Field Guide to Herbs & Spices

By JULIETTE ROSSANT If you're a serious Foodie, have you ever tried to "name that" ingredient as a game -- you know, for fun? Try it. Go to an ethnic market and try to identify all the herbs, spices, and ingredients you find. Like they did recently on Top Chef -- only a lot less hokey and a lot more fun. (For latest comments on Top Chef, see previous article.) Ah, but afraid you won't be able to name most of the herbs you find? Fear not, for Ms. Aliza Green will help you. Reach meaningfully into your pocket, handbag, or backpack, and just as the herb monger starts muttering, "What has it gots in its pockets, my precious, we wonders?" and start to gollum, whip out your copy of Field Guide to Herbs & Spices: How to Identify, Select, and Use Virtually Every Seasoning in the Market (Quirk Books 2006). -- has now published this the third in what is now a series of annually published guides on food topics such as produce and meat. If Roger Tory Petersen had been a Foodie, he might have written this wonderful book for herbs and spices, a veritable mini-encyclopedia, a pocket compendium, so not only does it include information on where and how the spice is grown and harvested, how it is used in various cuisines, how to buy and store it, but Aliza also includes recipes that feature the herb or spice. The first half of the book is devoted to herbs, followed by photographs of the herbs and spices, and then spices. Not satisfied with taking on Mr. Peterson, Ms. Green takes a shot directly at Berlitz, too, and is rivaled only by Gernot Katzer's online Spice Pages for breadth of foreign language listings. Take the nigella seed. It turns out to be black carraway or poivrette in French that are sprinkled on Russian rye or Turkish Ramazan bread. Ms. Green provides the name of the spice in thirteen (13) different languages. That is extremely useful, since many cookbooks do not always provide the correct English name for a herb or spice -- also handy if you happen to be traveling or living abroad. Further, Ms. Green explores the history of the spice and its appearance in literature: Though it's sometimes called black cumin, it's unrelated to cumin, the black cumin mentioned in the Old Testement may actually be nigella, which has been found in the Giza pyramids and in the tomb of King Tutankhamen... An Arab proverb says, "Nigella seed is a remedy for every disease except death." (p. 216) There you have it! Rather than some huckster trying to sell you Dead Sea tupperware or the ancient, valuable (but now tasteless) spices within a la Aladdin, Ms. Green crams in enough information so that it is you who will be rattling off valuable tidbits of information to the vendor. Why, she even adds recipes -- Indian Naan with Nigella Seeds (p. 217). This compact book and its meat and produce companions are treasures for everyday shoppers, travelers, or the well informed. They are small, easy to use, and clear, with elegant and useful photographs. You remember what Karl Malden used to say? "Don't leave home without it." For that matter, don't get caught in the house without a copy, either. Book details: Publisher Amazon.com Barnes & Noble Previous articles: Michel Roux: Eggs Bones: Jennifer McLagan Jack Turner's Spice for Christmas [Cookbook Reviews - complete] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging, cookbooks --> back to superchefblog