The Nutmeg Trail. It is the perfect balance of being fascinating and mouth watering at the same time. Another triumph by Eleanor.” Georgina Hayden As you’d expect given the content thus far, recipe introductions share lots of detail about the dish, including where it originated and its original language name. Following the ingredients list and method is an ‘Eat with’ section that gives suggestions on what to serve with the dish; in some cases these contain mini recipes such as the Mint sambal to have with the Garlic Clove Curry. Most (but not all) recipes have accompanying photographs; simply but colourfully styled, these are highly beguiling. 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

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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

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