Andreas Viestad: Where Flavor Was Born

By JULIETTE ROSSANT Andreas Viestad's Where Flavor was Born: Recipes and Culinary Travels Along the Indian Ocean Spice Route (Chronicle 2007) wasn't meant to be a children's book - and in many ways it is certainly for adults. There are striking pictures of far off lands and well written travelogue and recipes. But hand it to a teenager, and you give them a the story of the Spice Route, the geography of a world that is far away but matters greatly to us. You introduce them to the life of a culinary traveller and show them why food matters. Understanding other cultures is difficult when we only touch upon their histories, politics, and a bit of literature in classes at school. Much of the history of the world depended on spice - and still does. Andreas voyages along the Indian and Pacific Oceans - exploring each spice separately. His adventures will inspire your kids with the desire to travel, learn the languages, and try these recipes. The book starts with an introduction to the spices of the Indian Ocean from Aniseed to Vanilla. Then he starts to follow Cumin in the first chapter, telling a tale in Egypt followed by recipes from Egypt, Oman, India and Iran. When traveling on the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, the way to determine whether a restaurant is good is to ask whether they serve the ubiquitous tomato and cucumber salad with a sprinkle of cumin or not...Most places use a mixture of cumin and salt, though some add a hint of coriander too, a small detail that makes the flavors sweeter and more playful. (p. 41) Cumin seed is dry-roasted in a pan and then ground with salt in a mortar and pestle. The Pepper chapter finds Andreas in the mountains of Kerala where pepper grows. There are vivid pictures of green pepper turning red and a local truck carrying sacks of pepper by Mette Randam. One of the most unusual recipes is Cubeb Pepper Figs Cooked in Red Wine (p. 85). Andreas describes how he helped a friend fight a fire on his farm outside Cape Town. He found figs baked by the fire under an oak tree and finished them with Merlot and some cubeb pepper. The recipe he publishes uses a pot on a stove instead of a wild fire. This book will take your kids through the Middle East, Mozambique, South Africa and Indonesia and places in between with wonderful, vivid stories and good recipes. Previous articles: Andreas Viestad: Kitchen of Light [Children's Book Reviews - complete] [Cookbook Reviews - complete] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging --> back to Super Chef