In various forms, spices have served as appetizers, digestives, antiseptics, therapeutics, tonics, and aphrodisiacs. Dangerous Tastes explores the captivating history of spices and aromatics: the fascination that they have aroused in us, and the roads and seaways by which trade in spices has gradually grown. Andrew Dalby, who has gathered information from sources in many languages, explores each spice, interweaving its general history with the story of its discovery and various uses. Dalby concentrates on traditional spices that are still part of world trade: cinnamon, cloves, ginger, pepper, saffron, and chili. He also discusses aromatics that are now little used in food but still belong to the spice trade and to traditional medicine: frankincense, myrrh, aloes-wood, balsam of Mecca. In addition, Dalby considers spices that were once important but that now are almost forgotten: long pepper, cubebs, grains of Paradise. Dangerous Tastes relates how the Aztecs, who enjoyed drinking hot chocolate flavored with chili and vanilla, sometimes added annatto (a red dye) to the drink. This not only contributed to the flavor but colored the drinker's mouth red, a reminder that drinking cacao was, in Aztec thought, parallel with drinking blood. In the section on ambergris, Dalby tells how different cultures explained the origin of this substance: Arabs and Persians variously thought of it as solidified sea spray, a resin that sprung from the depths of the sea, or a fungus that grows on the sea bed as truffles grow on the roots of trees. Some Chinese believed it was the spittle of sleeping dragons. Dalby has assembled a wealth of absorbing information into a fertile human history that spreads outward with the expansion of human knowledge of spices worldwide.

    As Curator of Books at Harvard University's Schlesinger Library, Haber has access to more than 16,000 cookbooks from which she has drawn inspiring and often surprising cooking stories from the 1840s to the present: a Confederate Jewish woman's ancestral chicken soup which helped improve institutional food overall; the well-groomed, upright "Harvey Girl" waitresses who helped civilize America's western frontier; and the Graham Cracker, which was created by a fanatic Seventh-Day Adventist trying to curb sexual appetites. With recipes throughout, Haber's fascinating survey adds a delicious new dimension to America's cultural heritage.

    Connie Guttersen originally created the Sonoma Diet to provide people with a satisfying, healthful, and above all, delicious way to lose weight. Now, her cutting-edge plan--inspired by the sun-drenched cuisines of the Mediterranean and California's wine country--is better than ever. The New Sonoma Diet features the latest in nutritional science and a feast of fresh recipes. More than half of this edition is entirely new!Includes: o Detailed diet plans and menus--and no food category is off limits, even wine o By popular demand, features new Sonoma Express quick meals and Sonoma Made Simple, with a “cook once, eat twice” philosophy and time-saving kitchen strategies o New recipe ideas for family, gluten-free, and on-the-go meals, as well as breakfast o Ideas for entertaining wine country style, with food and wine pairings o The patented plate and bowl concept, which makes it easy to balance portion sizes and eliminates calorie counting o Breakthrough nutrition science, featuring the glycemic load measure o The skinny on 12 nutrient-rich power foods, and why they're essential to good health

    From a kid growing up in LA in a Thai and Chinese family to a prominent chef, restaurant owner and judge on Cutthroat Kitchen, he brings his years of experience and hard-earned knowledge together in this breakthrough book. Step inside Jet’s kitchen and learn the secrets to making your favorite Asian dishes taste better than takeout. Here are some of the recipes you’ll learn to master:-Korean BBQ Short Ribs on Coke-Jet’s Famous Drunken Noodles-Beef Pho-Miso Roasted Black Cod-Panang Beef Curry-Vietnamese Banh Mi Sandwich-Sweet Chili Sriracha Hot WingsAnd if you haven’t made your own Sriracha yet, Jet’s killer recipe will change your life. All in all, you get Jet’s 101 best Asian recipes to impress your friends and family, not to mention all sorts of chef-y tips on flavor, technique, history and ingredients that will make you a better cook. Time to kick ass with your wok, Jet Tila–style!

    This history reaches far back to the earliest civilisation in the Americas, and it was the Olmecs not the Aztecs who can be rightly named as the inventors of chocolate. Told with flair and wit, this history of cacoa looks at its ancient Mexican roots, questioning how it became the food of the gods, its ritual significance, and how it was used as a currency in trade among the Olmec. Piecing together a range of archaeological, documentary and pictorial evidence, Sophie and Michael Coe discuss the Theobrama cacoa tree, the chemical properties of cacao and its early domestication and use. The story of chocolate continues under the Aztecs and their first encounters with the Europeans. The authors trace the transformation and renaming of cacao as it made its way to the chocoholics of Europe - the white-skinned perfumed, bewigged, overdressed royalty and nobility'. Finally, Coe and Coe discuss its years of competititon with tea and coffee as the preferred hot beverage, its links with the Church, and its surrender to the industrialisation of the 19th century which withdrew the mystique of this luscious mouth-watering treat and turned it into an everyday, mass-produced, highly calorific product.

