Christine Manfield

Many people use the bare minimum when it comes to spicing up their food, sticking with the standards of salt and pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg, oregano and basil. But spices should be a sensual feast that enlivens the palate, seduces the taste buds and tantalizes the mind. Spice is anything but dull, a cookbook love affair with the exotic and under-appreciated, and draws on spices and aromatics from countries such as Sri Lanka, Japan, Singapore, Tunisia, China, Thailand and Mexico.
Spice includes a plethora of delicious recipes such as Saffron Prawn Risotto, Asparagus and Fragrant Curry Sauce, Smoked Eggplant and Spicy Masala Sauce, and Tangelo Cardamom Ice Cream. With a comprehensive spice index, a description of the wide variety of spices available today and a huge selection of recipes including everything from appetizers to drinks and desserts, Spice will add zest to everyone's palate.
Praise for Spice: Christine Manfield evokes rich aromas and luscious flavours from the very first pageaThe recipes, from traditional Thai pastes to Manfield's own exotic inventions, are exceptional. - Marie Claire… (mais)

As it appears with a number of cookbooks today, this is part travelogue and part cookbook, a journey in words and pictures across India along with regional recipes. Author Christine Manfield, a renowned Australian chef describes her journeys and the beauties of the sites but with a leaning towards the culinary experiences.

But is the recipes which provide the real interest, and there are plenty of them. The range is vast and includes meat, poultry and fish dishes along with many vegetable dishes and includes some bean and lentil dishes, and some desserts. The recipes have the air of authenticity, and while they might include massala (curry powder, a recipe for which is included in the section Ingredients and Equipment), they invariably require their on list of specific spices. The recipes are well presented with clear instructions an include a few introductory or explanatory comments. Sometimes the recipes are illustrated - and most appetising they look too. There are many interesting recipes here, they come from various source from roadside food sellers to smart restaurants, and while some are quite easy and straight forward there are also the more complex dishes requiring time to prepare. Some the ingredients may not be easily available beyond India's boundaries, but usually the recipe provides suggestions for alternatives.

The book includes a useful section, already mentioned, on Ingredients and Equipment. There is a Directory useful for anyone contemplating a visit to India. Also included is a Bibliography and a comprehensive Index.

This is a lavish production, a very large, heavy and sumptuous book and includes a page marker. There are numerous very colourful photographs of both India and its people along with occasional pictures showing varius foods, often whole sequences of pages devoted entirely to colour photographs completely filling the pages. The interesting result of combined printing and texture on the book's hard-cover gives a silk-like effect, but perhaps not the most practical for use in the kitchen, and it will occupy a relatively large amount of space on the kitchen worktop. But the real problem with the book is deciding which recipes to try, there are so many that tempt!… (mais)