Herbs, Spices & Condiments Books

The Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, Based on the Wisdom of America's Most Imaginative Chefs

Karen Page, Andrew Dornenburg

Amazon Price: $23.10 List Price: $35.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Little, Brown and Company Amazon Marketplace: 47 new & used starting at $19.90

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Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Gastronomy -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Amazing Answer to a Prayer 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Bought this book w/o a whole lot of information about it. Can't believe it -- I now have the resource I've been looking for --

I'm a cook with some years of experience, a huge cookbook collection, a list of classes taught by renowned experts and cookbook writers, and still I yearned for a reference that gave me the info on what goes with what (w/o me researching my whole library or classnotes. I guess I need "permissions" and this book gave it to me.

Tonight I made redfish (snapper in the book) with a crust of almonds, chives, parsley and dill (methodology learned in all those classes). Served w a favorite zuchinni recipe that included the "go-to" ingredients for snapper, and roasted potatoes with light sprinkling of rosemary and salt (again, a "go-to" herb for the main dish).

It wasn't overkill (my worry) -- it just plain worked and I did it w/o a single recipe. Cut my cooking time in half and raised my personal culinary "thermometer" by a ton of degrees.

If you cook, know methodology and are looking for a silent but knowledgeable help in the kitchen, buy this book. It's a gem!!!

Editorial Review:

Great cooking goes beyond following a recipe--it's knowing how to season ingredients to coax the greatest possible flavor from them. Drawing on dozens of leading chefs' combined experience in top restaurants across the country, Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg present the definitive guide to creating "deliciousness" in any dish. Thousands of ingredient entries, organized alphabetically and cross-referenced, provide a treasure trove of spectacular flavor combinations. Readers will learn to work more intuitively and effectively with ingredients; experiment with temperature and texture; excite the nose and palate with herbs, spices, and other seasonings; and balance the sensual, emotional, and spiritual elements of an extraordinary meal.
Seasoned with tips, anecdotes, and signature dishes from America's most imaginative chefs, THE FLAVOR BIBLEis an essential reference for every kitchen.

Smoke & Spice/Cooking With Smoke, the Real Way to Barbecue, on Your Charcoal Grill, Water Smoker, or Wood-Burning Pit

Cheryl Alters Jamison, Bill Jamison

List Price: $29.95 By: Harvard Common Pr Amazon Marketplace: 16 new & used starting at $7.75

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 69 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Best of the Best 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Best book on smoking that I have ever seen. At first the title sounded odd but after reading it (not just the recipes) I understood where they were coming from. Always refreshing to find an excellent cookbook that doesn't waste money and space on pictures. Smoke and Spice is the only way to cook!

Great book for a smoker - which is easier than you think 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Fantastic book with great recipes. Covers the basics and gets into some more challenging things as well. Smoking takes a little longer - low and slow - but makes for wonderful, tender meat - you can even smoke burgers. There is a section in the front that discusses different types of smokers and the theory behind it. I read about this book on some smoking websites and agree - it's fantastic.

Great Book 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

My husband really love's this book. He's tried numerous recipe's and enjoyed making them all. I'm loving it as I do not have to cook!!!

Good Starter Book 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This books covers the fundamentals for anyone wishing to learn how to really barbeque and not just grill. It also has many great recipes, including cooking things you might not normally think about putting in a smoker. Very rarely is there a fancy ingredient, standard kitchen fare but extraordinary food. If you want to learn how to do smoke cooking right, start with this book.

I've had a copy of this book for almost 10 years and I still use it.

Editorial Review:

300-plus recipes. The only cookbook devoted to smoke-cooked barbecue, a hot trend.

Sauces: Classical and Contemporary Sauce Making

James; Peterson Peterson

By: Van Nostrand Reinhold Amazon Marketplace: 26 new & used starting at $0.98

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 39 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

An indispensible culinary reference and learning experience 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

It's a book, yes, and it does have recipes. But it's not a cookbook. It's an incredible tome of reference material; there's a huge section on various ingredients and cooking implements, right down to what kind of metal is best on which pans for what purpose and the optimum construction of spatulae.

It contains a brief rundown of the evolution of classical French cooking, from which a great deal of contemporary sauces emerged. The in-depth information on various kinds of stocks, how to make them, the best way to alter their consistency, the best cuts to use and how using bones instead of meat will change the character of the broth, ways to cook with meat that's been used to make stock so it doesn't go to waste, is just incredible. I'm excited about STOCK. Even for me that's something.