    The collagen, bone, skin, marrow, and fat that is extracted when animal bones simmer in water for hours (or days) are the building blocks of life, containing proteins that help to combat inflammation; boost immunity; strengthen bones; improve hair, skin, and nails; and help a host of digestive issues by promoting optimum gut health.In The Bare Bones Broth Cookbook, Kate and Ryan Harvey, founders of the artisanal broth manufacturer, Bare Bones Broth Co., show readers how simple, inexpensive, and delicious it is to make their own nutrient-rich broth at home. With foolproof directions for slow-cooking your own broth and more than 100 inventive ideas for incorporating it into everyday meals in delicious new ways, The Bare Bones Broth Cookbook includes:10 signature broth recipes, from beef and chicken to fish and vegetable recipesSoups and stews such as Coconut, Beet, and Ginger Soup and a Classic Pho BrothEggs and breakfast, including a Bison Omelet with Yucca Root Hash and a Curried Scramble with Artichokes and Sun-Dried TomatoesMeat and seafood entrees, from Pan-Seared Tuna with Mushroom Risotto to Slow-Cooked Chipotle Lamb and Pinto BeansSides and salads, such as the Braised Collard Greens with Bacon or Yucca Root FriesSauces and spreads, including Cilantro Chimichurri, Bacon Jam, and Spicy Salsa VerdeDiscover the amazing health benefits of bone broth—the power of delicious food is only a stockpot away with The Bare Bones Broth Cookbook.

    As Ken Albala shows, though, over its history the bean has enjoyed more controversy than its current ubiquity lets on. From the bean's status as seat of the soul (at least, that's what Pythagoras thought) to seed of sin (or so said St. Jerome, who forbade nuns to eat beans because they "tickle the genitals"), Beans is a ripping tale of a truly magical fruit.

    In this brand-new, official tie-in to the major BBC Two series, Mary shows how being in a rush will never be a problem again. Find brilliant 20- and 30-minute meals and enjoy wonderful dishes that can be swiftly assembled and then left to cook away while you do something else.Mary’s utterly reliable, always delicious fast dishes tempt any tastebuds and her no-fuss expertise means you can cook from scratch and put mouth-watering home-cooked food on your family’s table without compromising on quality or freshness.This stunning cookbook, packed with colourful photography, includes over 120 new recipes, including all the recipes from the series, plus Mary’s trademark no-nonsense tips and techniques for getting ahead in the kitchen so cooking is always stress-free.Looking for a fast, satisfying supper? There’s Crumble fish pie, Lamb tagine with preserved lemon or Pan-fried spiced falafels. Something special for Sunday lunch or dinner with friends? Roast Venison fillet and peppercorn sauce, 30-minute Beef ragu or Roast fillet pork with sage and mustard sauce followed by Upside-down rhubarb pudding.With Mary’s trusted advice and recipes, discover how easy fantastic fast cooking can be.

    In this fascinating account, the impassioned Henry Hobhouse explains the consequences of these plants with attention-grabbing historical moments. While most records of history focus on human influence, Hobhouse emphasizes how plants too are a central and influential factor in the historical process. Seeds of Change is a captivating and invaluable addition to our understanding of modern culture.

    It encompasses royal feasts and street food, the skinning of eels and the making of strawberry jelly, mixing tales of culinary stars with those of the invisible hordes cooking in kitchens across the land. Beginning before Roman times, the book journeys through the ingredients, equipment, kitchens, feasts, fads, and famines of the British. It covers the piquancy of Norman cuisine, the influx of undreamed-of spices and new foods from the East and the New World, the Tudor pumpkin pie that journeyed with the founding fathers to become America's national dish, the austerity of rationing during World War II, and the birth of convenience foods and take-away, right up to the age of Nigella Lawson, Heston Blumenthal, and Jamie Oliver. The first trade book to tell the story of British cooking-which is, of course, the history that led up to American colonial cooking as well-Taste shows that kitchens are not only places of steam, oil, and sweat, but of politics, invention, cultural exchange, commerce, conflict, and play.

    To a surprising extent, the story of peanut butter is the story of twentieth-century America, and Jon Krampner writes its first popular history, rich with anecdotes and facts culled from interviews, research, travels in the peanut-growing regions of the South, personal stories, and recipes.

    Accompanying the advice there are 80 new delicious recipes.Following on from Dr Rupy’s bestselling cook book The Doctor’s Kitchen, Eat to Beat Illness distils actionable ideas for daily life to teach you how to use food to trigger and amplify your defences against illness. Accompanying the advice there are 80 new delicious recipes.In Dr Rupy’s second book he builds on the message that what you choose to put on your plate is one of the most important health interventions you can make. Food can not only affect our likelihood of disease but it can lengthen our lives, change our mood and even affect the expression of our DNA.The first section of the book explains how our bodies can better fight off illness through eating well and how we can heal our bodies through simple lifestyle changes including exercise, stress reduction, sleeping well and finding purpose in our lives.It is now scientifically proven that certain foods and food groups are beneficial for staving off illness and here Rupy will look at key conditions such as cancer, depression, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, stress and explain what to eat to increase our chances of staying healthy.Complemented by 80 new recipes, full of tempting international flavours such as Roast Golden Beets with Italian Greens and Hazelnut Pesto; Bangladeshi Cod CurrySpatchcock Poussin and Middle Eastern Ful Madames; Iranian Dizi Stew; Garlic Chilli Prawn and Black Bean Stirfry with Bokchoy and Silverbeet; Pea and Broccoli Orecchiette Japanese Togarashi Mix, to name just a few, eating well for has never been so easy and delicious.

    

    In this spirited paean to alcohol, two parts cultural history, one part personal meditation, Holland takes readers on a bacchanalian romp through the Fertile Crescent, the Mermaid Tavern, Plymouth Rock, and Capitol Hill and reveals, as Faulkner famously once said, how civilization indeed begins with fermentation. Filled with tasty tidbits about distillers, bootleggers, taverns, hangovers, and Alcoholics Anonymous, The Joy of Drinking is a fascinating portrait of the world of pleasures fermented and distilled.

    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 howspice 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.