A tasty compendium of spices and a fascinating history and wide array of uses of the world's favorite flavors-The Book of Spice reveals the amazing history of spices both familiar and esoteric. John O'Connell's erudite chapters combine history with insights into art, religion, medicine, and science, and is richly seasoned with anecdotes and recipes. Discover why Cleopatra bathed in saffron and mare's milk, why wormwood-laced absinthe caused eighteenth-century drinkers to hallucinate and how cloves harvested in remote Indonesian islands found their way into a kitchen in ancient Syria. Almost every kitchen contains a bottle of cloves or a stick of cinnamon, almost every dish a pinch of something, whether chili or cumin. The Book of Spice is culinary history at its most appetizing.
Author Biography
John O'Connell worked at Time Out (London) and now writes for The Times, Guardian, New Statesman, and National. He is the author of For the Love of Letters and lives in London with his family.