The greatest thing about this book is the depth in which it covers... basically everything. Techniques for many, many sauces are covered, and almost always contain several subsections detailing the differences in technique between making the sauce with different kinds of fat, different stocks, thickeners, ingredients... the book is nearly 600 pages of tightly-packed information, and the only pictures are on about 20 (unnumbered) glossy sheets near the beginning, detailing several very useful and generic step-by-step examples of different sauces, including red Thai curry, caramel, beurre blanc, Bernaise and others.

The even deeper value here is the excellent introduction to the general spices and methods used in various cultures as the basis for their cooking. While you might not realize exactly what you're looking at unless you have some previous experience, assuming you've cooked at length in any of the cultures whose sauces are described, you'll realize you can adapt many of the ingredients used in their sauces to gain a better understanding of their cuisines in general.

If you like to cook, you'll like this book. If you LOVE to cook, you NEED this book -- unless it's actually your profession, but even then I do believe it'd still be a useful reference. As an amateur but enthusiastic kitchen-dweller, I adore this, and it will keep me cooking and experimenting with new sauces and dishes for a VERY long time to come.

I paid a good deal more at a brick and mortar retailer, and am fine with that; it was worth every penny. The price you get here makes it an absolutely essential purchase.

The Passionate Olive: 101 Things to Do with Olive Oil

Carol Firenze

Amazon Price: $13.60 List Price: $20.00 By: Ballantine Books Amazon Marketplace: 12 new & used starting at $9.99

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

For more than four thousand years, the olive tree has been a symbol of abundance, peace, and longevity. Gifted by a goddess, revered by ancient cultures, and protected by emperors, the olive tree and its precious fruit have played important roles in civilization.

Dubbed “liquid gold” by Homer, olive oil has been used for food, medicine, magic, beauty, and divine rituals. Baseball star Joe DiMaggio is even said to have soaked his bat in olive oil. And while it is no longer drawn upon to treat leprosy or massage elephants, the use of this versatile product is growing by leaps and bounds around the world.

The Passionate Olive is the ultimate guide to this natural marvel. Along with olive legends and fascinating history, Carol Firenze shares the myriad practical uses of olive oil through the telling of her favorite family stories and by offering unique formulas and recipes.

Restore luster to your pearls . . . curb your cat’s hair-ball problems . . . silence squeaky doors hinges . . . soothe your sore throat and dry lips . . . replace artery-clogging butter in your favorite dishes with . . . can you guess?

The Passionate Olive reveals the secrets of how to enhance your life, love, and health with olive oil and merits a front-and-center spot among your most cherished books. It makes a beautiful gift, too, for just about everyone and every occasion. In fact, you and your friends will want to keep The Passionate Olive and a bottle of olive oil in your kitchen, your bathroom, and even your bedroom.

5 Spices, 50 Dishes: Simple Indian Recipes Using Five Common Spices

Ruta Kahate

Amazon Price: $13.57 List Price: $19.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Chronicle Books Amazon Marketplace: 47 new & used starting at $10.97

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 33 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

5 Spices, 50 dishes 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

I first checked this out of the library. I renewed it three times and than gave up and bought my own copy. The food is wonderful and she simplifies recipes to a point where even a not very good cook can achieve great results. If you like Indian Food this is a very good basic cook book. You'll be rewarded with good healthy food and you don't have to lay out money to go to an Indian restaurant. And if you've never experienced the wonders of Indian food this is a great introduction. I would recommend cutting down on the amount of cayenne pepper she calls for. I'm a chicken and don't like my food that hot. But if you're a real Indian cooking buff and like it hot got ahead.

Editorial Review:

The premise is simple: with five common spices and a few basic ingredients, home cooks can create fifty mouthwatering Indian dishes, as diverse as they are delicious. Cooking teacher Ruta Kahate has chosen easy-to-find spices coriander, cumin, mustard, cayenne pepper, and turmeric to create authentic, accessible Indian dishes everyone will love. Roasted Lamb with Burnt Onions uses just two spices and three steps resulting in a meltingly tender roast. Steamed Cauliflower with a Spicy Tomato Sauce and Curried Mushrooms and Peas share the same three spices, but each tastes completely different. Suggested menus offer inspiration for entire Indian dinners. For quick and easy Indian meals, keep it simple with 5 Spices, 50 Dishes.

Herbs & Spices: The Cook's Reference

Amazon Price: $19.80 List Price: $30.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: DK ADULT Amazon Marketplace: 46 new & used starting at $16.85

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 22 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

not just beautiful to look at... 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This book is very well-organized. It is so informative. It's like a mini encyclopedia. Every page is filled with visually-appealing photograghs. It's so compact. I wonder where so many variety of herbs and spices were found to compile this book. For effort alone, Jill Norman deserves no less than five stars. Even when I don't intend to cook, I just read this book leisurely to educate myself. I may never get to see all of these existing herbs and spices in my lifetime, but I feel fine having known that they're available to look at in my copy.

Editorial Review:

The first illustrated guide to cover the whole spectrum of herbs and spices for culinary use. Herbs & Spices is an indispensable reference that shows how to prepare fresh and dried herbs, how to use herbs and spices in cooking, and details everything that other books on the subject leave out. Containing a unique collection of recipes, from herb and spice mixes to rubs, pastes, salsas, and marinades, these authentic formulas will encourage cooks to think creatively and experiment on their own. Grouped by aroma and taste, with step-by-step preparation techniques and beautiful full-color photography, this book describes 60 herbs and the benefits of using them fresh or dried, and focuses on 60 spices from around the world, with a look at the early spice trade and how cross-cultural fusion has impacted on contemporary cooking.

660 Curries

Raghavan Iyer

Amazon Price: $21.45 List Price: $32.50 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Workman Publishing Company Amazon Marketplace: 33 new & used starting at $19.01

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Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 24 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Curry is Salmon with Garlic and Turmeric. Curry is Grilled Chicken with Cashew-Tomato Sauce. Curry is Asparagus with Tomato and Crumbled Paneer. Curry is Lamb with Yellow Split Peas, Chunky Potatoes with Spinach, Tamarind Shrimp with Coconut Milk, Baby Back Ribs with a Sweet-Sour Glaze and Vinegar Sauce, Basmati Rice with Fragrant Curry Leaves. Curry is vivid flavors, seasonal ingredients, a kaleidoscope of spices and unexpected combinations. And 660 Curries is the gateway to the world of Indian cooking, demystifying one of the world's great cuisines.

Presented by the IACP award–winning Cooking Teacher of the Year (2004), Raghavan Iyer, 660 Curries is a joyous food-lover's extravaganza. Mr. Iyer first grounds us in the building blocks of Indian flavors—the interplay of sour (like tomatoes or yogurt), salty, sweet, pungent (peppercorns, chiles), bitter, and the quality of unami (seeds, coconuts, and the like). Then, from this basic palette, he unveils an infinite art. There are appetizers—Spinach Fritters, Lentil Dumplings in a Buttermilk Coconut Sauce—and main courses—Chicken with Lemongrass and Kaffir-Lime Leaves, Lamb Loin Chops with an Apricot Sauce. Cheese dishes—Pan-Fried Cheese with Cauliflower and Cilantro; bean dishes—Lentil Stew with Cumin and Cayenne. And hundreds of vegetable dishes—Sweet Corn with Cumin and Chiles, Chunky Potatoes with Golden Raisins, Baby Eggplant Stuffed with Cashew Nuts and Spices. There are traditional, regional curries from around the subcontinent and contemporary curries. Plus all the extras: biryanis, breads, rice dishes, raitas, spice pastes and blends, and rubs.

curry, n.—any dish that consists of either meat, fish, poultry, legumes, vegetables, or fruits, simmered in or covered with a sauce, gravy, or other liquid that is redolent with any number of freshly ground and very fragrant spices and/or herbs.

The Garden Primer: Second Edition

Barbara Damrosch

Amazon Price: $21.13 List Price: $28.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Workman Publishing Company Amazon Marketplace: 31 new & used starting at $6.98

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Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Gardening & Horticulture -> Techniques -> Organic

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The most comprehensive, entertaining, down-to-earth one-volume gardening reference ever, and highly praised:

"Barbara Damrosch delivers the goods."—Chicago Tribune
"Best of the crop."—House Beautiful
"Barbara Damrosch's writing has the snap of a good snowpea and the spice of an old rose."—The Seattle Times/Post Intelligencer
"Covers just about everything you could think of and then some." — The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"An extraordinarily comprehensive guide." — The San Francisco Examiner-Chronicle
"Takes your soaring visions of garden splendor and plants them firmly in the ground."—The Toronto Star

Now the beloved classic is revised front-to-back. The new edition has gone 100% organic, which in Barbara Damrosch's hands also means completely accessible. It reflects the latest research on plants, soils, tools, and techniques. There is updated and expanded information on planning a garden, recommended plants, and best tools. Ecological issues are addressed much more extensively, covering lawn alternatives, the benefits of native species, wildlife-friendly gardens, and how to avoid harmful invasive species. More attention is paid to plants appropriate to the South, Southwest, and West Coast, while cold-climate gardeners are given detailed advice on how to extend the growing season. Simply put, the book is a richer and fuller compendium than ever before, with more text, more illustrations and garden plans, expanded plant lists, and gardener's resources. But Barbara Damrosch's core of practical, creative ideas and friendly style remain—she is still an "old-fashioned dirt gardener" at heart.

Marlene Koch's Sensational Splenda Recipes: Over 375 Recipes Low in Sugar, Fat, and Calories

Marlene Koch

Amazon Price: $19.80 List Price: $30.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: M. Evans and Company, Inc. Amazon Marketplace: 53 new & used starting at $5.35

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 29 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

The book that made it possible for me to lower carb intake & lose weight 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I've used the book every week since buying & have lost weight. The recipes are pure genius, combining replaced/decreased sugar with healthy eating principles such as low fat, low sodium. The coffee cake recipes alone are worth the book price and the recipes are adaptable; I added blueberries to the Simple Cinnamon Coffee cake recipe and got rave reviews.
Everything I've made from this book tastes great & like the real thing, not like diet food at all.
Thank you, Marlene Koch, for this 5 * book.

There's no substiute for sugar but this comes close. 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

The Chinese recipes were very good but to be honest I usually don't add sugar to my Chinese. The crepes were very good but again I normally don't add sugar to mine. There were recipes that are advertised as "you'll never taste the difference" well, you do taste the difference but if you cannot have sugar this is a good substitute. For example the brownies which are made with black beans and splenda are great if you really need to give up sugar. But of course as you can imagine, they are not the greatest brownies you've ever had but are good if you have a craving for chocolate and are forbidden sugar. I think for dieters try portion control with better food. If you are diabetic it's a must have if your system can't have the real thing.

Editorial Review:

Splendar is now America's favorite no-calorie sweetener with 51% of the market and growing. This newest addition to Marlene Koch's Splendar library will be the most complete Splenda cookbook on the market, with recipes ranging from appetizers, snacks, mai

Spice: The History of a Temptation

Jack Turner

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Subjects -> History -> World -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 20 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

A brilliant, original history of the spice trade—and the appetites that fueled it.

It was in search of the fabled Spice Islands and their cloves that Magellan charted the first circumnavigation of the globe. Vasco da Gama sailed the dangerous waters around Africa to India on a quest for Christians—and spices. Columbus sought gold and pepper but found the New World. By the time these fifteenth- and sixteenth-century explorers set sail, the aromas of these savory, seductive seeds and powders had tempted the palates and imaginations of Europe for centuries.

Spice: The History of a Temptation is a history of the spice trade told not in the conventional narrative of politics and economics, nor of conquest and colonization, but through the intimate human impulses that inspired and drove it. Here is an exploration of the centuries-old desire for spice in food, in medicine, in magic, in religion, and in sex—and of the allure of forbidden fruit lingering in the scents of cinnamon, pepper, ginger, nutmeg, mace, and clove.
We follow spices back through time, through history, myth, archaeology, and literature. We see spices in all their diversity, lauded as love potions and aphrodisiacs, as panaceas and defenses against the plague. We journey from religious rituals in which spices were employed to dispel demons and summon gods to prodigies of gluttony both fantastical and real. We see spices as a luxury for a medieval king’s ostentation, as a mummy’s deodorant, as the last word in haute cuisine.

Through examining the temptations of spice we follow in the trails of the spice seekers leading from the deserts of ancient Syria to thrill-seekers on the Internet. We discover how spice became one of the first and most enduring links between Asia and Europe. We see in the pepper we use so casually the relic of a tradition linking us to the appetites of Rome, Elizabethan England, and the pharaohs. And we capture the pleasure of spice not only at the table but in every part of life.

Spice is a delight to be savored.


From the Hardcover edition.